Eye Contact and Climbing Through Windows

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.

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.

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

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

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

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.

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.