Big Man Japan

JLP Final and Tacoyaki party

   So today was the much dreaded and prepared for final exam for the Japanese Language Program. After 30 credits( enough for a major) of the language in this year alone, and almost 5 hours in class for the last 6 months, I am finally finished with the regular portion of the program. The final, which lasted almost 4 hours, covered 400 Kanji ( characters borrowed from Chinese)  of the 900 I have had to learn this year, grammar, vocabulary, and reading. From next year I will begin the advanced program, but because it is only 9 credits compared to the 30 from this year, I will be able to take regular classes as well. 

     After the test my class gathered at Canada House for a tacoyaki( and crepe) party to celebrate the ending to a long term. It was strange and kind of sad saying goodbye to everyone, considering I have been in class everyday with some of them since December. (The picture above is actually not made using octopus. We had extra nutella by the end and decided to experiment a bit.)

雲取山　kumotoriyama( Cloud Catching Mountain)

This last weekend I finally got the opportunity to do some hiking in the mountains of Japan. I joined up with the ICU hiking club, and with about 10 other people set out on friday night for the mountains. I was shocked by how quickly the almost endless city turned into steep mountain country. We arrived to our destination late at night and got a few hours sleep on the cement near the station before catching a 6am bus the next morning for the trail head. It was so amazed by the stark contrasts that surrounded me. Despite the fact that it felt as if we were crossing a mountain pass, there was still Tokyo-like city life all around me. We passed countless small villages, and even though these were nothing like Tokyo in size, they’re attitude toward space was very similar. It seemed that every nook and cranny of the place that was flat enough to build was packed with houses. We began our hike in the early morning and actually reached our camping destination by about noon. We pitched our tents quickly, and then made another hour trip up to the summit. It was a fairly nice day, but the visibility wasn’t the greatest. The mountain’s peak lay on the border of Tokyo prefecture and the next one due west. When we got back to our tents, we began to get things ready for dinner. Because we were camping on a ridge, it was pretty windy, so we all piled inside the biggest tent. We had nabe( basically like chinese hot pot, but with mostly just vegetables and not very spicy) and hung out for a few hours before heading for bed. The next day saw another early morning and then a slow decent down the mountain. In order to soothe our weary muscles, we visited an onsen (hot springs/public bathing houses) in the one of the mountain villages before returning home. 

The Spring Term, Cherry Blossoms, and…. Aftershocks

After arriving in Tokyo and spending a few days relaxing, catching up with friends, and meeting the new students in my dorm, the Spring term started on Monday. The cherry blossoms went into full bloom almost immediately after I arrived and I have been able to enjoy the scenery for the last week. This picture is of the main entrance to my University. It spans probably about a quarter of mile into the center of the campus. The weather has been great besides a few quick down pours that last several hours. Apart from this, even though the aftershocks show no sign of letting up, life continues. No matter what you are doing when they hit, after waiting a few moments, everything goes back to normal. While I was assisting my employer in teaching English, a quake rattled the house for a few minutes. While an earthquake of this size back home would no doubt have been grounds for canceling schools and perhaps doing major damage, we continued the class as usual. It seems that about every other day we have one that must be above at least a magnitude 5. But it really doesn’t seem to affect daily life here. When not enjoying the scenery or being shaken by the tremors, I am taking an intensive Japanese class and still working part-time teaching English. I have also started to pick-up tennis again; as I have experience in this from before, hopefully this will turn out better than my prior endeavors in joining clubs here.

Back in Southworth after 35 hours of “limbo”

Heeding the many airport travel warnings, I decided to leave for Narita airport the night before the departure. The flight wasn’t until 5pm the next day, but I guess its better to be safe on the “airport rush”, as it was described in the news. It actually went a lot more smoothly than I was expecting. The Narita Express was unfortunately down, but I was able to take a few transfers on regular lines and get there in a few hours. After a meal of convenience store ramen noodles, I found a little corner(more like walkway) in the upper levels of the airport. Surrounded by other fellow travellers, I was able to watch a movie on my laptop and get 9 full hours of sleep before the long wait the next day. The lines the next day were pretty long, but it only took me a few hours to pass check-in, security, and customs. After a long flight and only a few minutes of sleep, I arrived in Seattle at 10am for a full day of catching up with family and friends. I finally got to see my beautiful niece, Ruby, for the first time. And, much to my surprise, Ada actually knew my name and wanted me to hold her and read her books. It has been a couple days since then, and I have mostly been catching up with friends and relaxing. Still listening intently to news from Japan and considering my plans.

After the Earthquake

While most of my dorm hunkered down in the dorm watching the news and playing card games, Markus and I tried to make the best out of the rest of the time he had by taking a day trip to Yokohama. The trains were surprisingly not as crowded as usually, and we assumed that most people had decided to spend this Sunday at home. There isn’t any really danger in Tokyo now, but I think many people are fearing an aftershock. Despite what many may think from the news, the damage in Tokyo was quite minimal. While there was some structural damage visible on sidewalks, it is nothing like the devastation that can be seen in the North, and which is predominant on the news. 

