When one answers the phone they say "Moshi Moshi," and then they start talking ridiculously fast. I mean, really fast, I can't catch any words what-so-ever. If they aren't talking, but just listening, they'll say "Hai, Hai," "Ah, ah" and "un, un," a lot with vigorous nodding of the head or bowing. And if there is reason, due to the conversation, for thanks, they say "arigatou gozaimasu~" with a long "u" sound at the end. Even men seem to say the "u" which is considered very feminine. And they'll say it over and over again. Sometimes when I'm listening to peoples conversations on the phone I feel like someone turned on a tape recorder and it's on repeat. When such conversations go on for about ten minutes, you start to go a little crazy.
Phone calls are usually short, to the point, and include bowing even though the other person obviously can't see them.
I'm thinking that the super speed talk is due to the fact that phone calls are expensive. Minute plans aren't available like in the states. Softbank is free for in-network calls between 6:00am and 9:00pm. During off hours they charge you per minute. Land lines and outside networks also cost a lot of money, charging every 30 seconds. In fact, it costs more to call a landline than a cell phone. One number I called for a post office (English Version) Charged 80 yen per twenty seconds. (I hung up rather quickly.)
Who likes talking on the phone anyways?
October 21, 2009
October 19, 2009
Religious.
There's a saying I heard that I have found to be quite true about the Japanese.
This is because of their lifestyle. I sorta knew about this before, but on my trip to Kamakura with Yamase-San, (One of my friends from church) I learned a lot more. Here's some info on religion in Japan.
There are two major religions in Japan: Shinto and Buddhist. They are often mixed together and mistaken from one another. Shinto is the belief in many spirits or gods within nature. Buddhist is the belief in Nirvana. (I mean, it's more complicated than that, but there's some differences for ya.)
A shrine is Shinto. A shrine is distinguished by its bright red paint. One does not actually enter a shrine. Praying is done outside while looking in at the statue of the god you are praying to or in front of a gong which you ring afterwards. This picture is of a small shrine in Inokashira Park by Kichijoji.
A temple is Buddhist. Temples are built with wood and not painted. You can enter a temple, and they usually house a Buddha. This picture if of the Todaiji Temple in Nara, which is the largest wooden structure in the world.
They believe that when the artist makes a statue, they put a spirit into it. The people then pray to that statue- thus tat spirit for the well-being of whatever that spirit is over. Whether it be money, safe pregnancy, love, wisdom, livestock, sake, etc.
When a child is born, they are taken to a shrine to be blessed for a good and prosperous life.
Many Japanese people are married the Christian way, in their white dresses in chapels. I'm not sure why this is - I guess I'll have to look it up sometimes. They are also married at shrines. I think they might actually do both the traditional and Christian wedding.
When a person dies, they are buried the Buddhist way.
On New Years Eve, everyone is Buddhist. On that night, people gather at shrines and temples to hear the 108 gongs, representing the 108 Buddhist sins from the previous years being forgotten. Everyone then eats New Years food like soba, mochi, and yokan.
Another note on Shinto beliefs, I was surprised to learn that sake is considered a purifier along with salt. Sake can be used as a cleanser, but they believe that drinking it purifies the spirit. Many shrines have buildings that are for storing barrels of donated sake.
I think it's sorta strange how most people in Japan aren't one religion, but two. Wouldn't that mean that they aren't dedicated to one, thus not very religious? I'm not sure. When I asked this question to Yamase, she did say their are some very strict and dedicated Buddhist and Shinto-ists, but for the most part, not really. It's more like an important and endearing part of their traditional culture rather than a matter of believing.
But then, maybe I'm wrong. I've still got a lot to learn about this country!
"They are born Shinto, married Christian, and die Buddhist."
This is because of their lifestyle. I sorta knew about this before, but on my trip to Kamakura with Yamase-San, (One of my friends from church) I learned a lot more. Here's some info on religion in Japan.
There are two major religions in Japan: Shinto and Buddhist. They are often mixed together and mistaken from one another. Shinto is the belief in many spirits or gods within nature. Buddhist is the belief in Nirvana. (I mean, it's more complicated than that, but there's some differences for ya.)
