An early start today led into the first long lecture of the day: a 2-hour academic orientation on how the classes and class registration work here in Japan, given by Dr. Luke Roberts of UCSB (or was it Davis? I forget). While mostly informative, we also got to talk about the Hiroshima mandatory field trip coming up tomorrow. And... while I really want to do this trip and think that it will be a great experience, they snuck up on us a pricetag to attach to it. Originally, there was no mention anywhere, on any paper, of cost for this trip. All of a sudden, Dr. Roberts says "And you'll be able to make your 13,000 yen payment for the trip" and everyone busts into whispered speak.
"What do you mean 13,000 yen...?" That's about $150 USD, which is no cheap ride. Taking into consideration other transportation and meals we have to pay out of pocket, this mandatory field trip becomes a really rather expensive journey to the south. Color me unhappy and irked.
Besides that blotch on the day, I suppose the rest went alright. We got our cell phones so we can contact one another now over text. That'll be okay, once I get around to nabbing everyone's contact info. Being able to transmit data to each other via infrared is so cool, but not so simple. I'll definitely be heading back to the Pokemon Center to deck it out with neat keychains and other trinkets. Simple curry katsu for lunch, as normal, and we were back in to the room for our first "class" with Dr. Roberts to discuss what we want to get out of the Hiroshima trip and how we think it will make us feel/why. It was a long session of us talking about our feelings, thoughts, and going over seemingly obvious material. Yes it took a while, but it kind of bothers me that so many of the other students were complaining about how it was unnecessary, that they just wanted to go home, and the trip is now going to be a big bummer due to the places we're being forced to go. It'll be treated like a guided tour of Hiroshima, I believe, so free time to explore will be little, if it even exists at all. It'll be a long trip, but I'm hoping it'll turn out okay.
To be honest, I started feeling a bit lonely/down on the way back from Meigaku. It's hard to pinpoint why, but I was feeling kind of anti-social and started walking on my own without the group. I even split up and went back to MISH after Daiso by myself. It kind of surprised me, though perhaps that's in part due to my introverted nature. I haven't really had much downtime to just be by myself and regenerate all that energy I expend being social. It's not that I dislike being social, as so many introverts are too, but it just takes a lot out of me. So I have to wonder if that's the reason I've been feeling lonesome or something else. Meh.
I see now, after looking at the course descriptions for Japanese language courses taught here, that I'm at this difficult median point where I am halfway between being at the next level of language. I could be put in the basic beginner class and be bored to tears until about 2/3s in to the class, or I could be placed into the next level up and possibly be significantly challenged. I'm hoping I test into the harder class, but I just don't want to flounder due to my lack of kanji/memory of things in general. Fingers crossed.
Just felt my first earthquake while I was here. It shook for about 15-20 seconds, though nothing hard enough to make things fall. Just kinda knock against the wall a bit. No worries. I'd be more worried about the typhoon down by Okinawa that might hit us a bit while in Hiroshima. I'm sure we wouldn't do anything unless it was completely safe, but anything can happen, so just being a bit concerned is reasonable, I think.
Dunno if I'll get internet service while at the hotel down south, but we're required to write out a journal daily anyways, so I'll be keeping things to update with while I'm there. Should be good to type it all out by Monday when we return. Wish me luck! And that I don't get swept out to sea~
Thursday, September 13, 2012
Day 4: Descend Into HELL (and Buddies!)
No, I'm not overly dramatic at all! :D
But honestly. The walk to the school campus is truly derived from Dante's "Inferno", without a doubt. More on that later.
The day began with a 50-minute video, seemingly straight out of the early 90's, on disaster awareness, safety, and measures to take. It caused quite a few snickers, more than a few sighs, and universal boredom. There were some important things in the video, but they were gone over in such a way that made them... well, nearly intolerable. But It could have been worse.
From there, a handful of the buddies led the group on its first walking trip straight to campus. And mein gott, even in the winter, that walk will not be fun. Weaving through residential areas and uphill much of the way there, it was not a trek for the faint of heart. And it will be one made daily starting in just a couple weeks from now. Save meeee. But the greenery and architecture surrounding the route is beautiful, which makes the journey that little bit easier. Transportation there is technically possible via bus or taxi, but walking is much healthier, and certainly cheaper, so I doubt I'll be making using those services much. Though we'll see once school starts if I can retain that healthy mindset.
Campus seems nice. There's a lot of flora all around, with foresty areas in every which direction surrounding. Every building is this plain white that's kind of off-putting, but the trees and plants balance it out I suppose. I definitely want to get lost in some of those areas and have an adventure sometime. The campus isn't gigantic, but after The Hell Walk, it feels too large to have to walk all the way to the far end. During the campus tour we had, I saw this absolutely horrific green and black cylindrical-body spider chilling in its web bigger than three of my heads put together. Not quite what I wanted to be greeted by, but I ran in the other direction, so I can't say I was mortally offended by its existence.
We met the buddies soon after doing a short orientation and signing more paperwork. Nothing extraordinary. But the buddy meeting was intimidating! The buddies sat in a room at various tables organized by which UC student they were assigned to while we all walked up and stood in a line in front of the class to introduce ourselves. I felt a little bit like either a zoo animal inside a cage or a piece of meat dangling in a butcher shop. こわいですよ〜 But after we introduced ourselves, we got to meet them and get a full tour pointing out all the campus major buildings and such. I have four buddies total, Hiroshi, Hikari, Yurino, and Yuriko, though Yuriko-san is finishing up studying abroad in Canada right now, so I didn't get to meet her. All of them are very nice, though I felt bad because Yurino-san doesn't speak much English, so it's difficult to converse beyond the basic of basics. She's especially nice though because she's a psychology major looking into doing counseling and loves Final Fantasy! Language barriers, boo. Hiroshi-san is as fun and outgoing as can be, which is a nice balance to me and the others who are a bit more quiet. His english is superb, but that's to be expected a bit given his year-long stay at UCLA. Hikari-san is also quite good at english, and all three of the buddies I met were kind and courteous. I felt a bit boring to them, so I hope I didn't come across as awful!
After the tour, including delicious lunch (some kind of marinated beef strips on bean sprouts with delicious cooked eggplant), we headed back to MISH to just hang out and play some games. We taught them some card games and mahjong, though it was difficult since Armand and I barely remembered all the correct rules. We actually messed up some of them. Oops =X Poor Armand had no buddies because none of them showed up for the day, so we happily took him in as a stray. I mentioned wanting to go to the Pokemon Center in Yokohama, the official Pokemon store, so Hikari-san, Hiroshi-san, and Armand and I hopped on a train there while Yurino-san headed home for the night.
The mall with the Pokemon Center was amazing! It's very pretty, almost like a more comfortable and homey South Coast Plaza. All the swank with less of the stuck-up. I went crazy once we got there. All the merchandise and variety of things to buy was so overwhelming, I just couldn't pick anything to get for now. I'm definitely going to make the trip again soon so I can go back to there.... AS WELL AS THE JUMP STORE AND GHIBLI STORES AAHHHHH. Across from the Pokemon Center was a store devoted solely to the series's from Shonen Jump, or Weekly Jump as it's known in Japan. So much One Piece, Naruto, Toriko, and more. Manga, merchandise, statuettes, keychains, I couldn't pick anything to get once more. And right next store stood a Ghibli shop, with items ranging from Totoro to Spirited Away to Ponyo to even Porco Rosso. It smelled and had the feel of a Hallmark store, strangely enough, but the stuff in there was more adorable than anything imaginable. I <3 Ghibli!