We had heard that starting tomorrow, there would be planned blackouts throughout the city, and we saw evidence of this as we went searching throughout town for tomorrow’s breakfast. What we had originally intended to be a quick stop to buy bread and eggs quickly turned into search to find these rare commodities. At each grocery and convenient store, the aisles holding cheap carbohydrates were completely vacant. The long rows that usually contain bowls of ramen noodle contained only a few of the less popular brands. We eventually gave up on this mission and decided to return to the dorm. Tomorrow we will be having a blackout in our region from 9 in the morning to 1, and then again from 6 to 10. 

Valentine’s Day in the Japanese style

Even though Valentine day has come and gone, I realized I hadn’t written a blog in a while. And since Valentine’s day in Japan is completely different from the states, I thought I would write a bit about it. Kind of as a side note, despite the fact that it has been pretty dry and not to cold throughout January, it has started to snow recently. On Monday evening the snow started to fall, and in a few hours we had about 6 inches of snow. It always seems that back in Washington, even when we got snow, snowmen were really difficult to make. I was so surprised that we were able to make this big of a snowman in only a few minutes. Anyway, back to Valentine’s day, in Japan, it is a tradition for only girls to give chocolate to guys. It is supposed to be a special kind of day in which girls can confess their secret love to a man. Its kind of like the one day in the year where girls in Japan can take the initiative in starting a relationship. However, in reality, girls still give chocolate to their friends and such. In fact, if a girl is working in an office she is obliged to give giri-choco (duty chocolate) to her boss and male co-workers. And then, one month after Valentine’s day, on so called “white day”, men are obliged to give a return gift. Valentine’s day really seemed to have a special flavor this year. I would say it has become in Japan a more important day than it is in the States. Even though as kids it was always fun to give and receive chocolate with classmates, as  on gets older, unless you are in a relationship, its pretty much just like any other day. However, here in Japan, there seemed to be anticipation in the air as men awaited either their giri-choco or perhaps something a little more special. By the way, though it has yet to catch on in Japan, I have heard from the Koreans here that in Korea, one month after “white day” comes “black day”. Supposedly, on this day, all those guys who weren’t lucky enough to receive chocolate meet at local shops to eat black noodles and comfort each other in their loneliness. Anyway, Valentine’s day, much like Christmas, revealed an area of Japanese culture that while so similar, is also drastically different. 

Japan’s food culture

When I first arrived in Japan, I had two immediate reactions to the food I experienced. While I really enjoyed the new tastes I was experiencing everyday, I also found that the portions were far smaller than I was used to. Whether eating out or at the Gakki( cafeteria), I would always get hungry again a few hours after the meal. However, in spite of the fact that Japanese people are not eating as much as Americans, Japanese culture seems to much more centered upon food.

Whenever I venture to test my language ability through watching Japanese television, there always seems to be one of two things on. If I’m lucky, the show will feature various “peculiar” things from around the world; picture America’s funniest Home video meets America’s Got Talent, and you will have idea of what I’m talking about. Add to this about fifteen television personalities who sit on a set mixing in exasperations of shock and awe at every interesting moment. For example, the other day I was watching a show that was demonstrating the best technique for reheating your body after getting dunked in freezing cold water. Two men in loin clothes would jump into some very cold waterfall and then try various means to warm themselves afterward. This included everything from drinking excessive amounts of Sake to dipping their feet in steaming water. For the convenience of the audience, we were allowed to see a “heat” image of the men’s bodies at every step to see which sections of the body were being heated. In case your wondering, the most effective method is to hug another half naked man for a few minutes. Anyway, if these “peculiar” things, which are surprisingly addicting, aren’t featured on tv, you can be almost certain that the show will be about food. And it seems as if everything concerning food will be featured. Sure, they have the traditional cooking shows and reality television shows that can be found on American television, but the list goes on. They have competitions where the participants have to guess the price of certain foods, or ” the top 10 things to put in ramen cups” (including egg, potato chips, and coke), but it mostly consists of just watching people eat and talk about delicious foods. And of course you still have the panel of television guests exclaiming “it looks delicious” with every new food. While these shows only serve to make me hungrier, they seem to be really popular amongst my dormmates. 