A shrine is Shinto. A shrine is distinguished by its bright red paint. One does not actually enter a shrine. Praying is done outside while looking in at the statue of the god you are praying to or in front of a gong which you ring afterwards. This picture is of a small shrine in Inokashira Park by Kichijoji.
A temple is Buddhist. Temples are built with wood and not painted. You can enter a temple, and they usually house a Buddha. This picture if of the Todaiji Temple in Nara, which is the largest wooden structure in the world.They believe that when the artist makes a statue, they put a spirit into it. The people then pray to that statue- thus tat spirit for the well-being of whatever that spirit is over. Whether it be money, safe pregnancy, love, wisdom, livestock, sake, etc.
When a child is born, they are taken to a shrine to be blessed for a good and prosperous life.
Many Japanese people are married the Christian way, in their white dresses in chapels. I'm not sure why this is - I guess I'll have to look it up sometimes. They are also married at shrines. I think they might actually do both the traditional and Christian wedding.
When a person dies, they are buried the Buddhist way.
On New Years Eve, everyone is Buddhist. On that night, people gather at shrines and temples to hear the 108 gongs, representing the 108 Buddhist sins from the previous years being forgotten. Everyone then eats New Years food like soba, mochi, and yokan.
Another note on Shinto beliefs, I was surprised to learn that sake is considered a purifier along with salt. Sake can be used as a cleanser, but they believe that drinking it purifies the spirit. Many shrines have buildings that are for storing barrels of donated sake.I think it's sorta strange how most people in Japan aren't one religion, but two. Wouldn't that mean that they aren't dedicated to one, thus not very religious? I'm not sure. When I asked this question to Yamase, she did say their are some very strict and dedicated Buddhist and Shinto-ists, but for the most part, not really. It's more like an important and endearing part of their traditional culture rather than a matter of believing.
But then, maybe I'm wrong. I've still got a lot to learn about this country!
Trains 電車
There are a lot of train lines in Tokyo, the most popular being the Yamanote Line, which circles central Tokyo. The main companies are, Seibu, JR (Japan Rail), and KEIO. According to Wikipedia, there are 528 station in Tokyo alone, not counting Chiba and Yokohama (which are conglomerates of Tokyo.) If you include these cities/conglomerates, I'd say there are close to 1,000 stations. Wow. Tokyo is only about 800 km. (500 miles.) Pretty small.
Most lines are color coordinated. Chuo is bright orange while the local Sobu is yellow. The Yamanote is green. A lot of lines have jingles their own jingles that play when the train stops at a station. The JR does this, but I'm not sure if KEIO or other companies do. I think I've got the Chuo jingle engrained into my brain for time and all eternity now. It's the line I take everyday to work and whenever I go into central Tokyo.
There are usually a lot of express trains that skip the smaller stations. These are usually very crowded. The more popular lines like Chuo actually have TVs in them that display advertisements, and ones that display the train route, train info, weather, etc. Train interiors are splattered with hundreds of posters on the walls and hanging from the ceilings.
The train stops are displayed in the japanese writing styles: kanji, hiragana, katakana, along with English. The announcer, which is a recording, says the stops in Japanese and then in English. It's interesting that sometimes the English version pronounces the names of places significantly different than the Japanese version.
The driver will make announcements too. I find it amusing that most of the time they sound like they're speaking through their noses. They are almost always men. I've only heard on driver here that was a woman so far.
Recently, a new anime/manga (I'm not sure which) came out that is called ミラクル トレインMiracle Train. The manga's main characters are based of stations on the Yamanote Line. This includes Roppongi, Shinjuku, Shiodome, and others. (But not Harajuku or Ikebukuro. What a shame.)
I have no idea what it's about, but judging by the fact that all the characters look like hot anime guys (more like anime guys trying to look hot and failing miserably), I'm going to guess it's lame and shallow - and just trying to get girls money.
The idea of personifying places or things has been done before. One manga called Hetalia Access Powers is the countries of the world during WWII as people. It's super popular, and I heard it's pretty interesting. (I've yet to read it though.) I guess because Hetalia was such a hit that Miracle Train is trying to buy into that sorta genre. >_0
Most lines are color coordinated. Chuo is bright orange while the local Sobu is yellow. The Yamanote is green. A lot of lines have jingles their own jingles that play when the train stops at a station. The JR does this, but I'm not sure if KEIO or other companies do. I think I've got the Chuo jingle engrained into my brain for time and all eternity now. It's the line I take everyday to work and whenever I go into central Tokyo.