Outside there was a street performer, an Englishman speaking very good Japanese who rode a approx. 10-foot-tall unicycle while juggling a torch, a sword, and an apple, the latter of which he would take a bite out of while juggling from time to time. It was actually really impressive and reminded me of the many street performers by the London Eye back when I went to London last summer.
We walked out towards another mall nearby because there they had a Coldstone Creamery! Nothing like a taste of home away from home. I had a special concoction definitely not available back in the states. It was called the Greeeeeeeen Tea Party, and it had (big surprise) green tea ice cream mixed with cake bites and whipped cream, topped with green tea powder. I didn't think I was a big fan of green tea ice cream, but I loved it. Though the price was painful (smallest size cup for about $5.75). On the way there, we passed by the Cup Noodles Museum; yet another reason to go back to Yokohama soon! Not to mention having walked by the Cosmo World amusement park with the biggest ferris wheel I've ever seen, and so much other randomness (haunted house, carnival games, roller coaster that dives underneath the bay in a neato tunnel). Must. Go. Back!!
We parted ways with Hikari-san after wandering around in Yokohama and went back to MISH to wrap up the day. Nothing out of the ordinary, just a trip to the supaa for dinner+breakfast, 7-11 for a couple drinks, and good ol' mahjong time. Together we split a bag of rice to use for a while, so we cooked some of that up while I threw some squid in a pan and dined on that delicacy for the first time. I actually really liked it, and the tiny bit of grilling made it much better than I expected it to be. Solid dinner, methinks.
It's nice getting to talk to people about just about anything. Discussion life and opinions and all that jazz. It's pleasant and improves friendships, particularly when understandings are reached. People can have differing opinions while totally respecting the other's views. It's surprising how good of friends I've made in some of the people here. Quite pleasant, for certain.
Tomorrow begins another day of orientations, this time with the UC director of the program we're in. We'll get an academic orientation, a lecture, and pick up our gorgeously old-school prepaid flip phones. Go vintage circa-2004 cell phones! :D
Also, new Flickr pictures. Go check em out! http://www.flickr.com/photos/djmarmar/sets/72157631499693054/
But honestly. The walk to the school campus is truly derived from Dante's "Inferno", without a doubt. More on that later.
The day began with a 50-minute video, seemingly straight out of the early 90's, on disaster awareness, safety, and measures to take. It caused quite a few snickers, more than a few sighs, and universal boredom. There were some important things in the video, but they were gone over in such a way that made them... well, nearly intolerable. But It could have been worse.
From there, a handful of the buddies led the group on its first walking trip straight to campus. And mein gott, even in the winter, that walk will not be fun. Weaving through residential areas and uphill much of the way there, it was not a trek for the faint of heart. And it will be one made daily starting in just a couple weeks from now. Save meeee. But the greenery and architecture surrounding the route is beautiful, which makes the journey that little bit easier. Transportation there is technically possible via bus or taxi, but walking is much healthier, and certainly cheaper, so I doubt I'll be making using those services much. Though we'll see once school starts if I can retain that healthy mindset.
Campus seems nice. There's a lot of flora all around, with foresty areas in every which direction surrounding. Every building is this plain white that's kind of off-putting, but the trees and plants balance it out I suppose. I definitely want to get lost in some of those areas and have an adventure sometime. The campus isn't gigantic, but after The Hell Walk, it feels too large to have to walk all the way to the far end. During the campus tour we had, I saw this absolutely horrific green and black cylindrical-body spider chilling in its web bigger than three of my heads put together. Not quite what I wanted to be greeted by, but I ran in the other direction, so I can't say I was mortally offended by its existence.
We met the buddies soon after doing a short orientation and signing more paperwork. Nothing extraordinary. But the buddy meeting was intimidating! The buddies sat in a room at various tables organized by which UC student they were assigned to while we all walked up and stood in a line in front of the class to introduce ourselves. I felt a little bit like either a zoo animal inside a cage or a piece of meat dangling in a butcher shop. こわいですよ〜 But after we introduced ourselves, we got to meet them and get a full tour pointing out all the campus major buildings and such. I have four buddies total, Hiroshi, Hikari, Yurino, and Yuriko, though Yuriko-san is finishing up studying abroad in Canada right now, so I didn't get to meet her. All of them are very nice, though I felt bad because Yurino-san doesn't speak much English, so it's difficult to converse beyond the basic of basics. She's especially nice though because she's a psychology major looking into doing counseling and loves Final Fantasy! Language barriers, boo. Hiroshi-san is as fun and outgoing as can be, which is a nice balance to me and the others who are a bit more quiet. His english is superb, but that's to be expected a bit given his year-long stay at UCLA. Hikari-san is also quite good at english, and all three of the buddies I met were kind and courteous. I felt a bit boring to them, so I hope I didn't come across as awful!
After the tour, including delicious lunch (some kind of marinated beef strips on bean sprouts with delicious cooked eggplant), we headed back to MISH to just hang out and play some games. We taught them some card games and mahjong, though it was difficult since Armand and I barely remembered all the correct rules. We actually messed up some of them. Oops =X Poor Armand had no buddies because none of them showed up for the day, so we happily took him in as a stray. I mentioned wanting to go to the Pokemon Center in Yokohama, the official Pokemon store, so Hikari-san, Hiroshi-san, and Armand and I hopped on a train there while Yurino-san headed home for the night.
The mall with the Pokemon Center was amazing! It's very pretty, almost like a more comfortable and homey South Coast Plaza. All the swank with less of the stuck-up. I went crazy once we got there. All the merchandise and variety of things to buy was so overwhelming, I just couldn't pick anything to get for now. I'm definitely going to make the trip again soon so I can go back to there.... AS WELL AS THE JUMP STORE AND GHIBLI STORES AAHHHHH. Across from the Pokemon Center was a store devoted solely to the series's from Shonen Jump, or Weekly Jump as it's known in Japan. So much One Piece, Naruto, Toriko, and more. Manga, merchandise, statuettes, keychains, I couldn't pick anything to get once more. And right next store stood a Ghibli shop, with items ranging from Totoro to Spirited Away to Ponyo to even Porco Rosso. It smelled and had the feel of a Hallmark store, strangely enough, but the stuff in there was more adorable than anything imaginable. I <3 Ghibli!
Outside there was a street performer, an Englishman speaking very good Japanese who rode a approx. 10-foot-tall unicycle while juggling a torch, a sword, and an apple, the latter of which he would take a bite out of while juggling from time to time. It was actually really impressive and reminded me of the many street performers by the London Eye back when I went to London last summer.
We walked out towards another mall nearby because there they had a Coldstone Creamery! Nothing like a taste of home away from home. I had a special concoction definitely not available back in the states. It was called the Greeeeeeeen Tea Party, and it had (big surprise) green tea ice cream mixed with cake bites and whipped cream, topped with green tea powder. I didn't think I was a big fan of green tea ice cream, but I loved it. Though the price was painful (smallest size cup for about $5.75). On the way there, we passed by the Cup Noodles Museum; yet another reason to go back to Yokohama soon! Not to mention having walked by the Cosmo World amusement park with the biggest ferris wheel I've ever seen, and so much other randomness (haunted house, carnival games, roller coaster that dives underneath the bay in a neato tunnel). Must. Go. Back!!
We parted ways with Hikari-san after wandering around in Yokohama and went back to MISH to wrap up the day. Nothing out of the ordinary, just a trip to the supaa for dinner+breakfast, 7-11 for a couple drinks, and good ol' mahjong time. Together we split a bag of rice to use for a while, so we cooked some of that up while I threw some squid in a pan and dined on that delicacy for the first time. I actually really liked it, and the tiny bit of grilling made it much better than I expected it to be. Solid dinner, methinks.
