Thursday, October 30

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!

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

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!

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.

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!

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!