There are usually a lot of express trains that skip the smaller stations. These are usually very crowded. The more popular lines like Chuo actually have TVs in them that display advertisements, and ones that display the train route, train info, weather, etc. Train interiors are splattered with hundreds of posters on the walls and hanging from the ceilings.
The train stops are displayed in the japanese writing styles: kanji, hiragana, katakana, along with English. The announcer, which is a recording, says the stops in Japanese and then in English. It's interesting that sometimes the English version pronounces the names of places significantly different than the Japanese version.
The driver will make announcements too. I find it amusing that most of the time they sound like they're speaking through their noses. They are almost always men. I've only heard on driver here that was a woman so far.
Recently, a new anime/manga (I'm not sure which) came out that is called ミラクル トレインMiracle Train. The manga's main characters are based of stations on the Yamanote Line. This includes Roppongi, Shinjuku, Shiodome, and others. (But not Harajuku or Ikebukuro. What a shame.)
I have no idea what it's about, but judging by the fact that all the characters look like hot anime guys (more like anime guys trying to look hot and failing miserably), I'm going to guess it's lame and shallow - and just trying to get girls money.
The idea of personifying places or things has been done before. One manga called Hetalia Access Powers is the countries of the world during WWII as people. It's super popular, and I heard it's pretty interesting. (I've yet to read it though.) I guess because Hetalia was such a hit that Miracle Train is trying to buy into that sorta genre. >_0
October 14, 2009
Typhoon!
So a while ago, Typhoon Melor passed by Tokyo. Many people were worried that it would be the worst one in ten years, which was pretty frightening to me I still had to go to school. I was a bit annoyed because many ALTs didn't have to go because their school go canceled.
I got up and left about 20 minutes early in case things went wrong. It was pouring rain by the bucket loads, but luckily, no wind. Trains were a bit late, full of glum people that had to go to work despite the weather. There were at least 25 listed lines that had stopped or been delayed due to the typhoon. (This was about 7:00 in the morning.)
By the time I reached Rokakoen, my last station, the rain had petered out and a torrent of wind awoke! It was amazing and full of intense energy. It blew the clouds to the side and the sun began to shine through the clearest blue sky I have ever seen in Japan. The clouds were moving ridiculously fast. Layers and layers of them, large and small.
The wind lasted a long time, pounding against the windows, making in hard to hear the students talking sometimes. But the sun kept on shining, warming up the cold rainy air. After a while, the sun started heating up like an oven, and wearing four shirts and two jackets suddenly wasn't a very good idea (Though very necessary on the way to school.) After a week of glum, rainy, cold weather, I was ready for the sun again!
After school ended, I went to club and when I left the wind had stopped for the most part and the glorious sun bathed everything it touched in gold. The sky was so clear and the world was sparkling. The wind had blown away all the pollution that had been in Tokyo for so long. It somehow made me feel so much cleaner.
Thanks Hurrican Melor!
I got up and left about 20 minutes early in case things went wrong. It was pouring rain by the bucket loads, but luckily, no wind. Trains were a bit late, full of glum people that had to go to work despite the weather. There were at least 25 listed lines that had stopped or been delayed due to the typhoon. (This was about 7:00 in the morning.)
By the time I reached Rokakoen, my last station, the rain had petered out and a torrent of wind awoke! It was amazing and full of intense energy. It blew the clouds to the side and the sun began to shine through the clearest blue sky I have ever seen in Japan. The clouds were moving ridiculously fast. Layers and layers of them, large and small.
The wind lasted a long time, pounding against the windows, making in hard to hear the students talking sometimes. But the sun kept on shining, warming up the cold rainy air. After a while, the sun started heating up like an oven, and wearing four shirts and two jackets suddenly wasn't a very good idea (Though very necessary on the way to school.) After a week of glum, rainy, cold weather, I was ready for the sun again!