It's nice getting to talk to people about just about anything. Discussion life and opinions and all that jazz. It's pleasant and improves friendships, particularly when understandings are reached. People can have differing opinions while totally respecting the other's views. It's surprising how good of friends I've made in some of the people here. Quite pleasant, for certain.
Tomorrow begins another day of orientations, this time with the UC director of the program we're in. We'll get an academic orientation, a lecture, and pick up our gorgeously old-school prepaid flip phones. Go vintage circa-2004 cell phones! :D
Also, new Flickr pictures. Go check em out! http://www.flickr.com/photos/djmarmar/sets/72157631499693054/
Tuesday, September 11, 2012
Day 3: Mahjong and Mao MADNESS
Day 3 began pretty straightforward, as we all jumped headfirst into an orientation at 9AM on setting up some Japan-required paperwork. Normal and necessary materials that have to do with insurance and such, no biggie. It was a good walk in the morning to the Totsuka Ward Admin Office, but we got to spend lunch together after everything was completed, so it was worth the effort. The groups split up a few ways based on those who received the special snazzy JASSO scholarship and those who didn't, as they needed to set up bank accounts to receive the money. So our group hopped back to the Totsukana mall nearby to snag food, eventually deciding on traditional Japanese goodness. I had some ebi (shrimp) tempura udon, which was simply to die for. The shrimp were gigantic and I could barely eat them properly. I definitely felt like I made a mess. I hope no one around me got splashed with udon soup (Fione and Armand)! Everyone else got more fabulous dishes. It seems like you can't really go wrong when eating here. No one's really said their meal was bad (though one of the Max's straight-up doesn't like Japanese food, which blows my mind).
After our fantastic food outing, we ventured to MODI, the other mall in the plaza, to hit up the Daiso (Big Lots of Japan) and UNIQLO, which is similar to Old Navy/Gap (cheap, simple clothes). I spent pretty conservatively so that I wouldn't get something on an impulse buy. Just a couple towels (realized I didn't have a towel to dry myself with last night after my shower =/) and that's it. Though we'll definitely be heading back for school supplies and other various things necessary for life. Oh, and we chipped in for a cheap portable mahjong tile set, which proved awesome later on in the night. Good thing we had people who knew how to play to teach us, because the instructions that came with the game were kind of bum.
A quick jaunt back to MISH to arrive on time for the cell phone orientation and we were free for the rest of the day afterwards. They actually reduced the price of the prepaid cell phone they offer, so we only had to spend 6500 yen instead of the estimated 10,000. Good stuff. I'll receive the phone on Thursday when I pick it up from the Meigaku campus. From there, it became a group funfest (yes, funfest. It's appropriate), dominating the common room for cards, mahjong, and later beer pong for those who decided to play. When it finally came time for dinner, around 7PM, a handful of us ran out to nab discounted スパー supermarket meals. Definitely nabbed some good deals, picking up dinner and tomorrow's breakfast, and a couple drinks, for about $9. Had some good conversation about opinions on the program and our fellow EAP-ers, throwing out opinions and debating kanji on the long walk home (approx. 3 minutes). Once the others got into their beer pong pretty hardcore, four or five of us relocated to my room to play some card games. Hearts ruled the evening, even if I got hated out early thanks to A CERTAIN SOMEONE GIVING ME THE QUEEN OF SPADES 3 TIMES. FML. Mao was introduced later on, but it wasn't as big a smash hit as it could have been, perhaps because of the late hour. I'm sure we'll get some more practice in at some point or another.
And now I enjoy the sweet sound of rain and thunder as a thunderstorm/typhoon moves in to wish us a good night's sleep. How sweet, right? Tomorrow will be a busy day, starting with an orientation, meeting our Meigaku buddies, walking to campus for the first time to sign up for homestay and cultural activities, then lunch with the buddies. We plan to take them out to bowling/karaoke later on in Yokohama, so we'll see how that fares. Wish me luck! じゃね〜
After our fantastic food outing, we ventured to MODI, the other mall in the plaza, to hit up the Daiso (Big Lots of Japan) and UNIQLO, which is similar to Old Navy/Gap (cheap, simple clothes). I spent pretty conservatively so that I wouldn't get something on an impulse buy. Just a couple towels (realized I didn't have a towel to dry myself with last night after my shower =/) and that's it. Though we'll definitely be heading back for school supplies and other various things necessary for life. Oh, and we chipped in for a cheap portable mahjong tile set, which proved awesome later on in the night. Good thing we had people who knew how to play to teach us, because the instructions that came with the game were kind of bum.
A quick jaunt back to MISH to arrive on time for the cell phone orientation and we were free for the rest of the day afterwards. They actually reduced the price of the prepaid cell phone they offer, so we only had to spend 6500 yen instead of the estimated 10,000. Good stuff. I'll receive the phone on Thursday when I pick it up from the Meigaku campus. From there, it became a group funfest (yes, funfest. It's appropriate), dominating the common room for cards, mahjong, and later beer pong for those who decided to play. When it finally came time for dinner, around 7PM, a handful of us ran out to nab discounted スパー supermarket meals. Definitely nabbed some good deals, picking up dinner and tomorrow's breakfast, and a couple drinks, for about $9. Had some good conversation about opinions on the program and our fellow EAP-ers, throwing out opinions and debating kanji on the long walk home (approx. 3 minutes). Once the others got into their beer pong pretty hardcore, four or five of us relocated to my room to play some card games. Hearts ruled the evening, even if I got hated out early thanks to A CERTAIN SOMEONE GIVING ME THE QUEEN OF SPADES 3 TIMES. FML. Mao was introduced later on, but it wasn't as big a smash hit as it could have been, perhaps because of the late hour. I'm sure we'll get some more practice in at some point or another.
And now I enjoy the sweet sound of rain and thunder as a thunderstorm/typhoon moves in to wish us a good night's sleep. How sweet, right? Tomorrow will be a busy day, starting with an orientation, meeting our Meigaku buddies, walking to campus for the first time to sign up for homestay and cultural activities, then lunch with the buddies. We plan to take them out to bowling/karaoke later on in Yokohama, so we'll see how that fares. Wish me luck! じゃね〜
Monday, September 10, 2012
Day 2: What Else Are Friends For?
Another day, another dollar (or twenty-four) short. But the benefits gained have been superb.
Last night, after getting into the hotel room (which was heavenly after having been in the manga cafe for the first night), we ran around the nearby area scouting out the sites. Two different Taito Stations and one Round 1 curled their fingers around my legs and dragged me within their shiny, many-colored interiors. The first floor tended to house a wide variety of UFO catcher devices, claw grabbers where the prizes are much more than simple plushies. This time, rare statuettes, giant stuffed figures, and oh-so-much-more were up for grabs. I attempted to win Kin an awesome Miku figure using David's patented technique (if I shared it, I'd lose my pinky fingers), but alas, no luck. The second floors were the best, however, with games upon games upon games, many I had never heard or seen before, and just as many strange in concept but beautiful in execution. A Dragonball Z third-person fighting game was coveted like the Initial D games of old. Some Square Enix-produced game that utilized a 3D card system fused traditional trading card games with high-tech video games. Some sort of Magical Quiz Academy tested one's knowledge on... something, I imagine. All held in stunning condition, it was such a (glorious) change from the state of arcades in America. I was jealous.
Dinner was CoCo Curry House, at which I ordered an amazing-but-simple dish of medium-heat chicken curry with egg, as well as fluffy and hot cheese naan bread. So far, my favorite meal by far. We returned to the room to finish watching a Japanese-subbed Sherlock Holmes: Game of Shadows and passed out... though jet lag woke both David and I up multiple times throughout the night. Still working on that issue. Oh, and Diana showed up later on that evening so we could begin our journey early the next day.
