Becoming One With Japan: Dana's Way

2010-05-26T12:20:00.004-05:00

Packing up my suitcases the day before I left was a difficult ordeal. My amount of souvenirs and other personal items had greatly accumulated during the past nine months, and one of my suitcases was a kilogram over the weight limit. But I was not forced to pay any overweight luggage fees at the airport. The flights were tedious, and the one from Osaka to San Francisco was a little over ten hours. I was relieved to finally arrive home late at night yesterday evening.

I am already experiencing a lot of culture shock. I miss the polite atmosphere and indirect way of talking that are characteristics of Japan. It's also odd to look around and see that everyone looks similar to me here, as opposed to Japan, were I easily stood out from the crowd when walking down the street.

Thank you for reading my blog and keeping up with my adventures in Japan throughout the past nine months, I appreciate your support and interest!!!

2010-05-26T12:13:00.006-05:00

My last few days in Japan were spent in Kobe saying goodbye to my Japanese friends and foreign exchange student friends. I met up with friends for lunch and dinner, and every time I would eat with someone, they'd always ask me what kind of food I wanted to eat in case there were any foods I wanted to taste one last time before I headed back to the U.S. and was no longer able to indulge. But I always answered "washoku," which means Japanese food in general. I will definitely miss eating white rice and raw fish and seaweed on a regular basis once I return home.

Saying goodbye to my friends was difficult. I know I can keep in touch easily with the Internet, but who knows when I'll return to Japan, it may not be for another few years! However, I am determined to return after all the language study and culture study I've put in over the past nine months. It would be a shame to not utilize my knowledge, and there's still much more to learn!

2010-05-20T20:48:00.004-05:00

This past weekend in Tokyo, Shoji and I went to the Asakusa district, home of the famous Myoujin Shrine. We had no idea that on the precise weekend we chose to go there would be a famous festival called Kanda Matsuri, so we arrived and the shrine area was extremely crowded with festival goers, stands selling food, and festival participants, including some playing musical instruments. There was also an unending parade of portable shrines winding through the shrine complex. This festival is held to display and carry the portable shrines with the purpose of pacifying the Shintou gods, but it also brings the community (maybe the larger community of Japan) together to celebrate.

In addition, Shoji and I went to Tokyo Tower, a famous Tokyo landmark known for its great views, to check out the Tokyo skyline. We also saw the famous Super Dry Hall (with the unique golden statue sitting atop it) on our way to the festival in the Asakusa area. This building was designed by a French architect and belongs to Japan's popular Asahi Beer Company.

2010-05-20T04:41:00.004-05:00

I have added some pictures from my recent travels, so please check out this blog entry and other recent entries to see various photos!

This past Monday and Tuesday I toured many shrines and temples in Kamakura and in Tokyo. I went with a family friend whom I had just met for the first time. He married a Japanese woman and is living in Tokyo doing work as a translator.

In Kamakura I saw a giant Buddha (it was a very tall statue, and I was able to enter the statue and see the inside as well). In Tokyo I went to the controversial Yasukuni Shrine where war criminals and other personages from World War II are enshrined.

2010-05-18T07:46:00.003-05:00

After returning from Okinawa, the next day my program held a farewell party for all of us foreign exchange students. There was a nice lunch, speeches by several students and important people from Konan University, and a few musical performances (I performed a piece on the violin). The very same day I took the Shinkansen (bullet train) to Tokyo. I have since spent the past few days meeting up with various friends and sightseeing in the Tokyo area. If you recall my earlier blog entry about maid cafes, well, I wanted to see how things really are, so on Sunday afternoon I headed to a maid cafe in Akihabara. Many people go to maid cafes, but some of the regular customers are unmarried, working men who have a lot of money and no wife and children on which to spend their money. In addition, however, there were many women customers waiting in line at the maid cafe my friends and I picked out. The maids were dressed not in a sexy manner but in a cute manner, with their bodies were well covered. We had some maids welcome us to the cafe, take our order, and bring us drinks, but aside from that, the interaction was limited. As in most cases, the more interaction one wants to receive, the more money one must pay, so my friends and I resigned ourselves to watching the maids interact with other customers who were willing to pay more money for conversation, drinks, and food. One rather alarming part of the visit was the sign posted in Japanese at the entrance of the restaurant. The sign included a list of actions that were prohibited for customers of the maid cafe. Some of the actions included: 1) Asking the maid what her working shift hours are 2) Taking pictures of the maid with your cell phone, camera, etc. 3) Asking the maid for her contact information 4) Waiting outside the cafe for the maid to arrive or leave work 5) Following the maid home from work, or any other stalker-like behavior These prohibitions suggest that this sort of behavior is rampant within this line of work. Although the pay is good, I wonder why the women who work as maids put up with these sorts of work-related risks.

2010-05-14T02:21:00.003-05:00

This past week I took my first trip to Okinawa. Naha, the biggest city on Okinawa's main island, is filled with buildings and is very crowded. Even though most of the buildings were constructed after World War II, in general the city's buildings looked rather old and worn. Also, Okinawa seems to be missing some of the wealth that is characteristic of Japan thanks to its strong economy and the economic bubble that occurred in the 1980s.

I went with my host mother from four years ago who lives in Chiba city, and once we drove out of Naha and up north, the scenery turned to subtropical plants, sandy white beaches, and the beautiful aquamarine-colored sea. In addition to doing a lot of sightseeing at historical places such as two castles, I also spent a day doing marine sports on a small island to the northwest of Okinawa's main island. I tried parasailing and went up forty-five meters above the ocean for a stunning view of the surrounding islands and ocean.

On the last day I met my former host mother's friend, who is Okinawan (Okinawans are different from Japanese, as Okinawa was formerly its own country), and we saw a traditional Okinawan dance performance. Many people living in Okinawa can do what's called a finger whistle, where you place your thumb and index finger in your mouth and blow to create a whistling sound. I had some of the dancers teach me the technique after the performance, but I'm still unable to do the finger whistle. My host mom, her friend, and I also discussed the situation of the American military bases in Okinawa, but of course opinions are very divided. It seems that some Japanese still want United States bases in Japan to help protect Japan since it does not have its own military, but right now all of the bases are in Okinawa, so people are suggesting that some of the bases be moved to other areas of Japan. However, no one will volunteer their own area for a military base, so nothing's being done yet.

2010-05-09T22:41:00.002-05:00

I recently completed two essays, one for each of my Japanese Culture Studies courses. I'll give a brief summary of each essay in order to provide an example of what I've studied in both courses.

For my Society and Law course, I wrote about the drive for gender equality here in Japan. I looked at it from a legal point of view: what laws have been passed, and how progress toward making the law into reality is measured. As recently as 1999 Japan passed a law laying down its basic standards for a gender equal society and how it wanted to achieve those goals. The law emphasized combined efforts from national, prefectural, and local governments, as well as assistance from foreign countries that already have a established a standard of gender equality. After ten years, a cabinet office dealing with gender equality conducted a survey and other research to see how close the country is to realizing the ideals of the '99 law, but progress is slow. Since this was not a research paper, I did not come up with an actual thesis and prove it, but I'm thinking that Japanese society in general does want gender equality, it will just take time and conscious effort to change social practices and citizens' attitudes.

In my Literature course, we spent a lot of time discussing how women were portrayed in Japanese literature. They are often sacrificial characters that die to save a male character, or they are portrayed as helpless and at the mercy of an overbearing, power-hungry male character. However, the two women in the stories I chose to compare and contrast in my essay were both temptresses and full of evil passions, endangering the piety of the monks whom they encountered in the stories. In one of the stories, the monk is seduced by the woman, but when he breaks his promise to marry her, she turns into an poisonous snake and kills him. In the other story, the monk is just about to return to the woman's cottage and renounce his religious vows in order to be with the woman when he meets an old man who talks him out of his rash decision. At any rate, women are not often portrayed with much power in old Japanese literature, but if they do have power, they seem to often use it in a terrible way.

2010-05-07T17:40:00.003-05:00

My year in Japan is winding down, and it's impossible to not be reminded of it every day. There are many tasks for me to take care of before I return home, but in doing many of them, I am reminded of how much I have improved my language skills and cultural knowledge this past year.

I went to the city ward a few weeks ago to file a cancellation form for my health insurance. I was able to negotiate the entire affair using only in Japanese. When I think back to the beginning of the year, I went to the city ward with Okaasan, and she filled out all the necessary forms and negotiated everything for me when setting up my health insurance, so being able to do this on my own is a huge accomplishment.

On Friday morning I took my final two Japanese language class examinations. After those examinations were completed, I had finished my final Japanese language class! It was so easy to improve my Japanese here because I was able to study the language intensively for two hours every day in a classroom setting. I have realized after being here that it bothers me when people try to speak to me in English just because I look like it is my native language. But in the United States, I constantly approached people who spoke Spanish or Japanese and tried to converse with them. I wonder if that bothered those people. As much as I like to speak foreign languages, maybe I should save my conversation attempts for language classes and language group meetings, as opposed to speaking it with any person I meet on campus or around town.

At my school's international student office, I saw for the first time yet another difference in United States and Japanese culture. I told the administrator that I would be traveling to Okinawa next week, and she wanted me to keep my student ID card to use for discount purposes. But then when deciding when I should hand it into the office to be voided, she had to confer with another office personnel, who then got another two staff members involved in the conversation. It turned into a giant affair with many of the office staff conferring together in order to decide when I should turn in my student ID card. If this had take place in the United States, one person would have decided and informed the others later of her decision. But in Japan, everyone decides and approves of a plan together.

Yakushima and Tanegashima

2010-05-04T18:43:00.003-05:00

I just returned to Kobe after a wonderful trip to Yaku Island and Tanega Island, two islands which are part of Kyushuu and located an hour south of Kyushu's southern-most tip. Today is the last day of Golden Week, an annual five-day long holiday which occurs every year at the beginning of May. Roads, buses, and hotels were crowded because everyone has time off during Golden Week, and most people decided to travel. Some people, my host family for example, decided to avoid the crowds and stay in their hometowns during Golden Week, but my host family also said they noticed an increase in traffic and people in Kobe due to everyone taking vacations.

Yakushima and Tanegashima are very different from Kobe in terms of climate, especially because they are further south. Yakushima has a lot of very tall, forested mountains, and it receives a lot of rain. Yakushima is famous for its giant cedar trees, some of which are thousands of years old. I went hiking in the mountains and saw a good number of them. I also saw wild deer and monkeys during my stay on the island.

Since Yakushima was very crowded and it was hard to find a place to stay, I cut my visit there short and made my way over to Tanegashima, which is one hour away by hydrofoil boat. Tanegashima was much less crowded, and it was very beautiful as well. It has a lot of tropical-looking plants, and it has two claims to fame. It has Japan's space center from which Japan launches rockets and space crafts, and Tanegashima was the place where weapons were introduced to Japan when the Portuguese arrived at the southern tip of the island in 1543. I went down to the southern tip of the island to see the point where the Portuguese landed, and I also went swimming at a beautiful beach near the space center. The following day, I went up to the northern part of Tanegashima to Urata beach, and I went on my first scuba dive!!! It was challenging, but I had so much fun, and I saw some incredible fish. The instructor stayed by me the entire time, guiding me, telling me when to remove the air from my ears, and changing the air pressure in my vest. I received the entire explanation of how to scuba dive in Japanese, so I'm really proud of my progress in being able to understand the explanation, follow the rules, and have a successful dive.

This morning I arrived in Kobe, and since I have Japanese language final exams during the next two days, it's back to work!

2010-04-29T06:15:00.002-05:00

Today I saw a performance of The Scarlet Pimpernel. This, however, was a performance done by a very famous, all women's theater group in Japan. I'm lucky enough to live less than an hour away from Takarazuka, the town in which the theater is located.

The cast is composed only of women. I think there are men in the pit orchestra, and the conductor is a man, but other than that... Women play all the men's roles, so they sing like men, dress like men, and put on makeup to make them look manly. The women playing men's roles sang with very deep voices, and they carried themselves in a rather manly fashion to help create a convincing performance. But almost all of the men's roles included, in the costume, two-inch tall high heeled boots, so the women must be able to dance and move comfortably in high heels.

The entire performance was in Japanese, but if one read the story ahead of time, I'm sure the action would be fairly easy to follow. Also, it was a musical, so with a lot of singing and dancing, it was visually entertaining, even if I didn't catch every word that was sung or spoken. Maybe this was due to the setting of the specific story being performed today and the overall character of Takarazuka theater, but the costumes were elaborate and delightful to view.

The actresses in the Takarazuka theater group are extremely popular. Some of them have their own fan clubs, and the members of these clubs are always buying the front row seat tickets, which are thus impossible to obtain if you are not in a fan club, and the fans are always mobbing the actresses after the shows. But these women work hard, training from the time they are in high school, and instead of going to a regular high school, they go to a school especially for Takarazuka theater training. All of their training really pays off, as one can easily see when one watches a performance.

2010-04-25T06:06:00.003-05:00

The United States may have Pi Day, but Japan has Ear Day, Eye Day, Teeth Day, and even Good Couple's Day. These are all recent phenomena, of course, and while Good Couple's Day actually is used as a marketing ploy, the other days' nicknames are used as educational tools.

First of all, how are the actual dates for these days decided? Well, Japan uses kanji, which originated in China. Since, however, Japan took kanji from China, Japanese language has applied several different readings to a single kanji. The kanji for numbers are no exceptions. The kanji for "3" can be read as "san," "mi," and maybe other ways that I may not even know of. But if "mi" is one of the readings, then March 3rd can be read as "mimi," which is the Japanese word for ear. Thus March 3rd is Ear Day. Teeth Day is June 4th, because one of the readings for the number "6" is "mu" and one of the readings for the number "4" is "shi," and mushiba means cavity. Okay, so maybe instead of Teeth Day it's Cavity Prevention Day, but I'm sure the general idea is clear enough. Also, I think October 10 is Eye Day because the "1s" and "0s" look like a pair of eyebrows and eyes. On these days, schools do things such as encourage the students to bring toothbrushes to school and everyone brushes their teeth together after lunch (which usually does not happen). Also, doctors will issue notices such as "get your eyes checked."

Good couples day is April 22nd because another reading for the number "4" is "yo," and a reading for the number "2" is "fu." The Japanese word yoi means good, and fufu is man and woman together as a couple. On this day movie theaters make ticket prices very cheap, but only for couples fifty and older, which I think gets a lot of people to the movies. But having April 22nd as Earth Day isn't a bad idea, either.

2010-04-21T04:14:00.003-05:00

Today there was a speech contest held amongst all of the foreign exchange students in my program. Based on the speech test that we all had last week, representatives from each of the five Japanese classes were selected to compete in today's speech contest. There were ten contestants, but one passed at the last minute. I was one of three students from my class to be asked to participate.

I gave a speech about learning keigo, or honorific speech, and my emotional triumphs and struggles associated with the learning process (the learning process is ever-continuing, by the way). I mentioned that keigo is difficult to learn because there are many types of keigo and few chances for me to use it on a daily basis. I talked about a time with one of my Japanese language teachers when I slipped and forgot to use keigo but wasn't scolded, and then a time with my host father during which I didn't use keigo and was reprimanded. I concluded by talking about how happy I am to have learned keigo and how one may use honorific speech to really shape and nuance relationships with others. I didn't win a prize for excellence, but I received a sort of honorable mention. Most importantly, however, I was proud of myself for what I accomplished. I am completely satisfied with how I performed in the contest, and I think that's just as good as winning.

2010-04-19T21:33:00.003-05:00

Geisha (whom I will hereafter refer to as geiko) and maiko (apprentice geiko) are a symbol of Japan that appeal to and trigger curiosity from most foreigners. Myself being one of these foreigners, I had to make it to Kyoto this month to see the famed Miyako Odori, Dances of the Old Capital, an annual phenomenon that takes place each year during the month of April in Gion Corner, an area of Kyoto known for its population of geiko. Kyoto is an ancient town full of tradition, and in fact it was one of the ancient capitals of Japan, hence the name of this dance that the geiko perform. The dance is composed of eight scenes that illustrate the passing of the seasons in Japan. Kyoto in particular has distinct spring, summer, fall, and winter seasons, with cherry blossoms in spring, summer greenery, fiery autumn maple leaves, and winter snow, wind, and chill.

It was a little difficult to tell who were geiko and who were maiko as I watched the hour-long dance performance. All the girls had white paint on their faces, necks, hands, and forearms (probably up to their elbows). But I learned later that the maiko all wore the same blue kimono with red and pink flowers on it, but the geiko wore various kimono of different colors and patterns. All the women's hair was up in artful hairdos, with flowers and showy combs inserted for extra attraction. The nape of the neck is said to be a very beautiful place, so all the maiko and geiko had the top of their kimono lowered a few inches below the nape of the neck so as to expose it. That area of each person's skin was also colored white, but I believe the maiko had three upside-down triangle shaped patches of skin that were not painted so as to differentiate them from geiko. The maiko have very long sleeves on their kimono called furisoude, and their obi, or kimono belts, are very long and hang down the backside of the kimono. Geiko, on the other hand, have short kimono sleeves, and their obi are tied so that the belts do not hang down the backside of the kimono but appear short and only cover the mid and lower back.

The dances themselves were very elegant. Movements are subtle, including a lot of tilting and turning of the head and delicate hand movements. About fifteen maiko danced, and another fifteen or so played traditional musical instruments such as the shamisen, a special Japanese flute, and various drums. All the geiko danced, and a few sang some narrations during one of the dance scenes.

2010-04-17T20:37:00.002-05:00

Japanese college students are persistent in their recruitment for clubs and "circles" (extra curricular activities groups). The school year in Japan starts at the beginning of April. Compared with the University of Illinois, which has Quad Day once a year (an event at which students can walk around the quad and talk to members of registered student organizations who have set up booths to advocate for their group), Konan University students recruit much more often. For the first two weeks in April, student groups set up tables every day along the walkway and in the commons area on campus, with group members at the ready to explain information to interested first year students. Students will call out to people walking by to come over to their table and check out their club information. Other students stand in the pathway and force flyers into the hands of students walking past. One day all the students in clubs even lined up on the two sides of the entry walkway and formed a sort of tunnel. New students entering the school grounds would have to walk through the two rows of people and probably have dozens of flyers forced upon them before entering into the building where their morning class is held. Wiser students who wanted to avoid that sort of attention would have to walk outside the tunnel of people on the edge of the walkway and almost be in danger of falling into the rain gutter. There are over 2,000 new students entering Konan University every year, but despite this number, I wonder how successful club recruitment is with such aggressive recruiting tactics.