After school ended, I went to club and when I left the wind had stopped for the most part and the glorious sun bathed everything it touched in gold. The sky was so clear and the world was sparkling. The wind had blown away all the pollution that had been in Tokyo for so long. It somehow made me feel so much cleaner.
Thanks Hurrican Melor!
September 27, 2009
Omiyage - おみやげ
Omiyage is the tradition of giving souvenirs to friends, family, and coworkers when one goes on a trip. Omiyage can mean any kind of souvenir, but most of the time, it refers to tiny, nicely packaged sweets. These sweets refer to small mochi - pounded sweet rice - with sweet beans in the middle, buns with sweet potato or beans, or maybe ridiculously small portions of bread, cream puffs, or possibly yokan (sweet bean paste). Sometimes they're not sweet at all, things like dried fish, octopus, or squid.
Shops in tourist areas are dedicated solely to selling boxes of prepackaged delicacies - with maybe a wall of cell phone straps on the side. Aisles of boxes stacked on top of each other, usually with beautiful colors and kanji. On the top there's almost always a "preview" of what's inside these beautifully wrapped boxes of sweets. They show an open box so you can see how many omiyage are in a box and how and if they're packaged individually. There's a display of a whole omiyage, and if there's a secret inside, there's one cut in half so the filling can be viewed.
Boxes can hold anywhere from 6 to 30 Omiyage - and most can be relatively cheap to outrageously expensive. For 550 yen I bought a box of 20 cream puff omiyage, and a box of 12 manju with white bean paste filling for 650 yen to give to my fellow teachers. For such a small act, it really boosts your reputation in the work place.
Especially if you're a gaijin. (foreigner.)
Omiyage I've received:
Omiyage I gave: (from Tojimbo)
Shops in tourist areas are dedicated solely to selling boxes of prepackaged delicacies - with maybe a wall of cell phone straps on the side. Aisles of boxes stacked on top of each other, usually with beautiful colors and kanji. On the top there's almost always a "preview" of what's inside these beautifully wrapped boxes of sweets. They show an open box so you can see how many omiyage are in a box and how and if they're packaged individually. There's a display of a whole omiyage, and if there's a secret inside, there's one cut in half so the filling can be viewed.
Boxes can hold anywhere from 6 to 30 Omiyage - and most can be relatively cheap to outrageously expensive. For 550 yen I bought a box of 20 cream puff omiyage, and a box of 12 manju with white bean paste filling for 650 yen to give to my fellow teachers. For such a small act, it really boosts your reputation in the work place.
Especially if you're a gaijin. (foreigner.)
Omiyage I've received:
Omiyage I gave: (from Tojimbo)
September 26, 2009
Trip Down Memory Lane
Silver week, one of the longer National Holidays in Japan is in the month of September. This year, it was from September 19th to the 23rd. I took this as a chance to go visit my host parents in Nagoya for the first time in two years. Here's how it went in basic detail:
I left Saturday morning and traveled to Nagoya by bus. It was a six hour drive, which is considerably longer than taking the Shinkansen, but more than 50% cheaper. Due to it being silver week, the traffic was pretty bad. But we made it to our destination just fine.
Nagoya was a lot of fun. Being with my old host parents wasn't weird at all. I met up with my host dad at the gate of the Meitetsu. The gate being a tall skinny manikin like woman, with her legs spread apart so you can walk through them. Doing so will supposedly bring you good luck.
I discovered that my Japanese isn't as bad as I thought it was, and I managed to have full conversations with my mom and dad, entirely in Japanese. Of course, I had to use some major hand motions and use words that weren't exactly right, but got the idea across. But still! Pretty cool! The host parents were pretty impressed and when they discovered that I was learning kanji, they were really excited and bought me workbooks. The books are for 1st graders learning their first kanji. Awesome - but very difficult. So now I've got homework I gotta focus on now.
We took a road trip to a bunch of places all over central Japan.
Our 
first destination was Tojimbo とうじんぼう. It is a place on the coast with a lot of sheer rock faces. It's supposed to be one of the most beautiful parts of the coast on the Japan Sea - and I believe it. The waves were crashing up against the walls with amazing power. Sometimes I forget what an amazing force nature is. (please click on the images for a better look...)