And what an adventure it was. We checked out at 10AM after doing some more exploring, this time on a weekday morning, and made the trip from Yokohama station to Totsuka. A 9-minute ride through a beautiful fusion of wires and leaves and cement-covered rolling hills and we arrived at our meeting spot a mere 4 hours early. It was here we met our first non-core group member Armand, who quickly acclimated to the group. Fellow KUCI DJs, unite! We stuck it out at a nearby mall in a relatively discreet area so we wouldn't be in anyone's way and hunkered down till they kicked us out. But of course, they were nice about it, so we weren't feeling like we had committed a mortal sin. Lunch was a quick treat: taiyaki, fluffy pancake-bread in the shape of a fish filled with (in my case) custard. Some lucky, brave soul tried the BLT taiyaki... but it ended up being awful. Sadface. Better luck next time, David!
We discovered more obvious gaijin at the top floor of the mall. Sup white guy! Jason and Fion (Fior? We're still getting used to everyone's names) had been there for a few days, so we happily joined them, beginning the roundup of Meigaku-bound EAP students. Little by little our group grew, adding in many great personalities to our group. By the end of it, we had a nearly-complete party with only a couple poor people having not shown up. We dragged our bags a few minutes away from the meeting spot and met a bus to drive us a whopping 5 minutes away to MISH, the Meiji International Student House. AKA home till almost next year! No elevators in MISH, however, meant hauling every last bag up the four floors of rooms. A group training exercise left us all sweaty, but grateful to finally be home. We immediately joined the Kobayashi's and our Mustache-san (does anyone remember his name?) for the first of many orientations to come. Ground rules, kitchen rules, the like were all covered, as well as a quick trip to the nearby スパー (super market) to nab our own pair of slippers for use. I got pretty sweet orange and black striped ones that are really comfy, though kinda small even for me. Groceries were bought in some small amounts, mostly snacks, laundry detergent, and shampoo. Finally, we returned to MISH with a real meal on our minds.
We attempted to gather together as many of the MISH peeps as possible, but not everyone answered their doors. As a result, only 11 of the 19 or so of us went out for our first group meal. We walked about 20 minutes away, passing by 7-11 (of course), Domino's Pizza (buy 1 get 1 free!), and eventually reaching MoDI, the 7-floor shopping mall-ish building. Totsuka station is basically surrounded on three sides by massive multi-floor shopping plazas. It's definitely overdoing it, but it's nice to have everything in one area. Daiso, the cheapy-everything market, took up all of the fifth floor, while UNIQLO, the Gap/Old Navy of Japan, utilized floor 4. But with our bellies set on overdrive, we rushed to Floor 7 to storm the many restaurants available. Settling on a traditional place, we enjoyed delicacies like udon, katsu, and more. Cold tea was served, interestingly enough, but proved to be quite refreshing. Some of the group wanted to check out Daiso for supplies, so most of us ran once around and headed out while a few stragglers took their time and got important materials for the days ahead.
Mandatory group celebration time came next, as drinking in public is not illegal or even frowned upon. Everyone got some kind of canned beverage of their choice, many selecting delicious peach-flavored cocktails, and we headed down to the nearby river aqueduct to bond. It really was too bad the others didn't answer when we came knocking earlier, but that just means we'll have to bond some more tomorrow night! Pictures were had (working on having those sent to me), but most importantly, I must note the koi fish in this river. These beasts are MASSIVE, not mere guppies swimming downstream, audibly and visibly jumping over obstacles in the water to reach their destinations. It was strange, impressive, and almost scary! Strange shuffling noises on the other side of the river bed kiiiinda creeped me out, no lie, but when in such a large group, I guess I could always use others as "floatation devices" in the event of, say, a zombie apocalypse. No worries!
It was only 10:15PM, but I was reeling from how the long, humid day took it's toll on me. Great friends were gained this day, and I am certainly excited to learn more about them as the weeks fly by. Even if my wallet may soon hate me, I'll be finding many ways to spend my time when not in class, for certain. It's really interesting how different the people in our group can be. From one end of the spectrum to the other, for certain. But all are nice and pleasant in their own right, which assures this experience will be a great one.
I GUESS I finally have time to unpack, shower, and shave, now that it's 11:50PM. I wanted to do those things earlier, buuuut my awful memory didn't want to try and handle recalling things so far from their time of occurrence. Blog > hygiene, apparently. Oh, and for photos of all these adventures and more (don't worry, I'll remember my camera better come the next few months), look no further!
http://www.flickr.com/photos/djmarmar/sets/72157631499693054/
Thanks for reading!
P.S. Pachinko parlors are louder than concerts I've been to, and smell far, far worse. Beware them at all costs.
Last night, after getting into the hotel room (which was heavenly after having been in the manga cafe for the first night), we ran around the nearby area scouting out the sites. Two different Taito Stations and one Round 1 curled their fingers around my legs and dragged me within their shiny, many-colored interiors. The first floor tended to house a wide variety of UFO catcher devices, claw grabbers where the prizes are much more than simple plushies. This time, rare statuettes, giant stuffed figures, and oh-so-much-more were up for grabs. I attempted to win Kin an awesome Miku figure using David's patented technique (if I shared it, I'd lose my pinky fingers), but alas, no luck. The second floors were the best, however, with games upon games upon games, many I had never heard or seen before, and just as many strange in concept but beautiful in execution. A Dragonball Z third-person fighting game was coveted like the Initial D games of old. Some Square Enix-produced game that utilized a 3D card system fused traditional trading card games with high-tech video games. Some sort of Magical Quiz Academy tested one's knowledge on... something, I imagine. All held in stunning condition, it was such a (glorious) change from the state of arcades in America. I was jealous.
Dinner was CoCo Curry House, at which I ordered an amazing-but-simple dish of medium-heat chicken curry with egg, as well as fluffy and hot cheese naan bread. So far, my favorite meal by far. We returned to the room to finish watching a Japanese-subbed Sherlock Holmes: Game of Shadows and passed out... though jet lag woke both David and I up multiple times throughout the night. Still working on that issue. Oh, and Diana showed up later on that evening so we could begin our journey early the next day.
And what an adventure it was. We checked out at 10AM after doing some more exploring, this time on a weekday morning, and made the trip from Yokohama station to Totsuka. A 9-minute ride through a beautiful fusion of wires and leaves and cement-covered rolling hills and we arrived at our meeting spot a mere 4 hours early. It was here we met our first non-core group member Armand, who quickly acclimated to the group. Fellow KUCI DJs, unite! We stuck it out at a nearby mall in a relatively discreet area so we wouldn't be in anyone's way and hunkered down till they kicked us out. But of course, they were nice about it, so we weren't feeling like we had committed a mortal sin. Lunch was a quick treat: taiyaki, fluffy pancake-bread in the shape of a fish filled with (in my case) custard. Some lucky, brave soul tried the BLT taiyaki... but it ended up being awful. Sadface. Better luck next time, David!
We discovered more obvious gaijin at the top floor of the mall. Sup white guy! Jason and Fion (Fior? We're still getting used to everyone's names) had been there for a few days, so we happily joined them, beginning the roundup of Meigaku-bound EAP students. Little by little our group grew, adding in many great personalities to our group. By the end of it, we had a nearly-complete party with only a couple poor people having not shown up. We dragged our bags a few minutes away from the meeting spot and met a bus to drive us a whopping 5 minutes away to MISH, the Meiji International Student House. AKA home till almost next year! No elevators in MISH, however, meant hauling every last bag up the four floors of rooms. A group training exercise left us all sweaty, but grateful to finally be home. We immediately joined the Kobayashi's and our Mustache-san (does anyone remember his name?) for the first of many orientations to come. Ground rules, kitchen rules, the like were all covered, as well as a quick trip to the nearby スパー (super market) to nab our own pair of slippers for use. I got pretty sweet orange and black striped ones that are really comfy, though kinda small even for me. Groceries were bought in some small amounts, mostly snacks, laundry detergent, and shampoo. Finally, we returned to MISH with a real meal on our minds.