2010-04-15T05:47:00.003-05:00

I realized I have never devoted a blog entry to the famous Japanese toilets. I don't want to bore anyone by discussing the phenomena you may have already heard about (seat warming button, spray to clean you off, etc.), so I'll focus on two new discoveries of mine from the past eight months.

At one friend's host family's house, the toilet lid automatically rises when you open the bathroom door. I don't know if there's a motion sensor or if the door and the toilet are wired to each other, but it's interesting. I think the control panel next to the toilet also plays electronic versions of famous music, such as "Spring" from Vivaldi's "Four Seasons" as background music for one's enjoyment while using the toilet.

Also on control panels next to many public toilets is the 音姫, or "sound princess." You put your hand in front of the sensor or press a button on the control panel, and a flushing noise comes out of the speaker. This is to hide any sounds you make while using the toilet. However, it's only in women's restrooms. I've asked many men and they all say they've seen no such thing in any restroom they've been in.

2010-04-12T08:42:00.003-05:00

Today I had my final oral examination for Japanese language class. This test happened prior to the kanji, reading, listening, and grammar finals, but this is due to the oral examination being in a different format than the previous three times it was held. Before, we always had interview examinations, with just one teacher in a room and we'd be asked questions. This time, however, we all had to write a five minute speech discussing the theme of an emotional experience we've had during our lives. I wanted mine to relate to something I've done here in Japan, so I wrote about the struggles of learning polite speech, which I believe is a challenge for many students of Japanese language. I had my speech edited quite a few times, and then I practiced reading it over and over again to become comfortable with presenting the content. Some students had their speeches memorized, though, and everyone had very thoughtful, interesting experiences to talk about. Some topics that I remember that specifically related to this past year in Japan were visiting Japanese relatives even though it was only the student's second time meeting them, joining a club and being welcomed into the club and learning about Japanese culture through the club, and figuring out how to not be treated as a foreigner in a setting with only Japanese acquaintances.

2010-04-11T07:08:00.003-05:00

Today I saw an interesting movie called "My Darling is a Foreigner" about the relationship between a Japanese woman and an American man who is living in Japan. The couple speaks in Japanese, and it is about their getting through the cultural differences that pop up during the course of their relationship. However, in my opinion, there weren't too many cultural differences that created hardships in their relationship. As one of the characters in the movie expressed, a person's nationality won't make or break a relationship, it's all about the two people's personalities and whether or not the personalities mesh.

Yesterday I went to a barbecue and was able to speak to Dunia, the mother of Julia (the girl to whom I'm teaching violin). I was worried that my descriptions of how to hold the violin and bow and how to move the bow across the violin strings were insufficient, but Dunia informed me that based on my serious attitude and persistence during the lesson, Julia has been practicing very diligently. She has even started to work on "Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star" all by herself, although we didn't go over it in the first lesson! She seems to be progressing rapidly and self-motivated, so I'm pleased to hear that. Tomorrow I'm going to teach her how to read treble clef.

2010-04-06T06:39:00.003-05:00

Star Wars is officially finished. I have viewed half of the completed version but haven't had time to see the whole production. But there are supposedly some very funny bloopers at the end that I can't wait to see. I think that this production tells a lot about my Japanese class's closeness and our ability to work through such a tough project. I am pleased that I was a part of such a fun, close-knit group this past year, it made my experience in Japan all the more worthwhile.

I am still enjoying viewing the cherry blossoms as they are in bloom for two weeks. This past weekend I went to Himeji Castle to see the blossoms there. It's a popular place when it comes to cherry blossom viewing, so it felt like half the country had turned up that day to see the blossoms and celebrate spring. But the crowds made it more fun and lively. Today I walked up and down this street called "Cherry Blossom Tunnel" which is about five minutes from my host family's house. There are seventy cherry trees that line the sides of this long street, and when the blossoms are in full bloom the trees create a sort of tunnel of cherry blossoms all along the street.

This past Monday I conducted my first in a series of four violin lessons that I will be giving to another host family's daughter. I have never taught violin before, and I am teaching Julia in Japanese, which makes it even more challenging. Particularly difficult aspects of teaching are how to convey proper holding and usage of the bow, holding of the violin, and placing the fingers at the correct places on the strings. I don't want to be too picky in my assessment of my student's playing, but I want to make sure I teach her correctly from the outset so that she may properly develop her skills. At any rate, I am happy that they thought of me when considering violin lessons for their daughter, and it is another new experience that I will have at the end of this year.

Star Wars Pictures

2010-04-02T03:19:00.003-05:00

I have received requests for updates on the Star Wars production, so I'll write an entry now with a few pictures included. There is one picture of our Master Yoda receiving his green makeup, another of me as Leia (I know I'm not wearing white, but this was the most Leia-like dress I own, and I know the buns are not covering my ears, but this is not an A-budget film!), and there's a picture of my class filming the Mos Eisley scene in the bar from Episode IV.

We filmed this past Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, and today. People would rush to memorize their lines minutes before filming began, and it was sometimes hard to portray emotions when we didn't know what our scene partner's lines meant (because they're all in Japanese and none of us are fluent YET), but we put as much emotion as possible into our own lines. We used my classmate Sophie's video camera, and she films most of the scenes, except for the ones she's in. We have a lot of capes for people like Darth Vader, Obi Wan Kenobi, and Master Yoda, and we also have two lightsabers and some really neat fight scenes.

The filming is being finished up today, and presentation date is set for Monday. Our production will be complete with a "trailor" (a spoof of the "This is Sparta!" scene from 300 and bloopers, of course. There are a lot of neat sound effects and musical accompaniment, too, thanks to Sophie's editing efforts. I'll let everyone know how the production turns out!

My Passover Seder

2010-04-01T04:43:00.005-05:00

The Jewish congregation in Kobe is quite religious, so I was not allowed to take pictures to accompany this entry. However, I attended the first half of the seder at the synagogue near my host family's home to commemorate Passover, which began this Monday evening at sundown. I say the first half of the seder because although it started at 7:30 P.M., due to the number of people present and the rather religious manner of observation of the service, I had to leave around 11:00 P.M. even though the service was only half-finished.

I learned it is a mitzvah (good deed) to drink four cups of wine (although I was served grape juice) during the seder, but I only finished two cups before I left at 11:00 P.M. I also learned something new, that when we eat the matza, or unleavened bread, we must recline back in our chairs and lean to the left. I was told that kings in ancient Israel ate in a reclining position and leaned to the left while eating, which is why we do so during the Passover seder.

The bitter herbs were not spicy at all like the horseradish I usually eat in the U.S.; in fact, I did not eat horseradish but I ate chopped up vegetables. The flavor was definitely different, but maybe they were slightly pickled as opposed to bitter. Also, instead of dipping parsley into salt water, I dipped raw onion into the salt water and ate it. That's what was provided on the seder plate, so I made sure to not lean in too close to anyone when conversing with them after I ate the onion!

There were probably fifty to seventy-five people at the seder, and two orthodox Jews from New York were leading the seder. One of them spoke fairly good Hebrew, but he still had a strong American accent. The other did not speak very much Hebrew, so the Israelis that were there seemed to be carrying on their own conversations a lot of the time during the service. There were only two things that made the event seem even remotely Japan-related. One, there were some Japanese people there. Two, I used Japanese sometimes when conversing with people. Otherwise, the seder may as well have taken place anywhere. This year I'm following the Sephardi Passover tradition so as not to cause my family problems by severely limiting the foods I can eat. Therefore I am eating white rice for breakfast every day this week instead of bread. Also, there are not normally foods with leavening agents in my host family's diet which makes it rather easy to observe Passover.

More Tennis Practice

2010-03-31T03:54:00.003-05:00

I couldn't get enough soft tennis after only one lesson, so this past Monday I went to Shoji's last practice with his college team. It was cold and rainy at the start of the practice, so only four other team members were there. I brought along my friend Nan, another student from U of I. Nan plays hard tennis, which uses the yellow ball and which is what most people from the U.S. think of when they think of tennis. Nan and Shoji borrowed each other's rackets and tried out both types of tennis during the practice time, but of course, each man excelled at his original type of tennis. I had fun watching, and they brought out an extra racket for me too and both took turns hitting the ball with me on the court.

桜 Cherry Blossoms

2010-03-29T21:58:00.004-05:00

I know if I write about cherry blossoms a picture absolutely must accompany the entry. However, as of yet, I have been selfish and have been purely enjoying the cherry blossoms for myself without taking a single picture. I try to make sure that I look at them every time I pass even a single tree. However, I also look at their beauty and I feel sad, because the season in which the cherry blossoms bloom truly emphasizes life`s impermanence. The blossoms are so splendid, yet they are also so fragile and short-lived, just like our time with the people we care about most. I want the blossoms to last forever, just as I never want to say goodbye to those I really care about, yet the time inevitably comes when the blossoms must fall and I must be separated from my family and friends. Cherry blossom season comes at the end of March and the beginning of April, a time of goodbyes and new beginnings in Japan. At the end of March, many students have graduation ceremonies and must say goodbye to their friends with whom they spent so many years attending classes and obtaining an education. April, which brings the start of a new school year in a different school, or the start of work for university graduates, is a time of meeting new people but also of being separated from those of whom you have grown so fond. Then again, if I am patient and simply wait, I know I can count on the cherry blossoms to return next year.

Graduation Ceremonies and Spring Vacations

2010-03-27T10:42:00.004-05:00

This past Thursday was the graduation ceremony at Konan University for seniors graduating in 2010. The past two months have been spring break for Konan students, so the campus has been very empty, but on Thursday, it suddenly became very lively as 2,000 graduating seniors and all their friends came to the campus to celebrate. The graduation ceremony took place in the gymnasium, but I heard the ceremony was full of speeches and was not terribly interesting. But afterward, I heard so much noise coming from the main campus area. I don't know how university graduation ceremonies and the celebrations afterward work in the U.S. (never having attended one myself), but at Konan University, it seemed as though everyone was meeting up with schoolmates and friends from their extracurricular activities. The younger students in the sports and culture clubs made sure that the graduating seniors received presents, bouquets, and cards from all the other club members, and everyone takes pictures together and makes a big deal out of presenting the seniors with their gifts. Then every single club seems to have its own drinking party planned, and on Thursday night downtown Sannomiya, the center of Kobe City, was filled with drunk graduates and their younger club member counterparts.

Also, I feel as though despite Japanese college students being on break for the past two months, they still come to school a lot during their spring vacations. If the students are second year or third year students, they are starting job hunting, but other students still come to school to study, which seems very different from what myself and other U.S. college students do during summer vacations. High school students are also on spring vacation right now, but I see so many high school students that attend the school across the street from my host family's house dressed up in uniform and walking to school every morning. I guess they are doing sports and music practices every day, but it still seems like a greater percentage of students come to school every day here in Japan than high school students in the U.S. do during summer vacations.

相撲 - Sumo Tournament

2010-03-24T04:41:00.003-05:00

On Tuesday afternoon I went to Osaka to see the annual Osaka Sumo Tournament which is held there every March! The tournament lasts about two weeks, and I believe that each sumo wrestler has one bout each day. Tuesday was the tenth day of the tournament, so my friends and I had fun guessing which wrestler would win each bout based on their records from the previous nine days.

I felt like there were almost as many foreigners watching the tournament as there were Japanese people. Then again, about a fourth of the sumo wrestlers themselves are foreigners! Before each bout, a man would step into the middle of the dohyou (sumo ring) and chant the names of the next two wrestlers. Wrestlers were divided into the "east" side and the "west" side (the wrestlers came into the arena a bout or two before their own bout and would sit waiting on either the east or west side of the dohyou). Then the wrestlers would come up into the ring area. They would ready themselves in the corners of the raised platform area, outside of the ring, and wipe their faces with towels and drink water out of bamboo pails. They loudly slapped their stomachs, buttocks, and thighs as they prepared themselves for the bouts. Then they would grab a handful of salt and toss the salt into the ring as they stepped into it to purify the ring. They lined up on the white lines inside the ring, and if the atmosphere was right, they would wrestle. Sometimes this entire ritual was repeated three or four times before the atmosphere was right. I don't know what qualifications are needed for the "correct" atmosphere.

The bouts are usually pretty short, maybe fifteen or twenty seconds, but a few times they went on for half a minute or a minute, which was really exciting. One time the bout was so long that the priest who was acting as a referee stopped the wrestlers, and the two wrestlers had to start the bout over again. People sometimes shout at the wrestlers as they fight, and the word "nokotta" can be heard especially often. It means that there is still space remaining between where the wrestlers' feet are and the edge of the ring, so keep going, keep fighting.

My friends and I arrived at about 2:00 p.m., but the match had been going on since 8:00 a.m., and we stayed until it ended at 6:00 p.m. Four hours of nothing but sumo matches? Not nearly enough for me!

歌舞伎 (Kabuki) Theater

2010-03-23T07:53:00.002-05:00

Do you recall the play I wrote about a few entries back, the play in which two lovers end up committing suicide in order to be together in the next world because they can't be together in this world? Well, yesterday I went to a theater in Kyoto City and saw that play, "Love Suicides at Sonezaki," performed live by kabuki actors. Kabuki is a form of Japanese theater that was created a few centuries ago and is still highly popular due to its being made for common people and its use of techniques that makes it engaging and appealing to watch. While other forms of traditional Japanese theater consist of subtle movements, simple costumes, and masks, kabuki relies on fast-paced dance and acrobatics, vivid costumes, and elaborate makeup to help appeal to audience members.

The four hour long performance I saw yesterday consisted of one famous act from one play, the entire production of "Love Suicides at Sonezaki," and finally a dance from an interlude of a noh play (noh is a different type of traditional Japanese theater). The plays were difficult to understand because they were all in Japanese, and unlike the puppet theater performance I saw earlier this year, there were no supertitles from which I could try to read and decipher meaning. But the dialogues were interesting and fast-paced, which kept my attention, and of course the costumes and makeup were also quite appealing to the eye. As for the performance of the entire play "Love Suicides at Sonezaki," I was glad I had read the script before because it helped me understand what I couldn't pick up from the characters' dialogues. Also, since the story is a tragedy, not a comedy, it seemed that, contrary to my expectations, there were less dance and acrobatic movements than I expected.

One unique part of kabuki theater is the audience participation. In other forms of Japanese theater, such as noh or puppet theater, the audience sits quietly and listens. But during kabuki performances, the audience is expected to remark upon the performance by yelling loudly during certain parts if the audience likes what the actors do or if the audience reacts strongly to certain parts of the performance. I wish I could have understood what the audience members were yelling, but there was a particularly vocal man about two rows behind me, and whenever an actor did a particularly great job portraying a difficult scene, the man shouted what I believe was his approval. I was also impressed with the actors' abilities to concentrate despite the audience members yelling at unexpected times.

Saturday, March 20 - Miyajima and Iwakuni

2010-03-22T03:34:00.004-05:00

I visited both Miyajima Island and Iwakuni City with my parents this past February, but as expected, upon going with a different group of people I had completely different yet still very fun adventures.

At Miyajima the tide was low, so the water was not lapping against the shrine pillars like it was the last time I went. Since there was no festival on Saturday (there was a festival going on last time I went), there were no special prayer ceremonies in Itsukushima Shrine (the shrine on Miyajima Island) conducted by the priests working there. I also visited this temple called Daishoin (I visited this temple with my parents as well). Due to the festival going on the last time I was there, the temple was incredibly crowded and noisy. But on Saturday it was serene save for the occasional pounding of drums heard from within a pagoda situated on the temple grounds.

After lighting a candle at Daishoin Temple, I decided to try hiking up Mount Misen, the main mountain on Miyajima Island. I had long since lost sight of my foreign exchange student friends, so I went climbing alone, but engaged in several all-Japanese conversations with fellow hikers, including a conversation with a foreign exchange student from Western Michigan University. I ran out of water and time halfway up the mountain, so I turned around and came down, but the view was beautiful despite the haze, and I certainly got my heart rate up by climbing all those stairs.

In the afternoon everyone was exhausted from walking all over Miyajima Island, but we were scheduled to visit Iwakuni City, so we all did a bit of walking there, as well. In addition to seeing the famous Kintaikyou bridge, the former samurai residences, the water fountain, and riding up the cable car like I did last time, my friends and I found some hedges that were in a kind of maze formation. Of course we wanted to play in the hedge maze, and we got in a few lively rounds of Pacman before heading on to Tokuyama City to spend the night.

Friday, March 19 - Hiroshima

2010-03-22T03:21:00.003-05:00

I know I've been out of the picture this past week, but spring is a very happening time, so expect to see more entries this week.

On Friday I left for Hiroshima with the other students in my foreign exchange program. We rode the "Nozomi," the fastest Shinkansen (bullet train) to Hiroshima City. Our first stop was "Okonomimura," (okonomiyaki village), at which we all split up into groups and were able to cook and eat our own okonomiyaki, which is a grilled food that looks like a pancake and has egg, meat, cabbage, and noodles mixed in. Hiroshima is famous for this food, so although I've eaten it in Kobe, it's different eating it in Hiroshima.

Next we went as a group to the Peace Park and Memorial Museum. The museum was intense, and it described Hiroshima's pre-World War II history, how Hiroshima was chosen as the site on which to drop the first atomic bomb, and the effects the bomb had on Hiroshima's citizens and urban area. It went into great detail, and there were many models and photographs within the museum.

I walked through the Peace Park briefly, and I also met for the first time a friend who is studying abroad at Hiroshima University, so we compared notes on our exchange programs, and he and his friend walked me to Hiroshima Castle, which increased my Japanese castle count up to six castles visited during the past seven months.

Star Wars Play Update

2010-03-18T17:59:00.003-05:00

My Japanese class is going ahead with the plan to create our own Star Wars parody. We found a complete script online with each line translated into Japanese, which is perfect for our project. We are choosing the important lines from our favorite scenes, memorizing them, and then taping them with a classmate's video camera recorder. We've also already started working on props, such as buying a mask that one usually wears on a train to prevent the spread of illness, and we colored it black with a permanent marker (that goes to the person playing Darth Vader). We have to finish our video and have it ready to present to the teachers on April 2nd, which doesn't give us a lot of time to memorize everything. But this way, we'll just pick the most important lines from our favorite scenes, and we wont' shoot a bunch of unnecessary footage.

This weekend I'm returning to Hiroshima City and Iwakuni City, two places I visited with my parents in February. I'll update you all upon return from my weekend trip!