After that we went to Eiheiji 永平寺 . Eiheiji is one of the largest temples with 7 - 8 wings, all wood built. When we entered the temple, we had to take off our shoes and carry them with us until we exited. The temple is built on a hill, so there were a lot of steps that weren't exactly flat and kinda slippery. I thought that made if more unique and more of an adventure.
We spent a night in a Ryokan, a traditional Japanese house that was build around a hot spring. Mom and I went to the Onsen/hot spring. In Japan, before you enter an Onsen, you wash yourself and then enter the hot spring in the nude. Its all public. Most Onsen are split in half so men and women are separate. It was a new and interesting experience and not as awkward as I thought it would be. Of course, we were pretty lucky in the fact that we were the only ones there.
At the Ryokan we were treated to a very traditional dinner. We sat around a fire pit in a tatami matted room where the hosts roasted our food over a fire. We had everything from sashimi, whole fish on a stick, bamboo, expensive mushrooms, eggplant, shrimp, crab, and deer meat. I think the deer meat was my favorite... It was a lot of food and I felt so stuffed afterwards!
The next day we went to Gokayama 五箇山, a mountainous area with small traditional Japanese villages. All the houses were traditionally built with no nails. There were rice paddies and beautiful terraces. It was nice and peaceful compared to the crowded places of Eiheiji and Tojimbo.
We then went to a famous paper making area. I made some paper there at the experience houses. It was interesting to see how it worked in person. There was a lot of different kinds of paper on display there. I fell in love, it was all so beautiful. They had a lot of origami paper for really cheap so I got some along with a wall scroll pring. (They are now on my wall. Yay!)
We went back to Mihama after that, where my host parents live. The next day we went to the pottery district near the house and I bought some beautiful dishes there. Hopefully they'll make it back to America in one piece. I also went and visited my host school. Because it was holiday, not many people were there, but I met three of my old school mates, Sayako, Tao, and Hitomi. Sayako was one of my closest friends, and her English is still as hilarious as ever. Hitomi was more beautiful than I remember her, and I almost didn't recognize her!
I also got to hear the wadaiko drums again. Even though they were only doing basic practicing, it almost made me cry because I missed them so much. It was a great walk down memory lane.
I think that about covers most of the big stuff while I was there. Just a lot of fun, and I got to practice my Japanese a ton! So now I'm all pumped to talk to all my school teachers and ward members in Japanese.
Oh, and one side adventure that's just to amazing not to mention: on the bus ride there, the woman I sat next to actually spoke very good English. She lived in Alberta Canada for two years studying English at University. Turns out, she's a editor at a very large manga publishing company called Shogakukan. She saw my sketches and was pretty impressed at my skill. She really wants to meet up with me again and maybe she'll take me to her work so I can see what it's like! So cool! I'm not sure I'd want to become a manga-ka (professional manga artist), but it was great to make a new friend.
Anyways, life is good. Back to work. The jr high exams are next week so I only work two days at the school, and then the rest of the days at the office.
I'll try to update this more often, just with little tidbits of information or activities I do. Doing long posts just isn't going to work with my schedule!
I left Saturday morning and traveled to Nagoya by bus. It was a six hour drive, which is considerably longer than taking the Shinkansen, but more than 50% cheaper. Due to it being silver week, the traffic was pretty bad. But we made it to our destination just fine.
Nagoya was a lot of fun. Being with my old host parents wasn't weird at all. I met up with my host dad at the gate of the Meitetsu. The gate being a tall skinny manikin like woman, with her legs spread apart so you can walk through them. Doing so will supposedly bring you good luck.
I discovered that my Japanese isn't as bad as I thought it was, and I managed to have full conversations with my mom and dad, entirely in Japanese. Of course, I had to use some major hand motions and use words that weren't exactly right, but got the idea across. But still! Pretty cool! The host parents were pretty impressed and when they discovered that I was learning kanji, they were really excited and bought me workbooks. The books are for 1st graders learning their first kanji. Awesome - but very difficult. So now I've got homework I gotta focus on now.
We took a road trip to a bunch of places all over central Japan.
Our 
first destination was Tojimbo とうじんぼう. It is a place on the coast with a lot of sheer rock faces. It's supposed to be one of the most beautiful parts of the coast on the Japan Sea - and I believe it. The waves were crashing up against the walls with amazing power. Sometimes I forget what an amazing force nature is. (please click on the images for a better look...)