We attempted to gather together as many of the MISH peeps as possible, but not everyone answered their doors. As a result, only 11 of the 19 or so of us went out for our first group meal. We walked about 20 minutes away, passing by 7-11 (of course), Domino's Pizza (buy 1 get 1 free!), and eventually reaching MoDI, the 7-floor shopping mall-ish building. Totsuka station is basically surrounded on three sides by massive multi-floor shopping plazas. It's definitely overdoing it, but it's nice to have everything in one area. Daiso, the cheapy-everything market, took up all of the fifth floor, while UNIQLO, the Gap/Old Navy of Japan, utilized floor 4. But with our bellies set on overdrive, we rushed to Floor 7 to storm the many restaurants available. Settling on a traditional place, we enjoyed delicacies like udon, katsu, and more. Cold tea was served, interestingly enough, but proved to be quite refreshing. Some of the group wanted to check out Daiso for supplies, so most of us ran once around and headed out while a few stragglers took their time and got important materials for the days ahead.
Mandatory group celebration time came next, as drinking in public is not illegal or even frowned upon. Everyone got some kind of canned beverage of their choice, many selecting delicious peach-flavored cocktails, and we headed down to the nearby river aqueduct to bond. It really was too bad the others didn't answer when we came knocking earlier, but that just means we'll have to bond some more tomorrow night! Pictures were had (working on having those sent to me), but most importantly, I must note the koi fish in this river. These beasts are MASSIVE, not mere guppies swimming downstream, audibly and visibly jumping over obstacles in the water to reach their destinations. It was strange, impressive, and almost scary! Strange shuffling noises on the other side of the river bed kiiiinda creeped me out, no lie, but when in such a large group, I guess I could always use others as "floatation devices" in the event of, say, a zombie apocalypse. No worries!
It was only 10:15PM, but I was reeling from how the long, humid day took it's toll on me. Great friends were gained this day, and I am certainly excited to learn more about them as the weeks fly by. Even if my wallet may soon hate me, I'll be finding many ways to spend my time when not in class, for certain. It's really interesting how different the people in our group can be. From one end of the spectrum to the other, for certain. But all are nice and pleasant in their own right, which assures this experience will be a great one.
I GUESS I finally have time to unpack, shower, and shave, now that it's 11:50PM. I wanted to do those things earlier, buuuut my awful memory didn't want to try and handle recalling things so far from their time of occurrence. Blog > hygiene, apparently. Oh, and for photos of all these adventures and more (don't worry, I'll remember my camera better come the next few months), look no further!
http://www.flickr.com/photos/djmarmar/sets/72157631499693054/
Thanks for reading!
P.S. Pachinko parlors are louder than concerts I've been to, and smell far, far worse. Beware them at all costs.
Saturday, September 8, 2012
Day 0/1: Trains, Planes, and Automobiles
Here we go. Adventure time. All or nothing.
The plane ride over was pretty good overall. Tom Bradley out of LAX is actually rather pleasant to deal with. They really feed you well on Malaysian Airlines, and I'd definitely recommend them for their courtesy to customers. I was lucky enough to get a window seat assigned to me, so I had the beautiful view of nonstop water on the ride over. I tried my best not to sleep at all so I would be exhausted by the time we reached the hotel at 11:30PM (more on that mistake later). While there, I read the entirety of Daytripper, which nearly made me cry in a few places. I couldn't recommend a comic any more than this; it's just a piece of literary beauty everyone should read. Swamp Thing was fantastic too and I definitely want to read more of it. Of course I had to give in to my Pokemon addiction and start playing Pokemon Black (thanks Luis!), so now my fire pig and I are on a grand journey with Scotty the scottish terrier, Scoops the crack-hamster, and Iisa-mew, my best feline friend. Dissidia Final Fantasy is complicated, but fairly fun to play. The trip went by quickly enough, though maybe that's due to my growing accustomed to long plane rides via Boston and Europe trips.
The best part of the plane ride was the arrival, and not for the reason you might think. I opened the window just as we finally saw land and gazed out at the unending expanse of blue-white lights, so much more numerous than yellow-orange lights we're used to in the US. However, after the cabin lights dimmed, I continued looking out and was absolutely shocked to see a flash of lightning illuminate the sky behind a curtain of clouds. It went off once, twice, four times in total, almost like the heartbeat of a Thunder God welcoming me in. "Come, come my child, for all the adventures you'll surely have". So awe-inspiring. I definitely count myself amongst the luckiest.
Immediately upon stepping off the plane, my first thought was: "WHY AM I SWEATING BUCKETS AT 8PM". The humidity and heat here are despicable. Truly unlike anything I've experienced before. But so is the sky. It just looks different than the sky in the US. It's hard to explain, but it's almost rounder than the flatness we're used to, as David put it later on.
Customs and immigration took almost an hour and a half, not to mention waiting for a shuttle to take us from the gate to immigration. It was a straightforward process, but it did make it so that, once I met up with David and Anastasia, we had missed the Narita Express train to Totsuka station in Yokohama. Thusly, we got to wander aimlessly and wonder for the longest time how we would get there without our planned source of transportation. Manga tells us trains stop running around midnight, so why you do this to us, NEX? (；△；) The first taxi driver who offered his services wanted 10,000 yen ($120) for three of us, but we had not found Anastasia yet, so we had to put him off. Eventually we got Anastasia, but by then, our man had disappeared. We approached a group of taxi drivers standing outside and they told us they wanted 30,000 ($400) for the ride. As we turned down their offer and walked away, I could hear the snickers of the old men. Surely they were amused by the foreign students who couldn't afford their overpriced services. Sigh.
From there, we decided to train hop and get as close as we could to Totsuka. Thankfully a really nice station officer helped us literally RUN to snatch the last Commuter Express train towards Ueno. He had said we needed to transfer to Yamanote, but failed to tell us (at least clearly enough) what stop we needed. So every stop we wondered "Is this where we transfer? How about now? Maybe we'll leave when everyone else leaves?" The decision-making came to a head when we reached the next-to-last stop. Nowhere had said we could transfer to Yamanote on any map we saw, and neither did the train notify us of the option to change lines to it. Simply, the next-to-last stop said transfer for "All JR Lines". By assuming Yamanote was a JR line, we could either have become supremely lost or continued on the right way. Thankfully we rolled those dice and snake eyes came up; Yamanote was there! A quick fare adjustment and some help from more officers (though communication issues via enunciation delayed us; Totsuka, not Otsuka!) and we were on our way. We would have to make a transfer at the main Tokyo station, but when we got there, we discovered there were no more trains going to Totsuka. We would have to find a way closest to Yokohama, which involved hopping trains (without paying the adjustment fare! SO RISKY!) to Kamada and then getting a taxi to our hotel. Much cheaper than the $120-per-person straight-shot taxi ride.