お水取り (Omizu-tori)

2010-03-14T23:31:00.004-05:00

This past Saturday I ventured to Nara to see Omizu-tori, a special festival that has been celebrated at Todai-ji Temple for over 1200 years. You may recall from an earlier blog entry of mine that Todai-ji is the place that houses one of the biggest sitting buddha statues in the world. This festival is celebrated so that water drawn from a huge well can be purified using fire torches.

It takes over two hours to travel from my home in Kobe to Todai-ji in Nara, and to be on the safe side, I arrived a little early. It took about twenty minutes to walk from the train station to Todai-ji, but the temperature was above average, and the walk was pleasant. I entered the temple grounds forty-five minutes before the ceremony was to begin, and it was already packed! I was standing pretty far back from the temple itself, which was not anywhere near the sanctuary in which the buddha statue is situated. People kept arriving behind where I was standing, and soon the entire area was filled up. I'm sure there were people lining the pathway through the woods up to the temple area, but I doubt they were able to see any of the ceremony because of all the trees.

The ceremony consisted of men holding extremely long (maybe three meters?) poles with bundles of flaming sticks tied to the far ends. The poles were held up high in the air and waved around, all the while pieces of burning sticks and sparks were flying off the ends. The men would wave the poles on the left side of the temple, then run along the edge of the temple platform while twirling the poles and finally stop at the right end of the temple, wave the pole some more until all the sticks had burned and fallen off, and then the next man and pole would arrive. My host mom had warned me to not sit too close to the front lest I sit underneath the falling sparks, but there was no way that would have happened given the size of the crowd. The ceremony itself lasted for a mere twenty minutes, but I'm glad I was able to experience yet another Japanese tradition.

Japanese Class as a Star Wars Parody?

2010-03-12T19:00:00.003-06:00

Last Tuesday during lunch, my foreign exchange student friends and I started comparing ourselves to Star Wars characters (I ended up as Princess Leia). The following day in Japanese class, as a joke I wrote on the white board "E Class Star Wars Saga," and listed all of my fellow E class classmates, foreign exchange students from other Japanese classes, and one Japanese friend plus their corresponding Star Wars characters. You see, E class is supposed to be creating a newspaper as a writing assignment, but I jokingly said that writing and performing a Star Wars parody script would be more fun. I actually told the teacher my thoughts, and she apparently told the teacher who is in charge of my Japanese class (we have three separate teachers, depending on the day of the week). Then on Thursday, the head E class teacher informed my class that we would actually be writing a Star Wars parody script instead of a newspaper...! Writing a play is very difficult, much less finding costumes and props and getting everyone to perform it, especially if some of the foreign exchange students are in different classes. I don't know how realistic this is... At least if we can't actually perform it, we can try to write it. I think it's funny that what started out as a joke turned into an actual assignment...

2010-03-11T04:12:00.002-06:00

Thanks to midterm examinations I haven't added any new entries lately. I had my oral examination on Wednesday. I prepared and memorized a summary I had written based on the Disney movie version of Aladdin, because one of the two assignments for examination was to present a summary of your favorite childhood story. Of course I wasn't able to pick a favorite story, but sure, Aladdin's up there. I also had to speak to my examiner using keigo, or respectful speech. I never find myself presented with opportunities to use exclusively keigo in conversation here in Japan because it's used mostly at work, and I do not currently have a job here. Business men and women use it at their offices, and keigo is also famous for being used, among other places, by elevator operators in fancy department stores. Within keigo I can think of two main categories. One is sonkeigo, which is speech used to respect your listener because they are in a higher position than you are (for example, one uses this when referring to a boss's actions if one is a business man or woman at a company). Another is kenjougo, or humble speech, which is used to describe the speaker's actions and place the speaker in a lower social position than the listener because the listener is a boss or a customer. There is, however, another respectful form of speech that isn't as fancy as keigo but I use quite often, called teinego, or polite speech. It does not require knowledge of special verbs that change depending on whether one is referring to the speaker or the listener's actions, and I use this form of respectful speech when speaking with my teachers at school.

I found out this past Monday that I won an honorable mention in the foreign exchange student program's Japanese language essay contest. I wrote an essay about a rough day at school and a stranger who came and talked to me and helped me feel better and forget, for a few minutes, that I'd had a difficult class that day. I never found out his name or contact information, and I don't think I'll ever see him again, but I'll always remember his kind gesture. I received a certificate from the Japanese language teachers, and they also awarded me with a prize (a bag of sweets), which I decided to share with "anyone to whom I've ever asked, 'How do you read this kanji ?'" which is most of the people I know here in Japan.

Chikamatsu Monzaemon

2010-03-05T02:46:00.002-06:00

For those of you who are wondering what that long bunch of Japanese in the title line means, it's actually a person's name. Chikamatsu (surname) is one of the most well-known Japanese playwrights of the Edo period (he wrote from the 1670s through the 1720s). I volunteered to do a short, in-class presentation summarizing a reading assignment about him which we were given, and it turned out to be one of the most interesting assignments that we have read this semester in Japanese literature class.

The introduction described Chikamatsu as being raised in a well-off family but going on to work with actors, people who were, at the time, considered social outcasts. I wonder why actors were considered social outcasts during the late seventeenth and early eighteenth centuries. I'm thinking that it may have something to do with society associating the theater world with risqu é or even base values and/or activities. But then again, Chikamatsu's plays often include characters who display samurai values such as loyalty, devotion, and honor, values that would probably be respected by society at large.

The play that I read was a sewamono, a genre in which three-scene, one act plays that deal with sensational current events are written. Indeed, The Love Suicides at Sonezaki, the play that was included in the packet I read, was based on a true incident and was first performed only a month after the incident occurred. The play takes place in what is modern-day Osaka, the huge city next to where I live. Tokubei, the protagonist, falls in love with Ohatsu, a prostitute. Tokubei spends all of his money on Ohatsu and falls on hard times, so Tokubei's boss from the soy sauce factory, who also happens to be Tokubei's uncle, decides to try to help Tokubei by allowing Tokubei to marry the boss's wife's niece. Tokubei, however, does not want to marry her, which causes him to fall into his boss's disfavor. Furthermore, when Tokubei tries to return the dowry money to his boss, he realizes that his friend Kuheiji, who borrowed Tokubei's dowry money and was supposed to return it the next day, is pretending to have never borrowed any money from Tokubei, and refuses to pay Tokubei back. Tokubei has no way to redeem his honor by staying alive, and Ohatsu is so devoted to him that she refuses to be left alone in the world without him, so the two lovers head to the Sonezaki forest and commit a double suicide.

If you could follow all that, you'd surely agree with me how sad the story is. The protagonist is whole-heartedly a good person, but various events prevent him from living with honor, leaving him no choice but to kill himself. The concept of honor is one of the several samurai values that Chikamatsu incorporated into this play. Other important aspects of Chikamatsu's writing that make his works interesting to read are his emphasis on passion and emotion and his inclusion of the struggle between reason and desire. These focal points make Chikamatsu's works easy to relate to, because the audience can empathize with the characters' emotions and struggles between reason and desire.

ひな祭り - Doll Festival

2010-03-04T07:59:00.003-06:00

March 3rd is the modern-day date picked to celebrate ひな祭り, or the Doll Festival, which is celebrated specifically by families with daughters, usually young daughters. Yesterday I celebrated at my friend Yuya's house. Yuya is eighteen; however, she is the only daughter out of four children in the Nishiguchi household. Therefore, her family probably loves to honor her each year by celebrating the ひな祭り.

Decorations for the festival can get pretty elaborate. There will typically be a shelf set up in one corner of a room in the house (big shelves, like the one at the Nishiguchi household, can be up to five tiers high, like a staircase). The shelf is covered in red cloth, and usually anywhere from ten to twenty dolls, both boy dolls and girl dolls, are placed upon the shelf. The dolls are all adorned in traditional kimono and clothing and hats, but when people celebrate this festival, they themselves usually wear western style clothing as opposed to traditional Japanese clothing. The dolls are supposed to be put away soon after the holiday ends; it is said that if you delay in cleaning up and storing the dolls away, your daughter's marriage will be delayed. I had two little dolls hanging in my room as decorations, and I made sure to put them away this morning before I went to school!

I learned of two foods that are normally eaten during this holiday. One is a special type of sushi that involves a huge container filled with sushi rice and then different types of raw fish, vegetables, egg, and other toppings piled on top of the rice in a colorful, artful design. Raw fish is still expensive and I'd say somewhat of a delicacy in Japan, so it makes sense to eat this sort of dish when celebrating a festival. The other food I learned of is a snack called hina-arare. These are cruchy little balls made of rice flour. They are colored green, pink, white, and brown, and they normally have a salty flavor. Lately, however, Japan has started making these snacks with both sweet and salty flavors mixed into the package, and some of the balls are even covered in chocolate.

In ancient times, this holiday was celebrated on April 3rd, when the weather is warm. Okaasan said it's difficult to unpack the dolls at the beginning of March when the closet and room they're stored in are cold, so in keeping with the ancient tradition, my host family celebrates this holiday on April 3rd instead of March 3rd. This means that I am lucky enough to get to celebrate this holiday twice this year!!!

More Adventures with Mom and Dad

2010-02-28T07:19:00.003-06:00

This entry is getting back to my sight-seeing trip with my parents. After spending a day in Shikoku, we headed back to Honshu and got off the train in a city called Okayama. This city is famous for the origin of the legend of Momotaro, the baby who was born in a peach and grew up to be a great fighter who conquered demons and monsters. Even though it was raining the entire day we spent in Okayama, after walking through a beautiful park and getting completely soaked because amongst the three of us there was not a single umbrella, I made Mom and Dad walk down to the edge of this peninsula just to see a small statue of Momotaro. But before we walked to the statue's location we did buy some umbrellas at a small roadside stand. That's a good thing about Japan, they sell umbrellas almost anywhere, including in convenience stores.

After two days of straight rain, it finally became dry and sunny after our tour of Okayama, and we headed far west to a small town called Iwakuni outside the suburban area of Hiroshima. Iwakuni is famous for a five-part bridge called the Kintaikyou. After walking across the bridge, you enter an area full of former samurai residences and art museums. We took a cable car up the side of the surrounding mountain in order to see Iwakuni Castle at the mountain summit. This castle was reconstructed, the original having been built in the 1600s. We learned that it was reconstructed because a past shogun of Japan, in order to keep his subjects from becoming too powerful, did not let more than one castle be built within a single prefecture, and I guess Iwakuni Castle was the second castle built in its prefecture at the time, so it was destroyed soon after it was erected, despite taking all those years to build it in the first place.

Learning Japanese

2010-02-27T06:59:00.003-06:00

Sometimes it's so difficult to accept it when I make a mistake while using Japanese. I try very hard to use everything that I know and that I've learned in order to produce correct Japanese. But despite all my effort, sometimes I'm just not correct. I've been told a billion times that failure and mistakes are good for me - that I should be grateful for the opportunities to make mistakes and to learn. But sometimes the way the criticism is delivered just gets to me. I just want to be correct, but when I find out I'm not, I become frustrated, and that frustration is quite visible to those who correct me. The people who are kind and patient enough to correct me tend to be the people that are closest to me here, or people with whom I interact on a regular basis - people from whom I can learn a lot, if I wouldn't let my frustration push them away, which it unfortunately can and does. I just have to remember what Okaasan always tells me - after learning English for twenty years in the U.S., I should not expect to become fluent in Japanese after only such a short time in Japan.

Vacation with my Parents

2010-02-27T04:26:00.003-06:00

I'd like to backtrack a little, because there was an important happening about which I have not written too much (if anything) about on my blog yet. At the tail end of January and for the first few weeks in February, my parents were here in Japan for the first time! As a result, I was able to do a lot of sight-seeing with them!

I went to Shikoku for the first time in my life with my parents on January 30th. Shikoku is a small island to the southeast of Honshu, the biggest island of Japan. It is close enough to Honshu, however, that there are several bridges connecting the two islands, and we rode across a bridge in a bus and were able to see the famous Naruto Whirlpools in the inland sea area below the bridge.

After arriving in Shikoku, we went to a beautiful sculpture garden full of stone works by a Japanese sculptor named Noguchi (surname) Isamu, who spent time in both Shikoku and in New York. The garden was fairly separated from the town in which we were staying, so we only had time for the one sightseeing location that day.

It was really interesting to translate for my parents while they were here with me. I have always felt comfortable speaking Japanese as opposed to reading it, so just translating menu items and information about tourist sight locations was not a huge ordeal. However, it's more confusing than I would have guessed. My mind was running a million miles an hour, easily processing everything that I heard in Japanese. But when it came time to say what I heard in English, that was more difficult. I found myself searching for the right words and sometimes saying things backwards or in an odd grammatical order due to the grammar discrepancies between English and Japanese and my desire to quickly repeat what I had heard word for word. It was a fun challenge, though, and I felt like a guide, explaining what I had been studying for the past few years to my parents, who were experiencing it for the first time.

Soft Tennis Lesson

2010-02-23T05:08:00.003-06:00

Yesterday Shoji gave me my first lesson in soft tennis. According to Shoji, soft tennis is a minor sport, and not very widely known outside of Asia. The ball used in soft tennis is, well, a lot softer than the yellow ball used in hard tennis. The ball is also white, and the players use air pumps before each practice to make sure the balls are filled with air to the point at which they are firm enough to use for playing. The racket used for soft tennis is smaller and lighter than the racket used for hard tennis, and the court net is taller. Soft tennis is played exclusively on clay courts, and players play in pairs, not singles. One of the teammates will play up closer to the net, and the other teammate will play closer to the serving line at the back of the court.

I observed the last twenty minutes or so of Shoji's practice, and then he gathered up a few teammates to play one game as a short demonstration for me. The scoring works almost the same way as hard tennis, with 0, 15, 30 (maybe 45, not 40), and then game. There are also deuces and advantages as well. After Shoji's group finished practicing, he invited me onto the court and taught me a few of the basic techniques. First I just worked on hitting the ball against the wall to get the feel of how to swing the racket and hit the ball with the correct amount of power. Then, he taught me how to serve (it was very difficult to coordinate the ball toss and hitting the ball at the right time). He also taught me two different strokes, one of which I don't really know how to say in English, but it's either "bare-" or "bore-" with the Japanese pronunciation. This stroke was easier to learn than the serve, and it involves stepping slightly forward with your right foot while slightly moving your racket hand forward with the racket facing directly at your opponent's side of the court to stop the ball from moving deeper onto your side of the court and to send it back to the opposite half of the court. Finally, I learned how to do a smash, which is like a serve, and it sends the ball crashing quickly downward onto the opponent's side of the court. This move, like the serve, was really difficult, and finding the right position in relation to the ball in order to hit it was tricky. But Shoji is a very patient teacher, and he answered all my questions about how to swing the racket or position and move my body. He was also very encouraging, both when I made good shots and when I made mistakes, leaving me very pleased with my first soft tennis lesson when I walked off the court.

Human Rights Museum and ”クシカツ立て飲み”

2010-02-19T06:24:00.002-06:00

First, I would like to thank Koyomi Sensei for her eloquent and thorough explanation of giri chocolate that now accompanies my blog entry previous to this one.

Now, today was a day full of adventures in the east, and by the east, I mean east of Kobe, which becomes Osaka.

During the afternoon I went to the Osaka Human Rights Museum with my teacher and classmates from my Japanese Society and Law course. Lately in class we've been discussing minorities and groups in Japan that have faced discrimination. Various groups we have discussed include Koreans living in Japan, the buraku people, the Ainu, and people with disabilities, to name a few. The museum displays and explanations were mostly in Japanese, so it was somewhat difficult to understand the details being presented. In an article we were assigned to read for class about Koreans in Japan, some of the main points included past discomforts Koreans felt due to having a different language and cultural background as well as an inability to integrate into Japanese society (segregated schools, being forced into menial or subservient jobs, etc.) In the buraku exhibit area, it seemed as though the museum was trying to educate the public about the history of the buraku people, which includes leather tanning and working with dead animals, a job thought "unclean" by many Japanese in the past, leading to prejudice. I suppose the museum's aim was to promote awareness, which would then lead to acceptance. When I was reading the article about Koreans living in Japan for class, the article mentioned specific surnames that are associated with Koreans. I asked the professor if there was such a concept for buraku, but she said no. The professor went on to elaborate that no Japanese nationals were required to have surnames until the Meiji era (which started in 1868), so at that time, people tended to choose whatever surnames they could find.

After I left the museum, I was scheduled to meet up with Otousan for another restaurant outing. This time, our destination was a kushikatsu restaurant. Kushi means "skewer" and katsu means fried (as in fried meat), so this restaurant specialized in fried, breaded meat and fish on skewers. This restaurant was also special because it was standing only. Therefore, the entire restaurant comprised of a stainless steel counter with small curtains hanging behind it to separate the customers from the people passing by outside. Indeed, the restaurant was situated right at the entrance to an underground walkway, so there was a lot of traffic passing by. This type of restaurant is not for those who wish to have a long, hearty relaxing affair. It's more of an eat, drink, and go type of place, and the food is inexpensive but filling.

Of course, a trip to one of these places with Otousan guarantees interesting discussion on various aspects of Japanese culture. Indeed, tonight Otousan even gave me his definition of what may be considered true Japanese culture. He says an object or activity that has survived and been passed down for generations is true culture and will survive as culture. However, he claimed that something such as maid cafes or these kushikatsu restaurants, which have only come into being recently, are just trends that will gradually fade away, and thus may not be considered true Japanese culture.

Valentine's Day, Japanese Style

2010-02-16T04:28:00.002-06:00

Valentine's Day is celebrated in Japan too! However, it is celebrated in a slightly different, much more one-sided way. In Japan, Valentine's Day is a holiday during which women give men chocolate. Men do not do any of the giving, it all comes from the women.

If you have a boyfriend, you usually give him chocolate. You could buy an expensive box of chocolate, such as Godiva, or you could do it the way I think most men prefer: tezukuri (handmade) chocolate. I didn't actually make it myself, but if you do, I heard it's really easy. You just melt some chocolate bars, add cream, stir it up, let it harden somewhat, cut out hearts and other shapes using cookie cutters, and let it fully harden.

Women also give out giri chocolate, or "safety" chocolate. I think you can give it to your friends who don't have girlfriends, and I think that coworkers also give it to each other. That area is a little fuzzy to me, but I keep hearing about all these salary men who come home from work with their briefcases stuffed full of chocolate. If the salary men are giving each other chocolate, then it's not an exclusive from women to men exchange, so I'm not quite sure how that works. But a briefcase full of chocolates sounds like a deal to me!

Back to Kyoto Again!