Apart from television, there are countless activities that seems to center around food. While back at home food always seemed like a side note to whatever social event I participated in, it seems to take front and center far more often here. Instead of going to the movies for example, it seems that people either go to special places to eat or have various dinner “parties” at home or in the dorm. For example, there have been “nabe” parties, and “takoyaki” parties, and events with clubs always involve a lot of drinking and eating. Last week, some guys from the dorm went to Yaki niku with one of the girl dorms; this involves sitting around a barbecue-like grill at a nice restaurant for a few hours cooking and eating all the meat you could ever want. The servers bring round after round of various meats( they must have had at least ten distinct kinds of beef), and we took turns scorching our hands as we turned the meat in the intense heat. And then there is the Japanese McDonald’s. While McDonald’s in the states has come to be associated with cheap, greasy, and fatty foods, the sentiment is completely different in Japan. For one, the place is almost always packed, and this is quite a feat as the restaurant usually has at least two floors. And its popular just to sit down and eat rather than taking it to go.  It seems as if food tends to be the center around which people are able to socialize and have a good time with friends. 

Lastly, even though I am surrounded by college students, at seems as if everybody knows how to cook. Despite the fact that we have a dining hall with reasonable prices, most of the dorm students chose to cook on their own. And I am always surprised by how elaborate their dishes are. Part of the fact may be that there is less of a variety of dishes that are often cooked in Japan. While in America there are countless styles and dishes you would need to master to be a well-rounded cook, in Japan, the menu is more fixed. It seems as if either curry, donburi, ramen, udon, soba, nabe, sushi, and onigiri are eaten about 80% of the time. So if you can master how to make these foods, you can be a good Japanese cook. Whatever the reason, it seems as if most of the people around me really enjoy cooking and are cooking often.

I suppose my outlook could be biased a bit as I’m only really experiencing the college side of life here, which probably revolves more highly around food in the US too. But I just get a sense here that eating is more linked to entertainment and sociality more than just the need to eat. And yet in spite of this, Japan is supposed to be one of the most healthiest societies in the world. 

Coming of Age Day

I had known for a while that today was a national holiday, but I had only just recently discovered that it was for my sake. Around every new year there is a special day for all those who came of age during the previous year, which just happens to be twenty in Japan. So some of my dorm mates and I suited up and headed to the City’s center for the big ceremony. About a thousand youth from the local community gathered to be recognized. All the girls wore elaborate kimonos while the men generally wore western suits. At the city center we were assembled in an auditorium where we sat through a ceremony which seemed very similar to graduation. Afterwards, we had complimentary finger foods for lunch, and being poor college students, we happily partook what was probably more than our share. It was quite an interesting cultural experience, in many ways similar to ceremonies back home, but in other ways very unique. I have been warmly congratulated throughout the day for my Japanese coming of age.

Back to School

     After 24 hours of traveling, going from plane to plane to train to train and finally to a bus, I have finally made it back to my dormitory.  I had a great time over break and was able to spend much needed time with family and friends. Because I haven’t done a blog in over a month I will fill everyone in a bit. After I returned from fall break, the winter term began, and I started taking Intensive Japanese. Everyday I am taking 4 hours and 40 minutes of Japanese class. While its been exhausting, I have found myself learning quite a bit faster than I was last term. On top of studying in the evenings, this term I have decided to try the Skateboarding club. I realize it is quite ironic that I’ve come to Japan to learn skateboarding, but I’ve always wanted to learn and this seemed like the perfect opportunity. I already know some of the people in the club and many others are beginners as well. Other than that things were back to normal after the break. I’m hoping to have another great term and will hopefully keep updating the blog on a regular basis.

Kyoto, Osaka, and Kobe

I’m already more than half way through my trip, but with no entries to show for it. I would like to give a more detailed account of each day, but I will just have to give a rough idea due to lack of time.

We first spent three days in Kyoto, Japan’s ancient capital and the site of thousands of temples and shrines. And pretty much all you do there is make your way around the city visiting the most famous ones. In total, we visited about six, and they were each very distinct from each other. We saw the gold temple and silver temple pair, another temple with a famous sand-and-rock zen garden, and a temple with a beautiful view of the entire city. The beauty of the temples is amplified by the fall colors, and the the Japanese maples almost seem as if they are burning at this time of the year. My favorite shrine required a long hike up a surrounding mountain. As you proceed to the top, you pass through roughly 13,000 red Japanese-style gates(tori). It was an amazing experience, and we were able to explore the area for hours. 

We meet up with a friend from a dorm, and we will be staying at his house for the next few days. Yesterday he took us to Osaka and Kobe, two very big and modern cities. Whereas Tokyo’s shopping districts and hangout shops seem scattered throughout the city, Osaka’s center seems like one giant outdoor mall. We walked the streets, window shopping and admiring the crazy Japanese fashion of the young. Later that night, we took the train to Kobe for a walk on the bay and a filling dinner in China town. Unfortunately, we missed the last train coming back and were forced to stay the night in Osaka. We had few options besides watching the night crowd puking on the side of the road( which we must have seen about three times), and decided to stay in an internet cafe until morning. For about $12 we each got a private cubicle with a padded floor big enough for a few hours sleep. After a visit to the complimentary ice cream and soft drink bar, I put a movie on the computer and was able to get some rest. In the early morning we made our way back to Josh’s house with no further problems.