Toyoko Inn. Estimated check-in time: 11:30PM. Our arrival time: 2:15AM. ／(x~x)＼ Guess what that meant! Our reservation for the night was cancelled. The girl at the desk continued to prove exactly how helpful every Japanese person we meet has been by calling all the nearby hotels to look for vacancies. Unfortunately, this resulted in only one option: A Sheraton within taxi-distance for 30,000 a night (again, over $100 per person). This simply would not do. We asked if there were any 24-hour places nearby we could stay at for a while, which eventually led us to a giant block of buildings full of bars, izakayas, McDonalds, and, best of all, a 24-hour manga/internet cafe. Truly, there was a God.
For those of you unfamiliar with the concept, let me explain what one of these establishments is like. On the second floor, you have the front desk, where you are able to purchase "time packs" akin to purchasing hours of computer use at an internet cafe in the States. You can upgrade to special "rooms" (more appropriate to refer to them as cubicles, though) that house a room-length sofa and a computer. What this becomes is a tiny, black wooden room with unlimited internet use that you can crash at. And crash we did. For the low-low price of 1,780 ($25), we had crash space, even if we had to place our luggage like tetris blocks under desks and on top of the sofas. You're also allowed to read manga, of which the entire 3rd floor is devoted to shelving, to your heart's content. Free drinks (tea, coffee, soda, juice, and even melon and apple-flavored slushies) helped wake us up after a much-needed rest. Strangely, you could also purchase meals from the front desk which they would cook upon ordering. I can happily say that my first Japanese meal was scrumptious and even more well-received than I expected. It was a teriyaki beef bowl with egg drop-ish soup for about $4.50. Heaven. Pictures incoming. The fourth and fifth floor just led to more cubicled rooms, though delegated these places as "smoking rooms". Ouch, my lungs.
And this brings us to about where we are currently situated in time. Our 10-hour time pack at GeraGera manga/internet cafe ran out at 1PM, and our check-in at Toyoko Inn is at 4PM. A 3-hour gap to spend in the wretched weather... or maybe not! We went to Toyoko to see if we could do anything about the check-in time. Another very nice lady was willing and understanding of our ability to speak only broken Japanese and helped us with the process of check-in, but we still could not go up to our rooms until the designated time. Thusly, we sit now. Computers lined up against a wall of the eensy-weensy Toyoko Inn lobby. Myself, Anastasia, and David typing blogs, watching TV, and reading manga, respectively. Another hour to go until sweet, delicious showers and relaxation can be had.
Overall, the experience has been quite an adventure. Crankiness was definitely setting in last night for the others, and for good reason, but I was somehow able to maintain a fairly positive outlook on things. We're in Japan. We were able to find our way to our hotel eventually. We didn't spend gobs and gobs of money necessarily to get here. And even if the weather sucks and it's no fun lugging suitcases up and down the street, we're still in it together. Bonding time is definitely a nice gift, especially when you get along with people right from the get-go. The citizens here have been so helpful and nice, even if we've been made fun of by at least one group of fellows on the train. But it's to be expected, after all, so one just needs to take it in full-stride. There's just no way my joy of being abroad can be squelched, period.
I love it here and I'm excited to see where this adventure takes us next. がいじんパワー！
The plane ride over was pretty good overall. Tom Bradley out of LAX is actually rather pleasant to deal with. They really feed you well on Malaysian Airlines, and I'd definitely recommend them for their courtesy to customers. I was lucky enough to get a window seat assigned to me, so I had the beautiful view of nonstop water on the ride over. I tried my best not to sleep at all so I would be exhausted by the time we reached the hotel at 11:30PM (more on that mistake later). While there, I read the entirety of Daytripper, which nearly made me cry in a few places. I couldn't recommend a comic any more than this; it's just a piece of literary beauty everyone should read. Swamp Thing was fantastic too and I definitely want to read more of it. Of course I had to give in to my Pokemon addiction and start playing Pokemon Black (thanks Luis!), so now my fire pig and I are on a grand journey with Scotty the scottish terrier, Scoops the crack-hamster, and Iisa-mew, my best feline friend. Dissidia Final Fantasy is complicated, but fairly fun to play. The trip went by quickly enough, though maybe that's due to my growing accustomed to long plane rides via Boston and Europe trips.
The best part of the plane ride was the arrival, and not for the reason you might think. I opened the window just as we finally saw land and gazed out at the unending expanse of blue-white lights, so much more numerous than yellow-orange lights we're used to in the US. However, after the cabin lights dimmed, I continued looking out and was absolutely shocked to see a flash of lightning illuminate the sky behind a curtain of clouds. It went off once, twice, four times in total, almost like the heartbeat of a Thunder God welcoming me in. "Come, come my child, for all the adventures you'll surely have". So awe-inspiring. I definitely count myself amongst the luckiest.
Immediately upon stepping off the plane, my first thought was: "WHY AM I SWEATING BUCKETS AT 8PM". The humidity and heat here are despicable. Truly unlike anything I've experienced before. But so is the sky. It just looks different than the sky in the US. It's hard to explain, but it's almost rounder than the flatness we're used to, as David put it later on.
Customs and immigration took almost an hour and a half, not to mention waiting for a shuttle to take us from the gate to immigration. It was a straightforward process, but it did make it so that, once I met up with David and Anastasia, we had missed the Narita Express train to Totsuka station in Yokohama. Thusly, we got to wander aimlessly and wonder for the longest time how we would get there without our planned source of transportation. Manga tells us trains stop running around midnight, so why you do this to us, NEX? (；△；) The first taxi driver who offered his services wanted 10,000 yen ($120) for three of us, but we had not found Anastasia yet, so we had to put him off. Eventually we got Anastasia, but by then, our man had disappeared. We approached a group of taxi drivers standing outside and they told us they wanted 30,000 ($400) for the ride. As we turned down their offer and walked away, I could hear the snickers of the old men. Surely they were amused by the foreign students who couldn't afford their overpriced services. Sigh.
From there, we decided to train hop and get as close as we could to Totsuka. Thankfully a really nice station officer helped us literally RUN to snatch the last Commuter Express train towards Ueno. He had said we needed to transfer to Yamanote, but failed to tell us (at least clearly enough) what stop we needed. So every stop we wondered "Is this where we transfer? How about now? Maybe we'll leave when everyone else leaves?" The decision-making came to a head when we reached the next-to-last stop. Nowhere had said we could transfer to Yamanote on any map we saw, and neither did the train notify us of the option to change lines to it. Simply, the next-to-last stop said transfer for "All JR Lines". By assuming Yamanote was a JR line, we could either have become supremely lost or continued on the right way. Thankfully we rolled those dice and snake eyes came up; Yamanote was there! A quick fare adjustment and some help from more officers (though communication issues via enunciation delayed us; Totsuka, not Otsuka!) and we were on our way. We would have to make a transfer at the main Tokyo station, but when we got there, we discovered there were no more trains going to Totsuka. We would have to find a way closest to Yokohama, which involved hopping trains (without paying the adjustment fare! SO RISKY!) to Kamada and then getting a taxi to our hotel. Much cheaper than the $120-per-person straight-shot taxi ride.
Toyoko Inn. Estimated check-in time: 11:30PM. Our arrival time: 2:15AM. ／(x~x)＼ Guess what that meant! Our reservation for the night was cancelled. The girl at the desk continued to prove exactly how helpful every Japanese person we meet has been by calling all the nearby hotels to look for vacancies. Unfortunately, this resulted in only one option: A Sheraton within taxi-distance for 30,000 a night (again, over $100 per person). This simply would not do. We asked if there were any 24-hour places nearby we could stay at for a while, which eventually led us to a giant block of buildings full of bars, izakayas, McDonalds, and, best of all, a 24-hour manga/internet cafe. Truly, there was a God.