2010-02-15T05:36:00.003-06:00

I returned to Kyoto this past Saturday to see Kiyomizu-dera, or the "Pure Water Temple." It's one of the most famous temples in all of Kyoto, and many Japanese and tourists alike venture there to drink the purifying water that comes from the mountainside on which the temple is located. There are even "holy silver water cups" for purchase for use when drinking the water. However, most temple goers opt for the long-handled silver ladles provided by the temple. With this many people using the same water ladles to drink the water, there is a special ultra-violet radiation cleaning system set up to ensure that germs are not passed from one person to the next.

Walking to the temple is difficult. I had to walk through an area called Gion, which is a rather exclusive area of southeastern Kyoto. Of course anyone may enter, because it's simply a district, not an enclosed area, and Gion attracts many tourists. However, the real estate is very traditional and expensive looking, and the area is said to be home to the geiko, or geisha, of Kyoto. It is said that if you walk through the streets of Gion at dusk, you may see geiko flitting from tea house to tea house, but I have yet to see any of them.

Kiyomizu-dera is located on a hill, so after walking through Gion, I climbed a lot of steps and wound my way through the curvy, hilly streets in search of the temple. When I finally found it, I was greeted by a bright orange, ornately decorated gateway leading to the temple complex, as well as a three story pagoda. From the temple I was also provided with a beautiful view of Kyoto City and the surrounding mountains. The temple does not really have walls, so the areas where people pray are outside (albeit under a roof) and thus chilly in the winter. Kiyomizu-dera was teeming with visitors, and many women were wearing kimono as they walked across the wooden floors and soaked in the gorgeous mountain scenery.

New Adventure in Kyoto

2010-02-14T22:35:00.002-06:00

It has been raining a lot lately in Japan, more so this year as opposed to previous years, according to my Japanese friends. The rain was coming down especially hard this past Thursday, which made sight-seeing in Kyoto rather difficult. However, I had a reservation at an "exclusive" temple (it has a delicate moss garden, and tourists are kept to a minimum to avoid damaging the abundance of moss species present), so despite the pouring rain, I ventured to Saihoji Temple in western Kyoto on Thursday afternoon to see this famous garden.

I was led into a small room with the other tourists who had reservations for the one p.m. tour. We all sat behind small, wooden calligraphy desks. There was a black stone basin to the right side of each desk with a wooden calligraphy brush and some black ink inside of it. After the Buddhist priests entered the room, they instructed us to chant with them some Buddhist prayers, all written in Japanese (I sat silently and politely listened). Then we were told to use the calligraphy brushes and write on a wooden plaque we had received at the reception desk. On one side we were supposed to write a wish, and on the other side we were supposed to write our names and addresses. After completing the writing on the wooden plaque, we were taken out to the garden and, after receiving a brief explanation of the garden, allowed to wander through it at will. There was a beautiful pond in the middle of the garden, and the moss looked so lush from all the rain. Walking around this moss garden at Saihoji is said to cleanse one's heart, and I did feel quite serene after my walk.

Sapporo Snow Festival

2010-02-09T04:33:00.004-06:00

I took my first trip up to Hokkaido, the northernmost main island in Japan, this past weekend to view the beautiful creations of the Sapporo Snow Festival. Held annually in early February, this week-long festival celebrates the chilly, snowy Hokkaido winter with many snow and ice sculptures, some mammoth in proportion, set up in a central area of the city near the Sapporo train station. There are sculptures of popular Japanese animation figures, such as Chibi Maruko-chan (a girl cartoon character), Anpanman (red bean paste-filled bread man), and Doraemon (a futuristic cat). There was a sculpture with Mickey Mouse and other Disney characters, as well as a sculpture with a bunch of animals such as an eagle, a bear, and a leopard. There were also sculptures of beautiful buildings with Far East-style architecture.

It was snowing pretty much the entire forty-eight hours I was in Sapporo, Hokkaido's largest city, so it was quite cold, and the wind was strong too. On Saturday afternoon I wandered through the park area and viewed the snow sculptures. After warming up with a nice fish and vegetable lunch in a restaurant located in a seafood market, I returned to the festival area and viewed the ice sculptures, which were in the shapes of animals and mythical creatures such as dragon-like water spirits and mermaids. I also went to the Sapporo Bier Garten for dinner on Saturday night and completed my weekend with an order of Gengis Khan lamb. The weather in Sapporo reminded me of Chicago's bitterly cold winters, and as fun as my trip to Sapporo was, I was relieved to return to the warmth of Kobe on Sunday evening.

A Little Lesson on Shrine Entryways

2010-02-03T18:36:00.005-06:00

I apologize for the long absence, I've been busy traveling the country!

When I first came to Japan, I was really excited about seeing shrines, because I don't believe that there are very many in the U.S., at least not that I know of. After a while, though, I had visited so many shrines that I couldn't keep them all straight, and my interest began to wane. However, after learning this interesting information this past week, my interest has been renewed!

The toori is the big, stone gate that stands at the entranceway to a shrine. Some are made out of stone, but others are made out of wood and painted vermillion. That vermillion color is used to show the sacredness of the shrine area and the power of the Shinto gods. If you make a wish and place a stone on the toori gate, the wish is supposed to come true, which is why I've seen a lot of stones placed on top of toori gates this past week. However, the toori gates are sometimes very tall, so people who can't reach the toori gates will place rocks on stone lanterns lining the shrine area. Also, next to the toori gate are two stone dogs that look like lions. These are mythical dogs called komainu, and they are said to guard the shrine. These dogs exist outside shrines and other buildings in China, too. There is always one dog with its mouth open in the shape of an "ah" vowel and another with its mouth closed in the shape of an "mm" consonant. The "ah" vowel is the first letter of the Sanskrit alphabet, and the "mm" consonant is the last letter, symbolizing that the komainu guard the shrine from beginning to end.

2010-01-22T08:12:00.002-06:00

One thing that many Japanese people are curious about when it comes to me is my ability to speak English. Japanese people who are really confident with their English skills will speak English to me no matter whether I respond in English or Japanese, but those people are few in number. Most people use English as a conversation starter and from their proceed to ask where I'm from and what I'm doing in Japan. Many people also tell me it's considered "cool" in Japan if one can speak English. Then again, most of the people who are telling me this are young people. People who are older than I am, working-age people, don't tend to want to practice English with me, but they like to share with me their past experiences with studying English. My host mom tells me how she despised studying English as a child, but now she enjoys it despite how difficult it is, and she wishes she had studied English more when she was young. And tonight, she requested that I practice some English with her in the form of reading Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban, which I thought was a fun experience. Her accent isn't perfect, and it makes me giggle at times, but she can understand much of what she's reading, which is especially impressive with a book such any of those from the Harry Potter series due to the made-up works and unusual names that often pop up.

One thing that I am curious about when it comes to Japanese people is the choice of school uniforms. Elementary school boys seem to always be wearing shorts, no matter the time of year. Most girls from elementary school through high school wear skirts, and sometimes they wear knee socks, not tights, which leaves their legs exposed to the cold. I feel that this is bad for the children's health, but it's the decided uniform, and there is no way to change it. Still, I feel cold myself just looking at the school children walking around with bare skin on January days when the temperature sometimes stays below forty degrees Fahrenheit!

Okaasan's Birthday

2010-01-19T07:28:00.002-06:00

Tonight was Okaasan's birthday, and she spent the day in Kyoto sight-seeing with Otousan. For dinner, she ordered Domino's pizza, which surprised me. For my birthday and Otousan's birthday, she prepared scrumptious Japanese meals. But I guess Okaasan wanted to go light on the food preparation for her own birthday, and I don't blame her. Besides, no one else in the household cooks, so if Okaasan doesn't cook, we can't eat food prepared at home in that given evening. Therefore tonight we ate Domino's pizza.

The Domino's pizza here does not have as much sauce as its counterpart in the U.S. However, there are rather unusual toppings on the pizza here, including corn and shrimp. There was even a small section of a mixed-topping pizza that had cream cheese and blueberries on top of it! I wasn't feeling that adventurous, so Otousan and Yoko sampled it, and sure enough, they both confirmed that that sort of topping is not meant to be on a pizza.

For dessert tonight, instead of the usual cake and whipped topping with strawberries that Okaasan prepares, she served maccha, Japanese green tea, with traditional Japanese sweets bought in Kyoto earlier that day.

I think Okaasan likes the opal necklace I gave her. One of my friends definitely said she would buy the necklace from me if Okaasan didn't like it, so judging from the all-around good reception to this necklace, I think I made a nice choice.

Second Semester Has Begun

2010-01-16T00:58:00.002-06:00

Due to my infrequent posting of new blog entries, it is probably easy to tell that I am quite busy right now. This is due to the start of my spring semester here in Japan. Everyone keeps telling the foreign exchange students how quickly the year is going by and how much we need to savor every moment of it, but I'm well aware of this and I'm doing my best. However, it's difficult now that Japanese classes are in full swing. It's the same weekly schedule (two hour classes every Monday, Tuesday, and Thursday, three hour classes every Wednesday and Friday), but I'm trying to be extra diligent this semester and really stay on top of all my class work. I went out and bought an electronic dictionary today that I can use when studying kanji. This means I don't need to ask a Japanese person for the proper kanji reading every time I encounter a new kanji. However, the machine is designed for use by a Japanese person, so all the labels, directions, and explanations are in Japanese. I'm going to need some serious help figuring out how to work my new toy.

I'm also enrolled in a Japanese literature class, which begins this coming Wednesday, and a class called Japanese Society and Law, which has already met three times. So far we've been assigned parts of the Japanese Constitution to read (in English) for homework, and we've discussed the role the Emperor has played and does play in ruling Japan. We also did a little comparison between how the legislative branches of government function in Japan versus our home countries (we have students from France, Germany, the U.S., Canada, and England in our class).

Japanese Puppet Theatre

2010-01-12T07:13:00.003-06:00

There are no pictures to accompany this entry, but I had a really exciting cultural experience at the National Bunraku Theatre of Japan this past Saturday. My host mother had asked me a month or two ago if I wanted to see a bunraku, or puppet theatre, performance in Osaka, and of course I said yes.

Since the new year was celebrated quite recently, the inside of the theatre was decorated with small, delicate pink and white balls hanging from the ceiling. Many women came in kimono, and I even saw a few men in the male version (I do not know the Japanese word). The theatre was absolutely packed, but it seemed rather small for a "national theatre," it had only one floor. Hanging from the ceiling above the edge of the stage were two large, red fish, faces pointing toward each other. Below the fish there was a screen for supertitles, which were presented in Japanese.

To the right of the stage, a しゃみせん (shamisen - traditional Japanese instrument) player sat and strummed the three-stringed instrument. In between the shamisen player and the stage is the narrator. There maybe anywhere from one to eight narrators, depending on how the performance was written. The narrators sing in a chant-like way, and the plays were all written hundreds of years ago, so the narrators sing old-fashioned Japanese.

A single puppet, which is probably one and half to two feet in length, is operated by three men. When the puppets come out on to the stage, they are held on the right side by one man in hakama (wide-legged, loose clothing for the lower body that resembles pants) and a happi, a shirt that is folded left side over right side like a kimono. The puppets are operated from the center rear and on the left side by two men who are clothed completely in black with their faces covered, called kuroko, black children. The faces of the kuroko are hidden so that those puppeteers' facial expressions do not distract the audience from watching the puppets' movements. The men without covered faces who operate the puppets show almost no expression on their faces.

The plays reminded me of European operas that I have seen performed at the Lyric Opera House in Chicago. One play was about a foiled plot to assassinate a young successor to a family clan, and another was about a young couple, deeply in love, who had to sneak around behind their parents' backs and overcome various obstacles such as arranged marriage propositions in order to finally live happily ever after. I am not surprised that this art has flourished so much in Japan, a country that seems to show appreciation for the subtle nuances in life. Truly, bunraku, which involves intricate plots told in artful ways, also relies on the audience's attention to the detail in the puppet movements to appreciate the dedication it takes to master this art form.

Ringing in 2010 in Nagano

2010-01-07T19:24:00.003-06:00

My host family was kind enough to take me with them as they drove up to Nagano prefecture to celebrate the new year this winter break. My host father's mother lives alone in a big house in the countryside in Nagano. The house is huge and incredibly beautiful. Almost all the rooms in the house, except for the bathroom and kitchen, have tatami (bamboo) mat floors and sliding wooden doors with white paper or drawings on them. My host grandmother was incredibly friendly and kind, just like the rest of my host family. I also met my host uncle, his wife, and their two children, who are Eri (17) and Yuuka (15).

We went sightseeing at Matsumoto Castle, one of the oldest castles in Japan, on our first day up north. The castle is also known as the Crow's Castle because of its black hue. We saw the oldest elementary school in Japan, too, which was located within walking distance from the castle.

The following day we went shopping for some special foods needed for the new year celebration, including black koi fish (not commonly eaten), mochi (sticky, soft rice cakes), and various types of fish, noodles, and vegetables. At home my host mother and host aunt seemed to always be in the kitchen cooking, and my host cousins, host siblings, and I would hang out in this one warm room with a large, heated table. We sat on the floor cushions and stuck our legs under the table to keep them warm, and did homework around the table. I was never bored for a second in the countryside because I spent the entire time talking with my host family. I felt like I belonged with them, and I really enjoyed their company.

On the thirty-first, the ten of us at grandmother's house at a huge evening meal, and at 10:30 p.m. we gathered around the dinner table once more and ate soba, or buckwheat noodles, a Japanese new year tradition. Half the adults were asleep before midnight, and my host cousins, host siblings, and I sat around the dinner table and watched on TV as 2009 left and 2010 came in. I then went to sleep shortly after midnight. We ate leftovers from the night before on the following morning, and we also at a traditional soup with vegetables and mochi in it, called ozouni. I was really happy that my host family included me in their new year celebrations, and I had a really wonderful time with them in Nagano.

Visit to Nara

2010-01-02T01:21:00.004-06:00

Thanks to my friend Junko, I was able to take my first trip to Nara, the ancient capital of Japan, shortly before the end of 2009. In Nara there exists the 大仏 (daibutsu, or great Buddha). It is made out of bronze, and is about fifteen meters tall. There are other smaller statues in the Todaiji Temple, in which the daibutsu is located, which are gold-plated. After walking around the temple, Junko and I came upon a column surrounded by a crowd of people. I asked what all the commotion was about, and as I did, I saw a hole in the bottom of the column. Junko explained that the hole is the same diameter as the daibutsu's nostrils, so if someone can fit through the hole in the bottom of the column, they can also fit through the daibutsu's nostril holes. Of course I had to try this, and I successfully wriggled through the hole.

Junko and I also walked alongside Nara Park, a huge expanse of grass and trees in the middle of the city, and we chatted as we walked. I hadn't seen Junko since the summer, so we had a lot to catch up on. There were many deer in Nara, both in the park and near the temple area, and Nara is apparently famous for these deer. The deer are so used to having people come up to them and feed them that they are not at all afraid of people, and we were even able to pet the deer.

I have heard that Nara is also a great place to view the cherry blossoms in April, so I will have to return there someday.

Omochi Tsuki

2010-01-01T21:40:00.003-06:00

Shortly before the new year rolls around, a traditional activity in Japan is omochi tsuki, or making mochi, Japanese rice balls. Mochi are round, and the dough is sticky and gooey, so one must take small bites and chew carefully, lest the mochi lodge itself into your throat, creating a choking hazard! Mochi are delicious, and eating mochi is a traditional way to celebrate the new year.

To make mochi, one must buy rice that is used especially for mochi and then boil the rice. After the rice is boiled, it is poured into a hollowed out, large wooden container that may in fact be a tree stump. Then, you take a large mallet that looks like a wooden hammer. First, you use the hammer to mash the rice until the grains have lost their shape and stick together. Then, you use the mallet as a hammer and pound the rice to turn it into one soft, huge mass of rice. But you have to be careful to not pound the rice too much, or else the rice will become too soft, and the mochi will fall apart when you place them into soup broth. After being pounded out, the huge mass of rice dough is removed from the wooden container and placed on a table covered in flour. The flour prevents the dough from sticking to people's hands. Small sections are torn from the rice dough and manipulated with the hands to form small balls. The balls are set on the table, which slightly flattens the bottom of the rice ball, and the mochi is ready to eat.

I went to my friend Yuya's house for this event, and we all ate the mochi by putting it in a fish broth with vegetables. We also inserted sweet red bean paste into some of the mochi for dessert.

Christmas in Japan

2009-12-25T01:25:00.005-06:00

Christmas seems to be widely celebrated in Japan, but not so much as a religious holiday. Instead, it seems to be a sort of commercial holiday for most people, and everyone celebrates with either their family or their significant other.

It's traditional to celebrate Christmas with Christmas dinner and Christmas cake. Okaasan told me that Christmas dinner usually includes chicken, not ham, like what people in the U.S. are used to. My host family ate Christmas dinner a day or two early, on the 23rd. She made oven-roasted chicken for dinner, and she picked a delicious chocolate raspberry mousse cake for dessert. People sometimes give Christmas presents, but instead of a whole slew of presents under a Christmas tree, my host family had a small tree in the corner of the living room, and Okaasan gave the children each one present.

The following day I went to a German Christmas market that is set up each year in a certain area of Osaka. The market had a huge Christmas tree in the center, and when the sun set the tree was lit up. There were little booths set up around the perimeter of the square, where people sold souvenirs or food. There was also live music, mostly singing, all afternoon and evening. After the Christmas tree was lit up, I went to the top of a nearby building, rode the elevator up to the 40th floor, and saw the Osaka skyline all lit up at night. I ended the evening by going out to dinner in Sannomiya.

Kawasaki Field Trip

2009-12-23T07:22:00.002-06:00

Yesterday I took a field trip to the Kawasaki Factory and Research Center in Nishi Akashi, to the west of Sannomiya. Kawasaki produces motorcycles, gas turbines, and robots, all of which are sold and used in Japan and across the world.

The most interesting part of the field trip was the tour inside the motorcycle factory. We saw welding areas for frames, a plating shop, and the assembly line for the motorcycles. We also saw the testing areas where finished motorcycles are taken and tested with a computer for proper acceleration and engine function.

Kawasaki seems like a very successful company. Their assembly process takes an hour and a half, and they have a mixed production system so they can build up to nine different types of motorcycles on one assembly line. They are also working on environmentally friendly technology, and their robots are used by many major manufacturing companies in Japan. They use just-in-time delivery on motorcycle parts so they don't waste money on unneeded parts. I believe that 95% of their motorcycle market is outside of Japan.

We finished up the factory visit with a video presentation, question-and-answer session, and a visit to the motorcycle museum at the factory, in which I saw many different motorcycle models, including some from the late 1960s.