For those of you unfamiliar with the concept, let me explain what one of these establishments is like. On the second floor, you have the front desk, where you are able to purchase "time packs" akin to purchasing hours of computer use at an internet cafe in the States. You can upgrade to special "rooms" (more appropriate to refer to them as cubicles, though) that house a room-length sofa and a computer. What this becomes is a tiny, black wooden room with unlimited internet use that you can crash at. And crash we did. For the low-low price of 1,780 ($25), we had crash space, even if we had to place our luggage like tetris blocks under desks and on top of the sofas. You're also allowed to read manga, of which the entire 3rd floor is devoted to shelving, to your heart's content. Free drinks (tea, coffee, soda, juice, and even melon and apple-flavored slushies) helped wake us up after a much-needed rest. Strangely, you could also purchase meals from the front desk which they would cook upon ordering. I can happily say that my first Japanese meal was scrumptious and even more well-received than I expected. It was a teriyaki beef bowl with egg drop-ish soup for about $4.50. Heaven. Pictures incoming. The fourth and fifth floor just led to more cubicled rooms, though delegated these places as "smoking rooms". Ouch, my lungs.
And this brings us to about where we are currently situated in time. Our 10-hour time pack at GeraGera manga/internet cafe ran out at 1PM, and our check-in at Toyoko Inn is at 4PM. A 3-hour gap to spend in the wretched weather... or maybe not! We went to Toyoko to see if we could do anything about the check-in time. Another very nice lady was willing and understanding of our ability to speak only broken Japanese and helped us with the process of check-in, but we still could not go up to our rooms until the designated time. Thusly, we sit now. Computers lined up against a wall of the eensy-weensy Toyoko Inn lobby. Myself, Anastasia, and David typing blogs, watching TV, and reading manga, respectively. Another hour to go until sweet, delicious showers and relaxation can be had.
Overall, the experience has been quite an adventure. Crankiness was definitely setting in last night for the others, and for good reason, but I was somehow able to maintain a fairly positive outlook on things. We're in Japan. We were able to find our way to our hotel eventually. We didn't spend gobs and gobs of money necessarily to get here. And even if the weather sucks and it's no fun lugging suitcases up and down the street, we're still in it together. Bonding time is definitely a nice gift, especially when you get along with people right from the get-go. The citizens here have been so helpful and nice, even if we've been made fun of by at least one group of fellows on the train. But it's to be expected, after all, so one just needs to take it in full-stride. There's just no way my joy of being abroad can be squelched, period.
I love it here and I'm excited to see where this adventure takes us next. がいじんパワー！
Thursday, August 30, 2012
Pre-Abroad Post: Day -8
One measly week from now and I'll be boarding a plane set for the other side of the globe. Talk about mind-blowing, right? It's finally becoming a very real thing, as I went through the process of converting a chunk of change into traveler's cheques two days ago. And I'll tell you, jumping through those flaming hoops was something special. I can't tell you how many banks, credit unions, and grocery store branches of banks I had to contact to find out who would sell cheques to someone who isn't a customer at their company. But eventually I got it taken care of and now I hold a bunch of slips of paper I need to sign before I leave.
In addition, I finished paying for the plane ticket this afternoon. Nothing like walking out of a building $700 poorer! But it's definitely happening now. I can't help but get the shakes, getting all nervous over learning (and speaking) more Japanese before I go. I really hope the studying I've done in the past few months is enough to help me at least string together some sentences while abroad. I'm sure it'll come to be more natural eventually... but I'm still (understandably) nervous about speaking in front of anyone. My pronunciation is likely awful =[ I'll need all the luck I can get! Meanwhile, making a full Anki flashcard deck of the vocabulary from Genki that I've learned thus far. Most of it I learned back during the class I took at Santa Ana College two years ago. But there are a few things (きっぷ, ticket) that I wasn't aware of prior to the lesson. So it's been a good fusion of review and new material thus far. Still a week left to focus, but not a lot of free time when one factors in work and last-minute preparations. Moving out tomorrow doesn't exactly help keep the stress levels down either. I'll miss having my own place, without a doubt, but the cost of rent + not having pets is just too much to handle at the moment. If I can find a good-paying job and a place that allows for my lovely snake/cat duo, I know I'll be in my happy place. Growing up is such a complicated thing. Everyone makes it sound like just a "necessary progression of life" that you can't stop, but I've learned that that's not always so simple or straightforward.
Anyways, to keep on topic: Japan. Excited. Money. Pain. Busy! Focus. Determined. Wistful. Bittersweet. Memories.
Life.
In addition, I finished paying for the plane ticket this afternoon. Nothing like walking out of a building $700 poorer! But it's definitely happening now. I can't help but get the shakes, getting all nervous over learning (and speaking) more Japanese before I go. I really hope the studying I've done in the past few months is enough to help me at least string together some sentences while abroad. I'm sure it'll come to be more natural eventually... but I'm still (understandably) nervous about speaking in front of anyone. My pronunciation is likely awful =[ I'll need all the luck I can get! Meanwhile, making a full Anki flashcard deck of the vocabulary from Genki that I've learned thus far. Most of it I learned back during the class I took at Santa Ana College two years ago. But there are a few things (きっぷ, ticket) that I wasn't aware of prior to the lesson. So it's been a good fusion of review and new material thus far. Still a week left to focus, but not a lot of free time when one factors in work and last-minute preparations. Moving out tomorrow doesn't exactly help keep the stress levels down either. I'll miss having my own place, without a doubt, but the cost of rent + not having pets is just too much to handle at the moment. If I can find a good-paying job and a place that allows for my lovely snake/cat duo, I know I'll be in my happy place. Growing up is such a complicated thing. Everyone makes it sound like just a "necessary progression of life" that you can't stop, but I've learned that that's not always so simple or straightforward.
Anyways, to keep on topic: Japan. Excited. Money. Pain. Busy! Focus. Determined. Wistful. Bittersweet. Memories.
Life.
Saturday, August 25, 2012
Pre-Abroad Post: Day -13
It's absolutely mind-boggling that in less than two weeks, I'll have stepped foot in another country. And not just any country either. I've dreamed of going to Japan since as far back as I can remember. It's hard to trace exactly where my Japan-love stemmed originally from. Was it cartoons/anime like Pokemon and Dragonball Z? Was it the video games that major Japanese studios like Squaresoft and Nintendo released on the Game Boy and PlayStation? All I know is that only recently have I started to better understand what draws me now to the Japanese culture and why I hold it in such high regard.
*WARNING* The following is populated with generalizations. As is always the case, there are exceptions (sometimes in abundance), but one should not deny the existence of common trends in societies. Despite the negative connotations of "stereotypes", they are generally built upon valid observations recorded over a set period of time.
The Japanese are immensely polite and consumed by utilizing honorifics. The language itself shows how ingrained the concept of the social ladder is in the society. At the most basic level, the suffixes of "-san", "-dono", "-sempai", and "-kohai" all exhibit properties reflecting how two people differ in "value" or "worth". This is oftentimes inextricably linked with the concept of seniority, particularly in the education system and the work place. An upperclassman in a school club has more say in club matters than a freshman inductee. There is an intense, complicated, and extremely time-consuming process of making a suggestion to a supervisor at work on how something like productivity could be improved. The act of saying "it might help if we do X instead" is just not how it is done in Japan. The directness can be easily translated into an offensive gesture, implying that things are so inefficient as is and can be so readily improved upon.
I like the Japanese ideology behind politeness and respect because it helps to treat other individuals as fully-realized human beings, and not just means to an end. Too often I feel that we go about our days utilizing the services of others without understanding that a human being, with the capability to reason and emote, is cleaning up our tables after a meal. Or scanning our fruit at the grocery. Being grateful for their services, and their being grateful for our patronage, is an important concept to keep in mind.