Chanukah in Japan

2009-12-23T07:12:00.002-06:00

I have not yet written about Chanukah in Japan, so I will do so now. I did not celebrate Chanukah every night because I do not have my own chanukiyah here. However, on the third night of Chanukah I went to the synagogue near my house. Usually there are not many people at the synagogue, but a fair amount of people turned up, especially couples with children, to celebrate the holiday. While the adults prayed, the children made paper s'vivon (spinning tops) out of paper and stickers. After prayers, everyone lit the candles in the chanukiyot. Then there was a magic show featuring two Japanese men who did various card tricks, juggling, and the like, for the children's entertainment. There was also dinner, but I returned home before dinner because I didn't know there would be food so I told my host mother I'd eat at home. However, I did get to eat a sufganiyah, or jelly donut, a traditional Chanukah food. Anyway, it was interesting to meet new people at the synagogue, people who don't usually show up for Shabbat services. I don't know how many of them I'll see again soon, though, because the next time a big crowd will come will be for Passover in March.

Celebrating my Birthday in Japan

2009-12-23T07:04:00.003-06:00

Last week I enjoyed celebrating my birthday here in Japan. I received a lot of cards in the mail from my friends and family back at home, which I was really happy about. Thank you for thinking of me from so far away!!!

In the morning I received a birthday card from the Konan University staff members who work in the Konan International Exchange Center. It was a big surprise for me, but they all took the time to sign their names and write their own personal messages. I also received a cute card from my friend Yuri. It's a popular thing to do here, to give a friend a picture of the two of you with a message written on the back for the friend's birthday.

After class Shoji took me to a restaurant called Sweets Paradise. It's an all-you-can-eat place, with a separate food buffet and dessert buffet. I ate so many different types of cakes there, maybe a little too much, because my stomach hurt a little bit afterward.

But my stomach didn't have much time to recuperate from all the cake because I was home by seven to enjoy a special hand-made sushi dinner that my host mom prepared for me at my request. She also baked me a vanilla cake, my favorite.

I ended the evening with a night on the town with a few fellow foreign exchange students. I had a wonderful birthday here in Japan!

Field Trip to Konan University's Second Campus

2009-12-15T03:28:00.003-06:00

Last Friday my Japan Studies "Culture and Education" class took a field trip to Konan University's second and newest campus. The main Konan University campus is in the Okamoto area of Kobe, but this campus is in the Nishinomiya area, near Osaka. The campus itself is one building with nine floors. The campus was built within the past few years, and this is the first year that classes have been offered on the campus. The campus is also called "Cube Campus." It's an interesting name, because the architecture of the building is very modern, and much of the interior design seems to be cube-shaped or designed using modern-style architectural inspiration. This new campus is devoted specifically to business management, so the building is home to the "Hirao School of Managament," and students who wish to major in business management take classes here. Since this is the first year that the campus is in operation, the student body is very small, and I only saw about 100 or so students during my visit. However, the building is expected to hold about 800 students in three years.

During the field trip we had a "high tea," which to me was more like a casual party with food and drinks, and it was a chance for us to socialize with the Cube Campus students. My Japan Studies class teacher wanted some entertainment, so he asked me to bring my violin, and I performed a short solo as well as a duet with a fellow exchange student who plays guitar. My professor also gave me music that was selected by a professor at Cube Campus named Professor Ohta, who plays cello. Professor Ohta started playing cello six years ago, so he worked very hard on this duet, and it was his first performance ever. He is a physicist and very easy to talk with. We had a little rehearsal time together while the other students were touring the campus, and then we had a successful performance during the "high tea."

Kobe City Memorial Luminaries

2009-12-14T07:47:00.003-06:00

This past Thursday and Friday I went two times to see a light show in Sannomiya, the downtown center of Kobe City. There are two blocks allocated for overhead lights, and huge arches are constructed with thousands of tiny, colored light bulbs that are lit up in beautiful patterns. Then, at the end of the two blocks, there is a park, and in the park there is another area set aside with one giant light display composed of more colorful designs. There is no special holiday theme for these lights, so it took a while for me to figure out why this brilliant light display occurs in Kobe each December.

The luminaries are set up in remembrance of the Great Hanshin Earthquake that struck Kobe in January, 1995. I do not know why the light display is held in December as opposed to January, but it is an annual event that started maybe ten years ago to mark the passing of each year since the deadly earthquake. I believe that Okaasan recently told me that the light show is second only to the Snow Festival held in Hokkaido each year in terms of popularity of seasonal events, and many people from all over Japan come to see the light show each year.

The light show uses a lot of electricity, so according to my Japanese friends, each year the show becomes smaller and smaller. In the past, the Kobe municipality has thought about discontinuing the light display, but protests from citizens across the country have stopped the municipality from ending the tradition and have kept the light show going. It's also free for the public, so it's hard on the city to fund all the electricity needed to display the lights. Therefore, the local government asks for a one hundred yen donation from each person who comes to see the lights.

The Orthodontist's Office: Japanese-style

2009-12-09T07:09:00.004-06:00

I had an unfortunate experience with my retainer cracking while I'm here in Japan, so I had to make a trip to the orthodontist's office today to see if they could make me a new retainer. Braces and retainers aren't as high of priorities here in Japan as they are in the U.S., so my host mom warned me to not be surprised if the orthodontist was not able to fashion a new bottom retainer.

I entered the office and, just like in a house, there was an entryway area with a lower floor than that of the rest of the office. I had to remove my shoes, and then I pressed a button on this machine next to the doorway, and slippers came out from the bottom of the machine. I left my pink Converse sneakers in the entryway and put on the slippers, then I entered the waiting area. I didn't have to fill out nearly as much paperwork as I normally do at the orthodontist's office in the U.S., and the wait wasn't nearly as long.

Aside from the slipper-ejecting machine, I was shocked at what I found beyond the waiting room in the actual service area. The area where the orthodontist works on patients' teeth is smaller than the typical areas I've seen in the U.S., yet it has the same number of chairs, so four patients could be treated at the same time. I was shocked to see a television with movies playing in front of each patient's chair. One could simply sit down and watch a movie while the dentist or orthodontist works away. Maybe that's why this service I received today costs twice as much as what it does in the U.S... No personal television screens in the U.S...

I was able to complete the entire appointment using Japanese only with a little assistance from my host mom. I was relieved to find out that it would be possible for them to make me a new retainer, and it will be ready in a few weeks.

On my way out of the office, I set the slippers I had worn on top of the slipper machine, and they fell through the slots in the top of the machine and joined the pile of slippers inside the machine. I thought that machine to be an unusual, yet uniquely Japanese piece of technology.

Return to Synagogue

2009-12-06T06:49:00.002-06:00

I was in the mood to attend Friday night services at synagogue, so I made my way over this past Friday. Shabbat evening services begin at 6:15, which is earlier than what I'm used to, but they still begin after sundown as opposed to beforehand, which is not what I would expect at a synagogue with more a more observant congregation. I sat in the women's section, as usual, but I was the only woman sitting there. There were only about fifteen men praying, just barely a minyan, and there were barely any women at the synagogue at all, much less anyone praying. I wanted to pray, but I couldn't because the prayers were Sephardi prayers, and the service is almost entirely in Hebrew. I can't follow along in the prayer book because they pray very quickly, and they may jump around, so I just sit and listen to the prayers, wishing that I could join in. The visiting rabbi who comes every Shabbat to help lead services has a very kind wife named Yonah, and she talked with me this past week during the services in between praying and taking care of her child. I also met another kind woman named Root (Ruth in Hebrew), and I sat next to her and spoke with her a lot during Shabbat dinner. Both Yonah and Root are Japanese women who married Jewish men and converted to Judaism.

After services I was allowed to eat dinner with everyone. It is difficult to obtain kosher meat in Japan, so for the meat course everyone ate fish. I spoke in both Hebrew and Japanese with one of the men in the congregation a little during dinner. I found out that most of the men at that congregation are Israelis who come to Japan to work overseas for their Israeli companies. Some of the men start dating and eventually marry Japanese women, some of whom convert and become Modern Orthodox Jews. The men of course miss Israel and want to return, but if they do, what would become of the congregation here in Kobe?

"Rakugo"

2009-12-04T22:56:00.003-06:00

Last Sunday I went to a rakugo performance. Rakugo is comedic story telling, so there was a lot of laughter coming from the audience. The explanation was supposed to be geared toward exchange students and done in English, but the story teller, who had spent much time abroad, ended up giving most of the presentation in Japanese, probably because there were more Japanese people present than there were exchange students. He also had a heavy Japanese accent despite all the time he spent studying and working abroad, yet he could definitely communicate his ideas rapidly and in grammatically correct English. I didn't catch many of his stories and jokes at the beginning of his presentation because they were in Japanese, but I heard him mention some mishaps that occurred while he was traveling, including one that involved his shamisen (traditional Japanese instrument) case being mistaken for a rifle case.

Rakugo performers are also known for using props, such as a fan or a handkerchief, to assist in their presentations. This story teller used both a fan and a handkerchief, although he used the handerchief more frequently to wipe the sweat from his brow as opposed to using it as a prop for his stories, but he was still very funny, and he joked about how sweaty he became while performing (but since I was sitting in the front row, I could already tell quite clearly). He was also talented when it came to making sound effects, so as he used his fan as chopsticks, he made very realistic slurping sounds to imitate eating noodles. My previous belief was rakugo performances would be composed of jokes based on history or old-fashioned Japanese theatre, so without background knowledge I would not be able to understand much of a rakugo performance. However, this story teller joked about modern-day events that the audience could easily relate to, so I laughed a lot.

2009-11-30T15:31:00.002-06:00

Thanksgiving here in Japan was a less-than-exciting affair. There is no holiday of the sort, so celebrations were minimal. The director of my study abroad program did place an order of pumpkin pies through Costco, so each exchange student was allotted one piece during the Thursday afternoon lunch hour. But we were still in Japan, so we devoured our pumpkin pie using not forks, but chopsticks, of course.

Yesterday I returned to the same grilled chicken restaurant that I went to with Otousan a few weeks ago, but this time with a friend. I learned last night that I have no etiquette when it comes to eating yakitori, or grilled chicken. Last time I went, I just picked up the stick with the meat on it and ate the meat off of the stick. But last night, my friend gave me chopsticks to use, and I had no idea what to do. Apparently, one is supposed to take the meat off of the stick using the chopsticks, place the meat on the plate, and then eat it. I proceeded to take off the three pieces of meat from the stick and place them on the plate. Then my friend said, "You're supposed to take off only one piece of meat at a time, or else it's bad manners!" I also piled up the wooden sticks on my plate after removing the meat, but my friend told me to place the wooden sticks in a cup sitting on the edge of the table.

Last Sunday I had my second music rehearsal with my host cousin who lives across the street. We rehearsed the same four pieces we worked on last time, but everything sounded better this time, so I was pleased. I think my host mom is hoping my cousin and I can perform the pieces at a Konan University event someday, but I still become nervous when I perform, so we'll see. My Culture and Education course professor also requested that I play the violin at a college campus that our class will be visiting in a week and a half. He said that at the school when everyone is partaking of "high tea" it would be nice to share some of the exchange students' talents and interests.

Finals season is coming up. It unfortunately lasts for about three weeks here, as opposed to one week in the U.S. I start tomorrow with an in-class essay exam for Japanese language class, and things continue from there through December 22, when winter break begins. Japanese students don't start winter break till December 24th or 25th, so I consider myself lucky.

Wearing a Kimono at Arashi Mountain

2009-11-25T03:03:00.003-06:00

On Monday there was a country-wide holiday called Labor Thanks Day (comparable to the U.S.'s Labor Day), and thanks to the help of a very kind Japanese friend, I thoroughly enjoyed myself that day. Okaasan and another host mother, Nishiguchi-san, are friends, and Nishiguchi-san has a daughter named Yuya, with whom I am friends. Yuya invited me to go see the beautiful red maple leaves at Arashiyama, a mountain in Kyoto, and of course I accepted. What made the day even more fun was the fact that Yuya and I were allowed to borrow Nishiguchi-san's kimono (she owns three) and wear them to Kyoto!

I started off the day by going to Yuya's house to don the kimono. Putting on a kimono is a complicated process and it takes a lot of time, maybe twenty minutes or so. However, it is completely worth it, of course! Yuya's aunt, who holds a license in putting on kimono, dressed us in the correct manner. After we were dressed, we took the train to Kyoto (along with what seemed to be half of Japan - everyone had picked the holiday with fair weather as their day to venture to Arashiyama). I couldn't lean back against the seat while wearing a kimono on the train, and wearing a kimono kept my torso very straight, which I liked. I already have decent posture, so it was not uncomfortable to keep my back in an upright position.

Once we left the train, we joined throngs of people walking along the riverbank in western Kyoto in the Arashiyama environs. There is a famous, long bridge, and we crossed it and entered the commercial area, which was filled with restaurants and souvenir shops. We saw brightly colored maple leaves on the mountain side, and we walked through a garden next to the commercial area and saw even more fiery foliage. Yuya and I paid an admission fee for a temple complex, which allowed us to see even more beautiful autumn leaves in a different setting.

I received a lot more attention than I usually do as a foreigner because I was decked out in a kimono. I caught many people snapping pictures of me without asking, but on two separate occasions women did come up to me and Yuya and ask to take pictures with us, to which we consented. I felt slightly flattered but slightly embarrassed by all the attention.

Yuya and I thought we would stay to see the maple leaves lit up at night. The event started at 5:30, so we waited as the air cooled and the sky darkened, and at 5:25 as we made our way up to the entrance for the light show, I saw the seemingly endless line of people ahead of us waiting eagerly to view the lit-up leaves. I decided that my hands were cold and I would be okay without seeing the maple leaves lit up at night, so we decided to end the adventure there and head home. I really enjoyed viewing the vividly colored leaves, and I am grateful to Nishiguchi-san for letting me borrow one of her beautiful kimono to wear in Kyoto!

Kanazawa - Nov. 21 & 22

2009-11-24T02:22:00.004-06:00

This weekend was the second of three field trips for the foreign exchange students that will take place this year. This past weekend we took a bus to Kanazawa, a town on the western side of Japan near the sea. (Being near the sea = really fresh sushi!) The bus ride took a couple hours, and along the way we stopped by Eiheiji Temple, which is one of the two headquarters for the Soto Zen sect of Buddhism. Afterward we were scheduled to see a temple that was designed as if ninja had lived and worked there, but we were late because the highway was crowded, so we had to cancel our reservation. We arrived at our hotel in Kanazawa around five, and from their I went out to eat sushi at a restaurant with the conveyor belt that moves the sushi around the restaurant. Unfortunately, I didn't get a table next to the conveyor belt, so I had to use a touch-screen computer that was set up at my table to order sushi and other food.

The following morning we were driven to a beautiful park called Kenrokuen, which is known throughout Japan for its beauty and serenity. At this time of year, many Japanese and visitors alike are crazy about viewing the changing colors of the maple leaves, so I took notice of all the beautiful fall foliage in the park. Afterward I looked at some of the reconstructed sections of Kanazawa Castle (the original was struck by lightening), and then it was already time to return home. We started out the bus ride home around one with a one-hour stop at a place called Tojinbo. Tojinbo has beautiful cliffs, and we were scheduled to take a boat ride in order to see the cliffs, but the wind and waves were too strong that day, so that was cancelled as well. We climbed around on the rocks for an hour and took pictures. Many students (myself included) indulged in ice cream despite the chilly winds. Some people even tried squid flavored ice cream! (I passed on that and stuck with the more traditional vanilla/green tea mix). Despite the cancellations, the places we did see were beautiful, and we all enjoyed ourselves.

Assignment Procrastination

2009-11-20T00:04:00.002-06:00

Right now I am procrastinating in writing a paper for my Culture and Education class. The paper is not due until Monday and it only has to be a page or two in length, so I'm in no serious danger of failing the assignment, but all the same, I'm not quite sure about what to write. The assignment is to discuss comparative culture and comparative education. That is all. My issue is that it's such a broad topic, I'm not sure how to focus the direction of my essay. I suppose that it's great that I'm able to choose specifically about what I wish to write, and that there is nothing to limit my thinking. This should be a chance to show off my creativity and wow the professor with my brilliance, right? Too bad I don't feel as motivated as I should... I will write this essay based off of a two hour visit to Fukiai High School, an outstanding private high school in Kobe City that specializes in studying international cultures and English language. The students spoke English fairly well, although I still had to speak slowly and use simple grammar and vocabulary when speaking to the majority of them. Some students had more confidence than the average Japanese high school student when using English, which was nice to see. They were shy in speaking with us foreign exchange students, but I could tell that the interest was there in our cultures and different view points. One point Koji Sensei brought up in class which was thought-provoking for me is the idea of studying English to pass tests versus studying English to learn. I feel that the students at Fukiai High School are studying English because they are genuinely interested in learning the language. This point connects to the whole concept of cultural education. In the U.S. junior high and high school students are allowed to choose from amongst several foreign languages the one we wish to study, so U.S. high school students may have a genuine interest in the foreign languages they study. However, Japanese middle school and high school students are forced to study English, so even if they are more interested in Latin American or African cultures, they do not have a choice about which language and culture they may study. This may play a role in Japanese students as a whole performing more poorly on English language assessments than students in other countries.

Afternoon in Tokyo - Nov. 15

2009-11-17T06:20:00.002-06:00

Everyone in the Ueki family was busy today, so I left Chiba late in the morning and headed to Tokyo to meet up with two friends who are also studying abroad in Japan this year. They are spending their third year of college at Waseda University. I was supposed to meet up with them at noon, but they couldn't meet me until 2:00, so I had two hours to spare. I spent a good portion of time walking through Tokyo Station, because it is huge, with four floors and many shops. I had just exited the station when I received a text from Okaasan (the one in Kobe) informing me that Yoko had come down with influenza. I sent Okaasan a message asking if Yoko had swine flu, but Okaasan said that at this point, Japanese people aren't concerned with which type of flu anyone has, they just want the person to not contaminate anyone else. Yoko now has to take a week off of school, and she is restricted to her bedroom on the second floor.

Anyway, after that message, I just wandered around the area surrounding Tokyo Station. I didn't find it to be a happening, glamorous place, and I had a lot of luggage and bags with me, so I decided to sit in a coffee shop for a while. But when I realized that smoking was allowed in the coffee shop and everyone around me was doing it, I relocated to a ramen shop and enjoyed a tasty lunch.

I then walked back to the station to meet my friends, and we had a lot of fun catching up on camp news (these are friends I met at my part time job working as a camp counselor in Minnesota) and comparing our exchange experiences. They took me to an area of Tokyo known as Ueno, and I bought a full-body bear costume there. The bear's name is Korirakkuma, and it is a new toy in Japan that has become wildly popular, comparable to but not nearly as famous as Hello Kitty. I also bought my host family "Tokyo Banana," a popular sweet that's made in Tokyo and serves as a good souvenir. I don't see what the connection is between Tokyo and bananas, but hey, these Tokyo Bananas are in demand!

Braブラ Festival - Nov. 14

2009-11-17T03:01:00.003-06:00

Today Okaasan (my former host mother), Kotone, and Obaasan (Okaasan's mother) went to the Braブラまつり(BuraBura Festival) in Takomachi, a small town in the countryside about an hour outside of Chiba. "Bra" comes from the name of a town in Italy, and the phrase "Braブラ" (pronounced by Japanese people as "bura-bura") is a play on words of the Japanese onomatopoeia "bura bura," which means to walk in a meandering manner, figuratively speaking. At a bura bura festival, people who live in the area cook various types of foods in mass quantities and serve the food outside their houses to festival goers. So I was able to sample various types of vegetables, a peanut stew, mochi and dango (sweets), grilled sweet potato, etc. by walking around the village and going to people's houses. I was a little worried about the communal serving bowls for mass numbers of people due to the rampant influenza that is currently plaguing Japan, but I couldn't just not eat anything. I went to the festival with my host family, and I wanted to enjoy it. One has to be careful at these sorts of festivals to not eat too much at one place, otherwise one's stomach will quickly fill up and it will be difficult to enjoy all the various food.

At the end of the festival there was an event called mochimaki, in which men climb up on a tall platform and throw hard mochi, rice cakes, out to the festival goers. People can catch the rice cakes and claim them as prizes, and then take them home to grill and eat. I was standing next to Kotone, and the men began throwing the mochi. I was jumping up and down and scrambling around trying to capture as many as possible. I ended up catching two and retrieving two from the ground. Obaasan didn't partake in the event, but she held my coat for me. After all the mochi were thrown, I found Obaasan and Okaasan. Okaasan's pants were really muddy, and she explained that everyone was really aggressive when trying to get the mochi, so she was knocked over. Then the three of us couldn't find Kotone. We looked all over and finally saw her coming toward us with a man we didn't know. Then we noticed that something was wrong. She had blood all over her arms and shirt and was holding a wad of tissues up to her nose. When she arrived, she explained that she was hit in the nose by a flying mochi! It took a while for her nose to stop bleeding, too. Of course it's horrible that she was hurt, but how many people can say that they've been hit by a flying mochi?

Anyway, I feel lucky to have met the Ueki family. Thanks in part to Okaasan's job as an event coordinator for Chiba Corporation, I have attended many events in rural areas, and I feel that I get a unique view of a different side of Japanese life that not many other foreign exchange students get to see by going to these events. Thank you, Okaasan!

Shinkansen Ride to Chiba - Nov. 13

2009-11-17T01:27:00.004-06:00

After a short absence from blogging, I'm back! I was gone all weekend on a trip to Chiba (a city 25 kilometers to the east of Tokyo), so I didn't have computer access. I rode the Shinkansen (bullet train) to Tokyo and then took an express train out to Chiba to see my host family from three and a half years ago. We've kept in touch, and I was really itching to see them. Plus, I had some Frango mints from Chicago to give them, and I wanted to hand over the candies before too much longer.

But I was really excited to see my former host family because I can actually speak Japanese now and have conversations, so it was so much easier to communicate with them. I could learn more about them and learn a lot from them just by being able to speak Japanese.

I rode the "Nozomi Super Express" Shinkansen to Shinagawa station in Tokyo, and then from there took a rapid train out to Chiba. This was my first experience with the bullet train. The train is very convenient for me because the Shinkansen station happens to be a ten minute bus ride from my host family's home. The train is, of course, very quick, and it's a simpler process than flying in an airplane. My only complaint was that since everyone was eating inside the train, it smelled strongly of fish and snack food.

I got to Chiba and my former host mother and her elder daughter Kotone, who is 18, picked me up from the station. When we arrived at their house I saw Makoto, the younger daughter, too. Their house looked exactly the same, and it smelled the same, too! I was surprised that I recognized the smell of their house, but as soon as I walked through the door, I did! It's not unpleasant at all, simply unique.

We talked in the kitchen for a while and ate a late dinner of oden, which is food simmered in a pot. The most commonly found ingredients in oden are burdock (not frequently eaten in the U.S.), Japanese radish (yes, different from U.S. radishes), and various types of fish. My former host father came home very late, as he always does, around ten o'clock or so, after we had finished dinner, so I didn't have much of a chance to speak with him.

Surprise Classroom Visit

2009-11-12T05:49:00.001-06:00

My Culture and Education class professor, Koji Sensei, found me during lunch and asked me if I would sit in on his class with Japanese students and make comments. The class is discussion-based and conducted in English. Today, his students came to class having read Obama's inaugural address and having analyzed specific parts that resonated with them. Various students presented a three-minute summary of why they thought their chosen part of the inaugural address was important, and what it meant to them. Myself and two other exchange students from the United States also contributed with our views as American citizens. We talked about the United States' responsibility to itself and to the rest of the world in terms of respect and philanthropy. We tried to analyze how human love could be used as a tactic to help motivate the United States to solve its own internal dilemmas and help other countries ameliorate their own policies and lifestyles. We also contemplated the meaning of global citizenship, being responsible for the world in times of increasing interconnectedness. I don't always study politics, so I tried to give my opinions as best as possible and analyze what the students said to the best of my ability, yet I sometimes felt slightly unsure of what to say.

On a different note, I'm currently occupied with travel plans. I'm heading off to Tokyo tomorrow, so I need to pack my backpack for my two-night stay with my host family of three years ago. I also need to study for my Japanese test that I have tomorrow morning!!!

Yakitori with Otousan!

2009-11-09T06:01:00.003-06:00

Tonight I had a one-of-a-kind cultural experience: eating yakitori (grilled chicken) at a yakitori restaurant with Otousan!!! I was taking a walk with one of my friends, Shoji, when I got a call from an unknown number. I didn't answer the call since I was with a friend, but when the same number called again, I picked up and found out it was Otousan. He and I had talked a week ago about going to eat yakitori but never got around to it. So when he asked if I could come right then and there, of course I said yes. I walked with Shoji to the train station, met my host father there, and then we walked to the yakitori restaurant.

The restaurant was very small. Upon entering, I saw a counter with about ten seats around it. Then there was a slight protrusion from the wall and there were a few (maybe three) tables in the back section of the restaurant. Otousan and I sat at the counter. He ordered various chicken dishes for us to try, most of which were seasoned with soy sauce. I ate chicken skin (my favorite), chicken liver, chicken ligaments (which I had tried before), and chicken hearts. Otousan and I had some very interesting conversation as well. One of the topics which we discussed is my attitude toward achievement. It didn't take him long after meeting me to realize that I am a perfectionist, and he, like everyone else I know, believes I am too hard on myself. He says it's bad for my health to be so hard on myself, and he thinks that I have bigger things to worry about than, for example, a grade on a single chapter exam, so he wants me to not worry so much. Of course I agree with him, but whether I can follow through with this or not is something else.

2009-11-08T06:17:00.002-06:00

I had a very relaxed weekend. Yesterday I traveled to Osaka for my first violin lesson with my new violin teacher! We spoke English during the lesson, which helped me to better understand her critiques and comments. When she played her violin to demonstrate to me how to improve my playing, her playing was incredible. I am very grateful to my violin teacher from my high school days for recommending this teacher in Osaka. I will have a lesson once a month here, which is less frequent than my number of monthly lessons in the U.S., but I will try to work hard each month so I can learn the most with my new teacher. It takes about two hours to get from my host family's home in Kobe to my teacher's home in Osaka, but the lesson was totally worth it, and now I feel as though I have a new mastery of the subway and some other train lines in Osaka.

Today I spent most of the day at home, but I did go on two walks. In the morning I took the family dogs for a walk with Okaasan, and in the afternoon I met up with a friend and we walked to a nearby park. I had a very interesting conversation with my friend about relationships between men and women in Japan. We discussed how a Japanese man shows his devotion for his wife in different ways than does a man from the United States. I have heard many stories from other exchange students about their host fathers' actions at the dinner table. When their host fathers want more rice, they simply hand their bowl to the host mother without saying anything, the host mother refills the bowl with rice, hands it back to the host father, who doesn't say anything and commences eating. I told my friend that in the U.S., if the husband did not get additional rice himself, he would at least thank his wife for bringing it to him. My friend replied that Japanese husbands may not always show their appreciation by saying thank you, but he believes that Japanese husbands do love their wives very much and that their appreciation and emotions manifest themselves in other ways. He said that Japanese husbands always try to protect their wives and children when the need arises, and when Japanese women find themselves in difficult situations, their husbands will not try to avoid the situations or run away, but will stick by the women and help them solve the problem. My friend said that this demonstrates their love and devotion to their wives as opposed to frequent hugs, kisses, and saying thank you.

My Part-time Job - Nov. 5

2009-11-07T08:14:00.004-06:00

Every Thursday afternoon from 2:45 to 3:45 I tutor Konan University students in English. I go to the office that runs the tutoring program and obtain the room key and sign-in sheet, and then I go to the English tutoring room on the sixth floor of the same building and work with fellow students. Various students visit the tutoring room, most in search of speaking practice. We talk about whatever is on our minds, from the meaning of the word citizenship to English slang to relationships. I have found that many of the students who are majoring in English Literature and who attend the tutoring sessions are quite competent in spoken English, and I am impressed. Each student must sign in on the sign-in sheet and state the purpose of their visit to the tutoring session, so I have also had a few students come to the sessions in search of homework help. I assisted one of my friends with her studies for her upcoming English vocabulary quiz, and she told me she obtained the second-highest grade in the class on that quiz. I am proud of her. I also helped her review a speech she gave for her English class. I took some photos of some of the other tutors, who are exchange students, and some of the other Konan University students who came to the tutoring session to practice English conversation.

Violin Presentation and Dinner in Osaka - Nov. 4

2009-11-06T06:48:00.003-06:00

Today I gave a presentation in Japanese class about the violin. We are all required to give ten-minute long presentations about a topic that interests us. One of my Japanese teachers suggested I present on the violin, so I thought, "Why not?" If I ran out of things to say, I figured I could just start playing the violin to take up more time...

But I had plenty of things to say. I talked about the different orchestras I have played in, my summer music experiences, my views on practicing, and my previous private lesson experiences. I demonstrated how to set up the bow and violin to prepare to play, and I played a short piece called Hamabe no Uta, which I learned here in Japan. I took such a long time with my presentation that the person presenting after me didn't have much time to speak! But no one was complaining...

In the evening I met up with a Mexican friend of mine who lives in Osaka. He took me out to dinner at a Mexican restaurant, so I got to eat very delicious chicken enchiladas with salsa verde and also practice speaking Spanish. My friend Jorge is twenty-five and works as an engineer for a construction company in Osaka. I am enjoying getting to know various people who are part of the Japanese workforce because it is interesting to hear about what it's like to be employed in Japan. There are language barriers, however, because I am fluent in neither Spanish nor Japanese, but I try to ask and learn as much as possible.

Visit to Himeji - Nov. 4

2009-11-06T01:31:00.003-06:00

On Tuesday I finally visited Himeji Castle. Okaasan and I went together and had another adventure. I really enjoy her company, but I hope I'm also spending equal amounts of time with my host family and with friends.

Himeji Castle is simply exquisite. It is, of course, built on top of a hill, and there are beautiful views of Himeji City from all parts of the castle. It is hard to know how much of the castle that is currently standing is authentic, but I did visit Princess Sen's living quarters, which were authentic. I also went during the one-week time period when special parts of the castle that are not normally open to the public were open. I got to see a small tower and the toilet area of the main castle, both of which are areas into which the public usually is denied entry. After we saw the castle, Okaasan and I visited some beautiful gardens next to the castle. The castle was quite crowded with sight-seers, so I was glad to visit the peaceful, quiet gardens.

After I returned home, Okaasan did a little extra shopping in Himeji City and bought me some socks to help me keep warm in my room. I didn't mention this in my previous post, but one reason that houses become rather cold during the winter is there is no internal heating system in houses. They heat the floors with electricity, but there are no radiators or furnaces. I'll have to compensate by wearing more clothing than I do at home in the United States.

It's Chilly Here! - Nov. 3

2009-11-05T07:30:00.003-06:00

The orientation handbook I received at U of I did not exaggerate about the weather becoming quite cold here in Japan!!! The weather was mild until the beginning of November. Then, this past Sunday, it suddenly became quite cold.

My bedroom and living area seem to mirror the outside temperature, which means it is extremely hot in my room during the summer and extremely cold in my room during the winter. Okaasan brought an electric carpet into my room from the main part of the house, so that helps keep the room slightly warm. I also bundle up in several layers within my house to keep warm. Taking showers is not such a pleasant experience because contact with the cold air upon finishing the showers is rather uncomfortable.

I've moved my violin and music stand from my room to the main part of the house, which is warmer than my living area. Also, my host family lets me practice violin in the main part of the house, which is incredibly kind of them! Now I just have to overcome my embarrassment of playing in front of people and get used to practicing in front of them!

Visit to Kyoto! - Nov. 1

2009-11-03T02:08:00.004-06:00

Today I went to Kyoto with Okaasan! It was my first visit to Kyoto, which is such a famous city known for its wealth of temples and shrines. The weather started out sunny and warm as we walked to the train station in Kobe, but after we finished our visit at the Golden Pavilion in Kyoto, it began to rain.

So first, let me back up. I did go to the Golden Pavilion, and I was so excited about this! The Golden Pavilion is an extremely beautiful, gold-colored, three floor building within a temple complex called Rokuon-ji Temple. It was erected centuries ago; however, the building tourists visit today is not the original, I think that it was rebuilt a few centuries ago. Nobility or feudal lords lived in the area surrounding the Golden Pavilion, both of which are World Heritage sites.

Next we went to a shrine about fifteen minutes away from the Golden Pavilion. It was not a World Heritage site, but Okaasan has visited this shrine before so she thought it would be nice to show me. When we got there, she spotted a miko-san, or a woman who assists brides during wedding ceremonies. We then saw a bride and groom come out of a side building near the shrine. They formed a procession and walked toward the shrine, finally entering the shrine structure which is off-limits for regular visitors. It turned out that this was the bride and groom's wedding ceremony, so Okaasan and I were able to watch it from twenty-five feet away. It is rare to see a wedding ceremony because normally only close relatives are invited to keep the cost low. It is, however, more normal to have expensive wedding parties after the ceremony. But the normal marriage ceremony is usually reserved for family. Indeed, there were about twelve or so relatives in attendance at this ceremony.

After we watched part of the wedding ceremony, Okaasan and I ate lunch at a tofu restaurant. It served all different types of tofu dishes. We had fried, crispy tofu (not fried in oil but browned and slightly flaky), warm tofu on a stick covered in a salty miso sauce, and cold tofu in a bowl covered with fish flakes. Apparently this is food typical of Kyoto, so I was pleased to indulge.

Okaasan wished to take me to a shrine after eating lunch, but she took a wrong turn and we ended up at a temple complex. Normally we would have enjoyed walking around and viewing the various buildings, but the rain was coming down pretty hard at this point, so we decided to head home. Despite the rain I thoroughly enjoyed my first visit to Kyoto.

Saturday, October 31

2009-11-02T03:17:00.002-06:00

Halloween is not celebrated in Japan the way it is celebrated in the United States. However, there were various parties in restaurants, bars, and clubs in Osaka and Kobe this past Saturday night. I went to a restaurant in Osaka with my Peruvian friend Duñia and her husband.

Duñia is my classmate Kevin's host mother, and I am on good terms with her and her family. Her husband is Japanese, and they have three children, but just the parents came out to the restaurant tonight. They also brought Kevin. Before going to the restaurant, I spent a few hours in Osaka with Yusuke, an acquaintance who is Kevin's host dad's fellow employee for Dell in Osaka. Yusuke and I did some shopping and walked around the city. It's fun to walk through Osaka and see what kind of fashion is currently in style. We also looked for people wearing interesting Halloween costumes, but we didn't see too many costumes. There was good music playing at the restaurant, so we all danced and ate delicious Mexican food. We returned home to Kobe very late at night, but Duñia and her husband, Okamura-san, took me out for a late-night meal of ramen before they dropped me off at my host family's home.

Duñia is a very caring and selfless person. She invites me to spend time with her, she speaks Spanish with me, and she looks after me. Okamura-san drove to and from Osaka so that we didn't have to wait for the trains to start running on Sunday morning in order to return home. They are very kind, and I appreciate their generosity. I enjoy spending time with them.

Thursday, October 30

2009-10-29T05:12:00.003-05:00

I just added some photos to various blog entries starting from Sunday, October 11 through more recent posts. Enjoy!

Today I completed my second hour of tutoring Konan University students in English. Last week about six students showed up, but this week only one student came, so I was surprised. I practiced English conversation with her for half and hour, and then I quizzed her on vocabulary words by saying them out loud so she could repeat them with the correct pronunciation. She then wrote down the words to make sure she knew how to spell them.

I also had an adventure today with another foreign exchange student friend named Emma as we went to the Kobe City Immigration Office to obtain work visas. Since I have a part-time job, my current visa, which gives me a student status, is not sufficient. So Emma and I walked through a new part of town that I hadn't previously been to the immigration office, and I now have a work visa!

2009-10-27T05:51:00.002-05:00

All that talk about the different stages in the study abroad program, the honeymoon period, the culture shock period, and the depression period, I was hoping it was all baloney, but it seems to be turning out to be true. I feel so unhappy right now. Not about anything in particular. Well, maybe all these things seem to be piling up, and then I just end up feeling like I want to cry sometimes. And today I actually did cry in the middle of Japanese class.

It's not even that I'm crying about something that's worth crying over, I just became easily frustrated today when I couldn't write a kanji correctly. When I talked to one of my friends after class, he said to relax because he's studied Japanese for five or six years, so why should I compare myself to him when I have studied for a much shorter time? All my friends from E class were worried about me yesterday, and they said I just drew more attention to myself by leaving class, so next time I should just stay in class, even if I'm upset. But when I left, a stranger came up to me and asked me if I was okay, and we had a really fun conversation about Japan. He didn't ask me for a name or phone number, he just talked with me and distracted me from my own thoughts, and it was really nice of him.