The fusion of tradition and modern. Reading a Japanese history book will clue you in as to exactly why there is such a juxtaposition of new and old in this island-nation. Having been essentially forced into becoming a "modern" society by the arrival of Commodore Perry of the USA, Japan had relatively little time to learn from other nations around the industrial revolution. They felt the need to "catch up" to the other major players in the world, and as more technology was adopted, the question of "what does it mean to be Japanese?" became increasingly difficult to answer. What made the Japanese unique in this world of trains, planes, and automobiles? Aided by the honor and seniority system, the elder-most citizens who clung tightly to tradition were held on high, teaching future generations to continue the cycle and honor thy parentage, as well as thy past. For we would not be here were it not for the efforts of those who came before us. So tradition remained tradition and cultural values stayed cultural values, shifting relatively slowly, if at all, over time.
It amazes me that we can look at anything in the USA and say "that's no older than 300 some-odd years old", while going to Japan transforms that into "that's no older than, oh, say a few THOUSAND years old". Sure, we can find this in many other European or Asian countries, but I think the fact that traditions have stuck around so assuredly over time, for example the practice of ikebana (flower art), kyudo (traditional archery), and chado (tea ceremony), gives the country some distinctiveness. There is still much respect (and income) for a professional calligrapher who can properly sweep a brush across a canvas. Honoring the past while embracing the future; another concept to keep in mind.
Finally (so as to not draw this out any longer, because I could go on), I have found my love for Japan, culture and people, as a result of their hard work and perseverance. Yes, we can say that there have been other nations who have had their ups and downs, from civil war to glorious rebirth and all things in between. But Japan stands alone in being a nation that went from a divided city-state smattering of islands to a united empire, from being not allowed to sit at the same global "table" as the big players of the USA and Britain to becoming the second wealthiest nation in the world, and from transcending above the atomic bombs, earthquakes, tsunamis, and volcanoes to reaching the height of the technological era. The Japanese are a proud people, as are other nations, but for different reasons. They know what they have come back from, time and time again, and learned from any mistakes made prior. When the Great Kanto Earthquake of 1923 demolished the lower-east coast of Japan, leveling Tokyo and Yokohama while a nearby typhoon picked up the numerous fires spread, creating "fire twisters" many would refer to as Hell on Earth, the Japanese picked up the pieces and started again. They saw where they needed to focus efforts: earthquake protection. Instead of floundering about in mourning, when the 2011 Tohoku Earthquake and Tsunami wrecked upper Japan, the Japanese got to work immediately rebuilding roads and structures. And perhaps needless to say, after the devastation done to the country as a whole from World War II, they would, as a nation, stand united to help those in need of care. Any age, religion, political viewpoint could be seen during the news coverage of the 2011 disaster helping to free victims from the rubble. The solidarity, determination, perseverance, and collectivism of the Japanese are all concepts I feel we should seek to integrate into our daily lives.
Whew. That was a mouthful. I would love to hear any thoughts, opinions, comments, dissents, agreements, or musings in the comments section below. If you read all that... thank you, and I'm sorry for subjecting you to such a blathering of ideologies. I promise the next post will be more "personal", in some sense of the word.
13 DAYS AHHHHH!!
*WARNING* The following is populated with generalizations. As is always the case, there are exceptions (sometimes in abundance), but one should not deny the existence of common trends in societies. Despite the negative connotations of "stereotypes", they are generally built upon valid observations recorded over a set period of time.
The Japanese are immensely polite and consumed by utilizing honorifics. The language itself shows how ingrained the concept of the social ladder is in the society. At the most basic level, the suffixes of "-san", "-dono", "-sempai", and "-kohai" all exhibit properties reflecting how two people differ in "value" or "worth". This is oftentimes inextricably linked with the concept of seniority, particularly in the education system and the work place. An upperclassman in a school club has more say in club matters than a freshman inductee. There is an intense, complicated, and extremely time-consuming process of making a suggestion to a supervisor at work on how something like productivity could be improved. The act of saying "it might help if we do X instead" is just not how it is done in Japan. The directness can be easily translated into an offensive gesture, implying that things are so inefficient as is and can be so readily improved upon.
I like the Japanese ideology behind politeness and respect because it helps to treat other individuals as fully-realized human beings, and not just means to an end. Too often I feel that we go about our days utilizing the services of others without understanding that a human being, with the capability to reason and emote, is cleaning up our tables after a meal. Or scanning our fruit at the grocery. Being grateful for their services, and their being grateful for our patronage, is an important concept to keep in mind.
The fusion of tradition and modern. Reading a Japanese history book will clue you in as to exactly why there is such a juxtaposition of new and old in this island-nation. Having been essentially forced into becoming a "modern" society by the arrival of Commodore Perry of the USA, Japan had relatively little time to learn from other nations around the industrial revolution. They felt the need to "catch up" to the other major players in the world, and as more technology was adopted, the question of "what does it mean to be Japanese?" became increasingly difficult to answer. What made the Japanese unique in this world of trains, planes, and automobiles? Aided by the honor and seniority system, the elder-most citizens who clung tightly to tradition were held on high, teaching future generations to continue the cycle and honor thy parentage, as well as thy past. For we would not be here were it not for the efforts of those who came before us. So tradition remained tradition and cultural values stayed cultural values, shifting relatively slowly, if at all, over time.
It amazes me that we can look at anything in the USA and say "that's no older than 300 some-odd years old", while going to Japan transforms that into "that's no older than, oh, say a few THOUSAND years old". Sure, we can find this in many other European or Asian countries, but I think the fact that traditions have stuck around so assuredly over time, for example the practice of ikebana (flower art), kyudo (traditional archery), and chado (tea ceremony), gives the country some distinctiveness. There is still much respect (and income) for a professional calligrapher who can properly sweep a brush across a canvas. Honoring the past while embracing the future; another concept to keep in mind.
Finally (so as to not draw this out any longer, because I could go on), I have found my love for Japan, culture and people, as a result of their hard work and perseverance. Yes, we can say that there have been other nations who have had their ups and downs, from civil war to glorious rebirth and all things in between. But Japan stands alone in being a nation that went from a divided city-state smattering of islands to a united empire, from being not allowed to sit at the same global "table" as the big players of the USA and Britain to becoming the second wealthiest nation in the world, and from transcending above the atomic bombs, earthquakes, tsunamis, and volcanoes to reaching the height of the technological era. The Japanese are a proud people, as are other nations, but for different reasons. They know what they have come back from, time and time again, and learned from any mistakes made prior. When the Great Kanto Earthquake of 1923 demolished the lower-east coast of Japan, leveling Tokyo and Yokohama while a nearby typhoon picked up the numerous fires spread, creating "fire twisters" many would refer to as Hell on Earth, the Japanese picked up the pieces and started again. They saw where they needed to focus efforts: earthquake protection. Instead of floundering about in mourning, when the 2011 Tohoku Earthquake and Tsunami wrecked upper Japan, the Japanese got to work immediately rebuilding roads and structures. And perhaps needless to say, after the devastation done to the country as a whole from World War II, they would, as a nation, stand united to help those in need of care. Any age, religion, political viewpoint could be seen during the news coverage of the 2011 disaster helping to free victims from the rubble. The solidarity, determination, perseverance, and collectivism of the Japanese are all concepts I feel we should seek to integrate into our daily lives.
Whew. That was a mouthful. I would love to hear any thoughts, opinions, comments, dissents, agreements, or musings in the comments section below. If you read all that... thank you, and I'm sorry for subjecting you to such a blathering of ideologies. I promise the next post will be more "personal", in some sense of the word.
13 DAYS AHHHHH!!
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