At least I'm getting along well with Yoko now. We walked to the local movie and CD store, Tsutaya, which seems to be a chain store in the area, and looked for Miley Cyrus music (she really likes Hannah Montana) and then watched Confessions of a Shopaholic late into the night. Of course I felt really guilty the entire time because I knew I should be studying and I would just be tired and grumpy the next day from lack of sleep, but at the same time, I need some bonding time with Yoko, and I had a lot of fun.

International Friendship Festival and Kendo Lessons in Himeji City

2009-10-25T05:45:00.003-05:00

This weekend was filled with fun. I ate dinner at an Italian restaurant in Sannomiya (the downtown center of Kobe) on Friday night with Joey, Garrity, and Kenken. Joey is from Maui, Garrity is another U of I student, and Kenken is from Wakayama prefecture (about an hour from Kobe by train) here in Japan. His real name is Norihito, but he has this adorable knickname Kenken.

On Saturday morning I returned to Sannomiya to buy myself some socks. Half the pairs of socks I brought from home have holes in them, so I bought about six new pairs.

In the afternoon I went over to Kevin (my fellow foreign exchange student)'s host family's house and attended a dinner party there. His host mother is Peruvian, and I enjoy speaking Spanish with her. I met her friend Cati, who is from La Repùblica Dominicana, so I was able to speak a little Spanish with Cati as well. I also met one of Mr. Okamura (Kevin's host father)'s younger coworkers, Yusuke. We all enjoyed a delicious dinner composed primarily of Peruvian dishes. There was fried meat, roast chicken (I got to carve one, Kevin taught me how), and a special sauce that had a name in Quechua, so I'm having trouble remembering the name now. We also ate two cakes, one cake with whipped vanilla frosting and covered in fruit that the Okamura family bought at a store, and an apple cake that I made with Okaasan at home and brought over as a gift.

Today I went to Himeji city. It is well-known for Himeji Castle, and even though I could see the castle from where I spent the day, I did not have time to go see it. But I will return soon to visit the castle, and in the meantime, I enjoyed myself immensely today in Himeji. I went to an International Friendship Festival with my Japanese pen-pal friend Saki and Maddy, another exchange student from Konan University. We saw dances from many different cultures, such as hula dance and hip hop, we ate food from various countries such as Malaysian friend banana balls and Brazilian sweet cake, and Maddy and I received a kendo (the way of the sword) lesson from this nice high school boy who studies kendo in Himeji city. He and his father, who is a kendo master, did some demonstrations at the fair. Maddy and I learned the kendo moves with foam swords so we wouldn't do any damage to ourselves. I now have a certificate confirming my completion of a "play sport" course in kendo!

2009-10-22T09:16:00.002-05:00

Today I had such a humbling experience, courtesy of a boy named Yusuke, whom I met only earlier today, and whom I may never see again. I completed my first hour of my new part time job, English tutoring, today from 2:45 to 3:45. During the hour, six Japanese students came, and together we had a conversation in English. One girl, Noriko, asked me if I knew anything about メイドきっさ(meido kissa), or maid cafes. I told her I had heard of them and knew the general idea behind the running of a maid cafe. Then Yusuke asked me if I considered maid cafes to be a part of Japanese culture, and I replied, "yes." Yusuke then said, "I am sorry to hear that."

I immediately felt that I had offended him. I said, "Well, I do not consider maid cafes to be part of traditional Japanese culture, but they originated in Japan, and there are not, to my knowledge, maid cafes in other parts of the world." But I felt that the damage had been done, and now I'm wondering if some boy whom I barely know has this image of me as a thoughtless foreigner who holds incorrect stereotypes about various aspects of Japanese society. I don't see myself in that way, and I would be ashamed if anyone did.

After dinner tonight, I told Okaasan and Otousan about the exchange Yusuke and I had earlier today. Okaasan and Otousan both said that if they heard me say that I consider maid cafes to be a part of Japanese culture, they would have the same reaction Yusuke did. I asked why, explaining again that I don't consider maid cafes to be traditional, but since they are unique to Japan, I would consider them to be a part of Japanese culture. After I mentioned this, an intense discussion ensued, most of which was over my head due to the fact that Otousan uses sophisticated vocabulary and speaks quickly. But with my two years of study of Japanese and my will to learn, I was able to catch some of what Otousan was saying, helped by slowly spoken elaborations from Okaasan. Otousan said that maid cafes are not culture, they are a specific lifestyle for a select group of people (including both patrons and employees). Maid cafes are too specific of a phenomenon to characterize as culture. Furthermore, maid cafes and those who work/patronize maid cafes are not highly regarded by those who do not partake of those activities, and it may be insulting for such an undesirable phenomenon to be considered culture, because culture is generic term that applies to a majority of people. For those reasons, my earlier statement was most likely offensive or disappointing to Yusuke, Okaasan, and Otousan.

One thought I took away from this whole experience is that I must rethink my definition of culture. This comes as a shock to me, for I always considered myself to be a culturally aware and culturally sensitive person. But a seemingly harmless statement can still offend anyone, and I suppose since I made such a generalization, I do not truly understand the definition of the word culture.

2009-10-21T05:01:00.003-05:00

2009-10-21T04:42:00.003-05:00

This afternoon I came home from school with a heavy heart knowing that I had hours of studying ahead of me. Not only do I have two projects, a group project and an individual project, due tomorrow for my Business and Management class, but I also have a kanji test and a reading test in Japanese class tomorrow. The teachers sure know how to pile on the work all at the same time! So I see my host father doing some gardening in the backyard. I explained to him how I wanted to go out to karaoke with some friends, but instead I had to come home early so I could study. I was hoping to elicit some sympathy from him, but instead all he said was 勉強しなさい (benkyo shinasai), which is a quite informal command form for "so go study," said by someone who is clearly a superior to someone who is younger. Maybe Otousan responded this way because he is a teacher himself...? I'm not mad, though, I thought his response was funny. Speaking of Otousan, he is always out in the backyard doing some kind of gardening whenever he has free time during the day and he's at home. My host family's home is unusual in that they have a backyard, which is more than many people in Japan can say, even though it is quite small compared to my family's backyard at home. I would like to ask Otousan about what he does all day in the backyard, but somehow I don't feel like I can. Maybe that means I'm not as comfortable with my host family as I thought...? But I don't think I could ever ask to help him out there, it's like the garden is his own private turf. Whereas I feel comfortable asking Okaasan to help her cook dinner even though the kitchen definitely is her turf. Anyway, I've actually learned a lot in accounting class. I didn't know a thing about balance sheets and profit and loss statements in the U.S., but now I know the important figures to look at when reading those sheets. I know how to calculate certain ratios, such as the current ratio and the equity ratio, and I know which figures to use in order to calculate those ratios. I also know how to use the information I've found to draw certain conclusions about whether a company is at risk or is safe. I'm quite glad I've learned a little about accounting. As I'm typing this post, there is a car driving by my window that is blaring a loud message through megaphones. Many cars have been doing that lately. If I am just sitting in my room, I occasionally hear cars go by that are blaring loud announcements. I'm not sure for what purpose people are making announcements because I haven't asked a Japanese person yet, but I'm guessing the cars and announcements may be for the upcoming municipal elections in Kobe. I've heard that there will be an election soon, but I'm not sure when. Anyway, it's another interesting cultural difference!

2009-10-20T00:46:00.003-05:00

Sunday evening I tasted Kobe beef for the first time! Unfortunately, it may also be the last time due to the price, but it was so delicious! It really did melt in my mouth! I went to a restaurant in Hotel Okura, the same hotel at which I stayed during my orientation during the first few days of this study abroad trip, with four other foreign exchange students from my program, and we all thoroughly enjoyed the meal. We were also served grilled vegetables, soup, and rice, with apple sorbet for dessert. The meat was accompanied by a creamy miso sauce and a salty soy-type sauce. There was also spicy mustard and salt for the meat. My only criticism of the meal was that the food and sauces were slightly salty for my taste. But Japanese cuisine uses a lot of salt, and I think it's believed to be good for the body by people living here in Japan. At this restaurant the meat was grilled in front of our eyes, so we could see the server cook it. She was very friendly and quite complimentary of our Japanese language speaking ability. When I returned home from the hotel on Sunday evening, I was informed by my host family that I am no longer allowed to climb up Mount Maya to do pull-ups by myself. They said it's simply not safe because there are not a lot of people on the mountain, so if I were to encounter someone, I could easily be assaulted. They are trying to prevent anything bad from happening to me, and I understand where they are coming from and appreciate their protection, so I'm not too disappointed. Besides, I have other foreign exchange student friends who want to do pull-ups with me, so I won't have trouble finding people to accompany me. In fact, I will be going up to the mountain shortly to exercise, so I must be off!

2009-10-18T09:09:00.004-05:00

This weekend included a lot of shopping. I'm lacking warm clothes, and Kobe became cold more quickly than I originally anticipated, so I decided to brave the crowds and check out the stores in downtown Kobe. On Saturday afternoon I went shopping with Yoko, and that was an interesting experience. She took me to a bunch of stores that sold cute clothes with intricate patterns and designs, and I while I admire Japanese women for wearing their fashion sense, I could never picture myself wearing the same style. So I didn't feel like buying anything at those stores, and we ended up at a karaoke store instead, singing the afternoon away (me in English and Yoko in Japanese). Today I went shopping with an elementary school friend of Ryosuke's whose name is Yuri (her name means "lily" in English). She is about my age, so she took me to stores with sophisticated yet still cute and modest clothes. I wasn't too interested in those types of clothes, but when she took me to a different shopping area that had simply designed yet form-fitting clothes, I perked up. I found out some interesting rules about clothes shopping in Japan today. One must remove her shoes before entering the dressing room, and if one is wearing makeup, she must place a disposable gauze net over head while putting on or removing the store's clothes to avoid rubbing facial makeup on the clothing. I felt so silly standing in the dressing room with a huge gauze net over my head. But I purchased one shirt today, so I guess in that sense today's shopping trip was slightly more successful than yesterday's.

2009-10-16T09:55:00.004-05:00

I took another test in Japanese class today. Japanese is still difficult, and it's a favorite question for Japanese people to ask me: "Is Japanese language difficult to learn?" I always answer yes, but if people compliment me on my language skills I feel happy because it's nice to receive some positive feedback.

My Business and Management in Japan class has become challenging for me. Our current unit is an overview of accounting, for which I have no background. However, I am working on a group project with three very kind classmates, one of whom is a fellow U of I student who majored in accounting, and the other two are studying abroad in conjunction with the Cologne Business School, so I am in very good hands. They are all very patient and help me out as I try to get the hang of the current ratio and equity ratio and other such equations that are completely foreign to me but apparently second-hand to those studying business.

This evening to celebrate the end of the week, students wanted to get together on the beach and grill some barbecue meat. We bought vegetables and packages of meat and brought them to the beach, but shortly after we arrived, beach security came over and told us we couldn't grill on the beach! We were so disappointed, but the grandfather of one of the Japanese students in the group happened to own a restaurant a few train stops away from the beach, and the student said we could bring our food there and the people in the restaurant would cook it for us! So we were still able to eat grilled meat and spend quality time with our friends.

We had an earthquake drill in class today, hence the picture of students crouching under desks. I also rode my friend Toru's motorcycle today! Don't worry, I wore a helmet while riding the motorcycle!

2009-10-13T07:07:00.003-05:00

A few things I've learned about Japanese beliefs since I arrived here almost a month and a half ago...

Do not whistle at night time while walking outside. It is believed that the sound of whistling will attract thieves or people who may try to harm you.

It is considered bad luck to kill spiders if you find one inside your home because spiders are said to help keep homes clean. Instead, one should try to relocate the spider to an outdoor area.

Japanese people believe in the phenomenon of shokuyoku, or a big appetite, occurring each autumn. It is said that once the weather becomes cool (which, unfortunately, it has), appetites increase, and people are not going outdoors as much and thus not expending as many calories as they do during the summer.

Maybe this explains why I have been feeling the urge to eat a lot lately. However, I'm trying to combat the imminent weight gain by getting out and enjoying the surrounding mountains. Today a friend and I walked twenty minutes up the path on Mount Maya near my host family's home and found some pull-up bars. We did pull-ups and chin-ups and then walked back down the mountain.

Just as I thought, I did not do as well on yesterdays' test as I would have liked. However, I have another test in Japanese class this Friday and then three midterm examinations for Japanese class next week, so I have plenty of chances to boost my grade.

2009-10-11T07:59:00.003-05:00

Today citizens all across Japan celebrated 秋まつり (aki matsuri, or Autumn Festival). My friend Saki kindly invited me to celebrate with her in her hometown area, which is a two-hour train ride from Kobe. I enjoyed the trip out to the countryside, and the celebrations were immensely fun to watch. I feel as though I had a true cultural experience today.

I met up with Saki and with Maddie, another foreign exchange student, at the train station in downtown Kobe around 9:30 A.M. We then rode the train for two hours to a town called Fukusaki. Saki herself is from Shinmachi, a smaller town near Fukusaki. Fukusaki is a sort of centrally located area between many small towns in that area of Hyogo Prefecture. To celebrate the autumn festival, each local ward brings out a yatai, which supposedly weighs 1,400 kilograms, and ideally is held up by seventy men. The yatai is difficult for me to describe because I can't find an exact definition for it. It is a type of cart, stand, or framework made out of bamboo. On top of the stand is a gilded structure covered in brocade and rich fabric, elaborately adorned with tassels, lanterns, and other designs and objects. It looks like a one-room house, and inside are four taiko, or drums, and four boys, ages 10-12, play the taiko as the (ideally) seventy men carry the yatai through the town streets toward the shrine where they will pray for three hours to ask for a fruitful harvest. Fukusaki is famous for celebrating the autumn festival because twelve yatai from twelve surrounding ward areas are brought to Fukusaki, and then together in one huge procession the twelve yatai are carried to a nearby shrine area and the three hours of prayer commence.

I enjoyed the atmosphere, which was full of excitement and merriment. Only men carry the yatai, and only boys play the taiko. Women and girls enjoy the festivities through watching. The men carry the yatai many kilometers through the countryside (or through the city if they celebrate in an urban area), and it is very heavy. So to help ease the burden, men wake up very early (before seven) on the morning of the autumn festival and commence drinking at about seven in the morning. They drink for a few hours (or until sufficiently drunk), and then carry the yatai to the shrine. Thus there were many drunk, energetic men (anywhere from ages 18 to ~70) running through the streets today, and I saw some very surprising behavior (men chugging beer and dancing on the sidewalks) and heard some funny comments (things people normally would not say if sober). The yatai looked extremely heavy to carry, however, so everyone was grunting and sweating as they bore the yatai up the road toward the shrine. Groups from local wards were always conscious of their wa, group harmony, and energy, so the groups had to work as a team and always appear energetic while bearing the yatai.

I was so happy at the end of the day to have partaken in such a festival. I feel as though I experienced a unique part of Japan and that I learned a lot about Japanese culture today.

2009-10-10T08:26:00.002-05:00

Oddly enough, my first experience shopping at Costco was in Japan, not the United States, and it occurred this morning. I went to Costco in Kobe with Okaasan and one of Okaasan's friends, Naito-san ("san" is an honorific term which means Mr., Mrs. or Miss), who is a host mother for another student from U of I who is on the Year-in-Japan program. Naito-san actually has the membership with Costco, so thanks to her I was able to go. The quantities sure are large, and I hope that I can finish all the snacks and use up all the toiletries I purchased there within the next eight months! I was explaining to Naito-san why I decided to purchase a variety pack of Pepperidge Farm cookies (Milano cookies were included, how could I resist?), and an older woman who was strolling by with her cart stopped and just started looking at the cookie box. I could tell she was listening in on my conversation, but I wasn't sure why. After I finished explaining to Naito-san why I was going to purchase those cookies, the woman walked away, and I asked Naito-san why the lady had listened in on our conversation. Naito-san explained that many of the brands and products found at Costco are new to Japanese people, but if a Japanese person knows that I come from the United States, they think that I'll be familiar with the brands and products and thus be able to provide trustworthy recommendations as to which products are worth purchasing. Maybe I should look for part-time work at Costco...?

Friday, October 9

2009-10-09T17:43:00.003-05:00

Today in Culture and Education in Japan, we discussed the concept of Orientalism. Kouji sensei (sensei means teacher) asked us to come to class with examples of Orientalism. Another student from U of I brought up The Mikado, a nineteenth-century operetta composed by Gilbert and Sullivan of England. The only time I have seen this operetta was in the summer of the year 2000, when I was an eleven-year-old going into sixth grade. I loved the operetta at the time, but haven't given it much thought since. But yesterday in class, my classmate discussed how it is an example of Orientalism because it portrays Japan based on views held by westerners that are offensive to some Japanese. As soon as he said that, my mind immediately jumped to the female lead's name, which is Yum-Yum. My classmate said that the operetta became hugely popular in England upon release; however, when a member of the Japanese royal family came to visit Japan in the late 1800s, all performances were temporarily suspended because society knew that the production would offend him. I am now curious to see the operetta again and reevaluate my opinion based on what I learned in class yesterday.

2009-10-07T23:14:00.002-05:00

Last night Otousan pulled out the wind-up battery-powered radio/alarm, and we all took turns winding it up around the dinner table as we watched the evening news for the latest typhoon updates. We wouldn't know for sure if school was going to be cancelled or not until this morning, but we watched the projected path of the typhoon on the television screen, and it looked as though it could come toward Kobe.

After dinner I was sitting at the table doing homework when I noticed that the wind had become really strong. I started feeling a little nervous, so I told Okaasan and Otousan that I would head back into my room in my separate area of the house for the night so I could get in safely before the storm hit. Otousan handed me a huge, red flashlight and told me to take it to my room for safety. He also cautioned me to take a shower sooner rather than later because no one knew if or when we would lose power. The imminent storm draws closer, yet one of the most pressing matters in people's minds is cleanliness. I told Otousan that if we lost power and I still hadn't taken a shower, I would just go stand outside for a minute.

The wind was howling away last night, and as it was coming from the north and the east, my windows were rattling especially loudly. The wind would blow very strongly for a while, then stop, then pick up a short while later. I still heard cars and motorbikes from the street outside my window, though, so there were a few daredevils out last night. The rain was coming down pretty hard, but not so much so that it completely obstructed one's vision. I had trouble falling asleep, though because the wind was quite loud.

This morning I woke up early to the sound of a gentle rain falling outside. By nine thirty or so, the rain had stopped, and an hour later the sun was shining brightly overhead. So the typhoon is all gone from the Kansai region, but now it's in the Kantou area, near Tokyo, and also hitting Nagano prefecture. I heard Otousan's mother lost power in her home in Nagano.

Morning lessons were cancelled for me, and Otousan and Yoko have the entire day off of school. I, however, must report to university for my fifth period class this afternoon. So ends my first typhoon experience.

2009-10-07T00:03:00.002-05:00

I did not feel very well on Monday, and yesterday I just got caught up in living life in Japan (I had a wonderfully normal day), so I have not posted a blog entry since Sunday.

On Sunday evening I did not sleep very much, and then I ate a huge bag of doughnuts on Monday afternoon, so my tiredness and the energy crash I experienced about an hour after eating the doughnuts left me with a big headache. I went to sleep early on Monday evening and felt refreshed on Tuesday when I woke up.

I decided on Sunday evening after staying up really late finishing homework and studying kanji that the Japanese class in which I currently study is too difficult for me. I do not even know all the concepts or kanji the students in the second highest class study, so why am I in the highest class? Then on Monday morning I received my grade for my second test, and I was quite pleased. I still think that the Japanese class is very hard, but I'll take this next test two days from today and see how I do on that test. If I do well again, maybe my current class is doable with a lot of work on my part.

Yesterday evening Okaasan taught me how to make okonomiyaki. It is literally a meat, seafood, and vegetable pancake, and the batter is made of egg and flour. I believe okonomiyaki may be a sort of style of cooking as well, because you can incorporate many types of vegetables and meats into the pancake to cater to one's own liking, and there are many okonomiyaki restaurants across the country. But back to last night, I was beginning to feel a little antsy while preparing dinner because Okaasan was doing most of the cooking and I was just watching. I know it's her kitchen, and she's probably used to doing things her way, so she may feel that she does not need help in preparing dinner, but I want to experience Japanese cooking in a hands-on sort of way. But after watching her cook four of the pancakes (one is similar in size to a buttermilk pancake, but thicker), she said she needed to pick up Otousan at the train station, and she handed me the bamboo spatula. I was able to cook two by myself while she was out of the house. She still won't let me use the gas stove if no one is home, but it was fine for me to use this iron pan because it plugs into the wall. I did a good job cooking the okonomiyaki, according to Okaasan, so I was happy to have that opportunity.

There's supposed to be a typhoon coming in tomorrow morning, and accompanying the typhoon will be extremely strong winds. School may be cancelled tomorrow, but I'm not sure yet. I'll watch the news tonight and find out for sure tomorrow morning. I've never experienced a typhoon before, so I'm feeling slightly anxious right now.

2009-10-05T07:36:00.003-05:00

I've been spending a lot of time with Okaasan lately. Yesterday evening she allowed me to cook niku jaga with her. It's a type of beef stew, but maybe the liquid isn't as thick as stew. It includes carrots. potatoes, and onions. The sauce is made from osake, mirin (a sweet, cooking alcohol), soy sauce, and sugar (not white sugar, not brown sugar, but something in between). It doesn't seem too difficult to cook, but I don't have a recipe yet, and I have cooked it only one time, so I don't know if I'll be able to reproduce the recipe upon return to the U.S. Okaasan also taught me how to grill whole eggplants and then skin and season them. I happen to not care for the scent after the eggplant is grilled, however, so even though it's easy to cook and season the eggplant, I doubt I'll reproduce that dish too often.

Tonight Otousan and Yoko were horseback riding at the barn during dinner time, so Okaasan and I ate together. We discussed the population problem in Japan. I told her what I learned last year in class about women not wanting to put children through the strict, stressful education system, and about women not wanting to marry a man only to rarely see him because he works such long hours with a company. Okaasan said in the past, it was socially acceptable and encouraged to get married, and it was even better for a woman's social position if she married and raised children. Now, however, it is also socially fashionable to be a single, working woman who can provide for herself with her own salary. This concept, coupled with the slow but steady push for gender equality in the workplace, is surely making it more desirable for women to have their own jobs. That, in addition to the points I mentioned that I learned at U of I last year, have probably contributed a fair amount to the population decrease.

Okaasan doesn't feel very confident in the new government's ability to ameliorate the population problem. She feels that it's too early to form an opinion, but she senses that some voters may have chosen Hatoyama based on promises he made during his campaign. These promises could provide temporary relief, but they will not solve the long-term problem. For example, the new government declared that it will give each family a certain number of yen for each child in the family who is of elementary or middle school age. Okaasan thinks that many citizens voted for Hatoyama based on policies such as this. Those voters may see the immediate benefits of such a course of action, but they are failing to look at long term issues or ways that the money could be better spent. Okaasan said that families of elementary school and middle school children may not need the money as much as families with university-aged children do, because university tuition is quite expensive. Instead of using that money to fund their children's educations, families may use the money for vacations, or other sorts of expenses. Okaasan also said that the money could be used on other issues, such as too-large classes in schools. There are currently classes with forty students and one teacher, but the money going to families with young children could instead be used to divide those large classes into two classes of twenty students per every teacher. Maybe a Japanese person's opinion depends upon his or her personal situation, but this is what I have heard thus far, and I find it interesting.

But enough politics for now. I have to take a shower and study kanji before I go to sleep.

2009-10-03T04:16:00.002-05:00

I decided to relax today after a hectic day yesterday. I went to a Japanese-style bazaar with Okaasan this morning. Every year, there is a bazaar held at a middle school, high school, and college complex about a half hour train ride from Okaasan's home. The bazaar is usually held in May, but this year the bazaar was postponed because one high school student in Kobe came down with the swine flu, so the entire city went on lockdown. Okaasan told me that everyone wore face masks, and that the usually crowded city center in Sannomiya became empty. The scene was lively this morning, however, as many vendors brought handmade foods, crafts, and other items such as clothing and household accessories to sell at the bazaar. I didn't buy anything, but I enjoyed looking at the jewelry, stationery, household items, and sweets. I also helped Okaasan pick out a pearl necklace for herself.

In the afternoon I went to my host cousin Ayako's home. She lives right across the street from Okaasan and Otousan, and she is Okaasan's cousin. She plays piano very beautifully, and we had previously picked out four pieces to learn together. Two pieces are Japanese melodies, one traditional and one from an anime program, but the other two were Ave Maria and Csàrdàs by Monti. It was very difficult to play Ave Maria, I felt as though I was adding no emotional sensitivity or musicality to the piece.

I'll be at home for the rest of the weekend, relaxing, cleaning up my room, studying, catching up on journal entries, doing laundry, and practicing violin.

2009-10-02T08:20:00.003-05:00

Yesterday evening I had an interesting conversation with Otousan. Otousan is a teacher, and he teaches biology at an all-boys high school in Osaka, which is about twenty minutes away from Kobe by train. I told Otousan and Okaasan that in the U.S., there is a day called "Take Your Daughter to Work Day" during which fathers occasionally bring their daughters with them to the fathers' work places. I asked my host parents if such a day existed in Japan, and they said no. I asked if I could accompany Otousan to work to view a biology lesson, and he said definitely not. I asked why, and Otousan replied that I would create a disturbance. I told him I had not attracted the attention of a single Japanese boy thus far during my stay in Japan, and Otousan said that this is not true, but I simply don't know that I'm attracting the attention of Japanese boys because they are shy and because it is not polite to simply tell a woman that she is beautiful. Otousan said that according to most Japanese boys, I fit into the biijin, or beautiful person, category. I told Otousan that in the United States I am just average looking, but Otousan said that here in Japan I would be considered a beautiful person by most Japanese boys, so if I went to Otousan's work to view a biology lesson, no lesson would take place because all the boys would be distracted by my presence since I am a foreigner. I exclaimed that this is the students' fault for considering me good-looking, and Otousan responded that it is my fault for being good-looking. What an interesting conversation...

Today I took my second Japanese language test within my language class. This test was harder than the last, and it took me a long time to complete compared to the previous test. I think that this class is too hard for me. I've been studying a lot, and I'm still not receiving the grades I desire. But I want to be in this high-level class, so as long as the studying doesn't kill me, I should stick with it and devote as much time as possible to studying while still maintaing a social life. After all, I did come to Japan to learn Japanese.

Also, my Japanese teacher told our class today about a recent undertaking of hers. She and another Japanese teacher, who lives in Osaka, are creating a website for learning advanced Japanese. This use of this website does not include tuition fees, and thus my teacher hopes it will gain popularity. She is hoping that this website will be useful for people in African and Asian countries where citizens may have had an opportunity to study basic Japanese, but they cannot afford a study abroad trip in Japan and must continue their language studies in some other way. My teacher hopes that this website will also be useful for students who wish to study Japanese but are too busy with other primary majors in school. My teacher created a website with Japanese stories, and the stories are accompanied by furigana, the written hiragana, or Japanese alphabet, translations for kanji, as well as the English meaning for kanji. This will help students improve their Japanese comprehension without studying in a classroom setting. I feel proud to have a teacher who is involved in such a project. I hope her website will be a success.

Eye Contact and Climbing Through Windows

2009-09-30T04:47:00.003-05:00

I am aware that I do not tend to make eye contact with people while I speak, which seems to bother some people here. I always make eye contact with someone while he or she speaks to show that I am listening, but when I speak to someone, I don't tend to look him or her in the eye. I think that this style of speaking is not compatible with the style in Japan, and I have noticed through my peripheral vision that when I speak to someone, he or she will tend to lean in a certain direction and move closer to me in order to make eye contact, which reminds me that I should look make eye contact when I speak to someone. I wonder if people are bothered by this habit of mine, or if it changes a person's opinion of me.

Another funny situation in my life in Japan arises from the layout of my host family's home. As I described in a previous post, I live in a section of the house that is separated from my host family's section of the house. I must leave my section through one door, walk around the corner, and go in the house through a different door to access the area in which my host family lives. However, there is also a window in my sink and shower room, and if I poke my head through the window, I can see into my host family's backyard, which is accessible through the back door of their home. One day, I decided to climb through the window in my shower room and see if I could fit. I did fit, and my host family thought it was funny, probably thought it was strange, but didn't condemn the action, so I've been climbing through the window ever since in order to enter the main part of my host family's home. I think it's hilarious, albeit slightly undignified. Okaasan, however, put a foot stool in my shower room to give me a leg up and facilitate my climbing through the window, so she must not mind. Today, when Okaasan wanted to enter my living area, she even climbed through the window herself (she did it much more gracefully than I do because she is shorter than I) to enter into my room. I should post a picture of the window on my blog, because I think it's hilarious that I climb through a window every day to see my host family.

2009-09-29T02:40:00.002-05:00

I just added pictures to various blog entries starting from September 15th, so if you wish you may view those.

Today has been an uneventful day. I went to class, and afterward attended an International Fair for an hour. I'm not sure which student group organizes the fair, but the fair facilitates exchange of information about study abroad experiences by providing Japanese students and international students with a place to meet up and talk. I met a few interesting Japanese students. Most Japanese students seem to have completed short study abroad experiences (a few weeks, a month, or a few months) in a foreign country, but it doesn't seem as though many go abroad for nine months or a year.

I bought postcard stamps at the post office and lunch at a supermarket next to the train station. Persimmons are commonly enjoyed in autumn in Japan, so I bought one this afternoon and am eagerly waiting for it to ripen. Otherwise, today consisted of of homework and studying, violin practice, room cleaning, and journal writing.

Yesterday I finally spoke with someone in the tea ceremony club. I expressed interest, but she told me that it would be difficult for an international student to join the tea ceremony club. It requires a lot of time and dedication for hours each Monday afternoon (I have two lessons every Monday afternoon), the concepts are very advanced, the emotions are difficult to explain, and the discussions the club sometimes holds involve the use of specific, abstract vocabulary that the typical international student wouldn't understand. More incentive for me to study Japanese very diligently! Yoshiko (the member of the club with whom I spoke) invited me to attend for an hour or two on any given Monday afternoon and have my own taiken (personal experience) and see how I like it. I'll give the club a try, and if I feel willing to dedicate my time and energy toward that art, I may try to join the club next semester.

2009-09-28T07:44:00.002-05:00

During Japanese class this morning I decided that I'm done with getting bad quiz scores and making stupid mistakes on all my grammar points. I approached the teacher during the ten minute break and explained my predicament. My teacher proceeded to pull out her grade book and assure me that my grades are good, but I want the extra help. So she referred me to another teacher who's in charge of the E Class, the Japanese class in which I study. I have set up weekly appointments with my teacher, and she will help me learn the grammar points ahead of time and correct my practice sentences that I will write on my own in order to demonstrate proper usage of previously learned grammar points. I guess my grade isn't that bad, but this is what happens when one is a perfectionist.

Ryosuke left this evening for university. I feel kind of lonely now that he's gone, because I spoke with him a lot and spent a lot of time with him, but I don't think he's the type of person who keeps in touch with people well. No one made a big deal about his leaving or showed much emotion, but the whole family came to the port, along with the two long-haired dachshunds, to see him off. He rides a ferry back and forth between home and university, and he takes a motorbike with him on the boat for use at school. I don't know when I'll next see him, but I think it won't be for another three months at least, so I'll have to get used to his not being around.

Now I'm going to go study for tomorrow's kanji quiz. I enjoy sitting at the dinner table in my host family's living room and studying with them, it's a nightly ritual. I haven't practiced violin for four days now, which I feel terrible about, but I'll have to get back into that routine tomorrow, because soon I will meet up with my host aunt, Ayako-san, and play violin and piano duets with her.

Sunday, September 27, Part 2

2009-09-28T07:31:00.003-05:00

As darkness appeared on Sunday evening, I recalled that it was Yom Kippur. I felt really disappointed because I knew I wouldn't be doing much, if anything, to observe the holiday. I didn't have time to go to the Kol Nidre service on Sunday evening because I had homework to finish for school the following day. I couldn't miss school because I have three classes on Monday, and that would be a lot of missed lessons. Also, since I knew I'd be going to class, I didn't think I should fast, because I wouldn't have enough energy to complete my lessons. I wish that there were a way to fit the observance of such a meaningful holiday into my life.

When I arrived at the dinner table on Sunday evening there was an elaborate spread of sashimi (raw fish) and other ingredients, such as egg and cucumber, spread across the table along with a huge bamboo bowl full of rice. Okaasan explained that since it was Ryosuke's last dinner at home before returning to college for the winter semester, she asked him what he wanted as a special going away dinner, and he requested temakizushi, or hand-rolled sushi. We all enjoyed rolling the rice and sashimi into small seaweed squares and eating the various ingredients. After dinner I did some homework and drank some tea with Okaasan and Yoko. The tea was so delicious, I felt as though I'd never drank such superbly flavored green tea before in my life. I also stayed up late talking with Ryosuke last night, since it was the last night he'd be at home for the next few months. He told me about how he considers it a hassle to move from school to home and from home to school. But I know he's looking forward to meeting his college friends again.

Sunday, September 27

2009-09-28T07:20:00.003-05:00

All the exchange students woke up at 6:00 this morning in order to observe a Buddhist religious ceremony that began at 6:30, hence my early bedtime the previous evening. At the religious ceremony we listened to two monks chant mantras from memory. The monks' breathing was well coordinated. They chanted for over half an hour, never once stopping except to take in more air. They never breathed at the same time, so at least one person was always chanting the mantra to keep the rhythm and prayer going.

After observing the religious ceremony, we enjoyed another delicious meal, tidied up our rooms, brought our luggage to the front door, and then entered the same room in which we observed the ceremony to learn how to practice ajikan, a type of Buddhist meditation. We were supposed to sit with our right leg folded over our left leg in a pretzel position, and our hands on top of the right foot with the right hand on top of the left and thumbs extended up and brought together in a circular shape. After that we were supposed to arrange our tongues so that they rested behind the top teeth to allow for easy exhalation of air, and we were to keep our eyes halfway open so as to not truly see anything with our vision but so as to not accidentally fall asleep. We meditated for only fifteen minutes or so, but I could not concentrate easily, and the sitting position was uncomfortable for me.

After the meditation practice we had free time for lunch and exploring the town. We all returned to the sleeping area around two p.m. and from there retraced our steps to get back to Osaka and Kobe. It was a bit of a culture shock to return to the bustling city scene.

Saturday, September 26

2009-09-28T07:04:00.004-05:00

I woke up very early this morning and hurriedly prepared for the group trip to Koya-san (Mount Koya) that took place this past weekend. All forty-five exchange students as well as a few staff members met outside a train station near Konan University, and from there we took the train to Koya-san, which is located in Wakayama Prefecture right next to Hyogo Prefecture (in which I live). We took several trains, including three transfers, to get to Mount Koya's base. From there we rode a cable car up the very steep mountainside. We then took taxis to the Buddhist sanctuary at which we stayed during the weekend.

The air was refreshing and cool. It was not crowded, and it was such a different setting from the busy urban area in which we live. The group sat down in a tatami (bamboo mat) room, drank tea and ate a sweet bean paste cake called manju, and we then listened to a brief description of the sanctuary's history. Afterward we went to a mausoleum for the monk Kuukai (who founded the Mount Koya sanctuary) and the surrounding Okunoin graveyard area near the mausoleum where many famous people are buried.

We ate only vegetarian food while at Koya-san, and I found it all absolutely delicious. We slept on futon in tatami covered rooms with thin, sliding doors through which you really could hear any sound. I took a lovely walk after dinner with a few friends and went to sleep by 10:30 that evening.

2009-09-24T00:22:00.003-05:00

Almost everyone was sore the morning after the climb up the mountain. One of the first things Okaasan asked me when I came to breakfast was whether or not I was sore, and if so, where. Okaasan said that her calves were sore, she said that Yoko was complaining of a sore lower back, and I told Okaasan that my butt was sore. Ryosuke was the only one who didn't seem to have any complaints.

I decided to take it easy on Wednesday and complete various responsibilities around home. I cleaned my room, did a lot of laundry, studied Japanese, wrote in my journal, and I caught up with some e-mails and messages online.

One funny aspect of my karaoke experience from the previous day that I forgot to mention was that there was a calorie counter on the screen, and after each song, it displayed how many calories the person singing the song had burned.

Even though I had just climbed Mount Maya the day before, my host brother and I went on a walk. He goes on walks almost every day because he really likes walking, and it may be a good habit for me to pick up until I become accustomed enough to these hills that I can run on them. We walked very far, past the synagogue where I prayed on Rosh Hashanah, and through the entire district in which the synagogue is located, which is a center for international culture within Kobe. My feet were quite sore when we returned home, but I still had enough energy to practice violin and memorize a new set of kanji for the quiz the following morning before going to sleep.