After that we went to Eiheiji 永平寺 . Eiheiji is one of the largest temples with 7 - 8 wings, all wood built. When we entered the temple, we had to take off our shoes and carry them with us until we exited. The temple is built on a hill, so there were a lot of steps that weren't exactly flat and kinda slippery. I thought that made if more unique and more of an adventure.
We spent a night in a Ryokan, a traditional Japanese house that was build around a hot spring. Mom and I went to the Onsen/hot spring. In Japan, before you enter an Onsen, you wash yourself and then enter the hot spring in the nude. Its all public. Most Onsen are split in half so men and women are separate. It was a new and interesting experience and not as awkward as I thought it would be. Of course, we were pretty lucky in the fact that we were the only ones there.At the Ryokan we were treated to a very traditional dinner. We sat around a fire pit in a tatami matted room where the hosts roasted our food over a fire. We had everything from sashimi, whole fish on a stick, bamboo, expensive mushrooms, eggplant, shrimp, crab, and deer meat. I think the deer meat was my favorite... It was a lot of food and I felt so stuffed afterwards!
The next day we went to Gokayama 五箇山, a mountainous area with small traditional Japanese villages. All the houses were traditionally built with no nails. There were rice paddies and beautiful terraces. It was nice and peaceful compared to the crowded places of Eiheiji and Tojimbo.We then went to a famous paper making area. I made some paper there at the experience houses. It was interesting to see how it worked in person. There was a lot of different kinds of paper on display there. I fell in love, it was all so beautiful. They had a lot of origami paper for really cheap so I got some along with a wall scroll pring. (They are now on my wall. Yay!)
We went back to Mihama after that, where my host parents live. The next day we went to the pottery district near the house and I bought some beautiful dishes there. Hopefully they'll make it back to America in one piece. I also went and visited my host school. Because it was holiday, not many people were there, but I met three of my old school mates, Sayako, Tao, and Hitomi. Sayako was one of my closest friends, and her English is still as hilarious as ever. Hitomi was more beautiful than I remember her, and I almost didn't recognize her!I also got to hear the wadaiko drums again. Even though they were only doing basic practicing, it almost made me cry because I missed them so much. It was a great walk down memory lane.
I think that about covers most of the big stuff while I was there. Just a lot of fun, and I got to practice my Japanese a ton! So now I'm all pumped to talk to all my school teachers and ward members in Japanese.
Oh, and one side adventure that's just to amazing not to mention: on the bus ride there, the woman I sat next to actually spoke very good English. She lived in Alberta Canada for two years studying English at University. Turns out, she's a editor at a very large manga publishing company called Shogakukan. She saw my sketches and was pretty impressed at my skill. She really wants to meet up with me again and maybe she'll take me to her work so I can see what it's like! So cool! I'm not sure I'd want to become a manga-ka (professional manga artist), but it was great to make a new friend.
Anyways, life is good. Back to work. The jr high exams are next week so I only work two days at the school, and then the rest of the days at the office.
I'll try to update this more often, just with little tidbits of information or activities I do. Doing long posts just isn't going to work with my schedule!
August 26, 2009
First Day of School
I think I've come to realize that updating this blog every other day probably won't happen as my schedule is rather full and exhausting. All free time goes to mindless lounging.
I woke up this morning a bit panicked. It was my first day teaching!
My alarm went off at 6:00am, and I was out the door around 6:30 - extra early so I could get to school early and make a good impression. But fate wasn't exactly with me. I took my local train to Kokubunji, which I then transferred to the Chuo line to Kichijoji, which transferred to the Keio line to Meidaimae, which I then transferred agian to go to Rokakoen.
But what I didn't realize was on my way to Rokakoen, was that I had boarded a non-local train.
Now there are like three or four different kind of trains:
Local: Goes to every station.
Rapid: Goes to every two or three stations (depending on how popular the station is, you see.)
Special Rapid: Goes about every four to six stations.
Commuter Rapid: Hits only the big stations, sometimes as far as ten to fifteen stations apart.
Yup. That's right, I got on a Commuter Rapid. I overshot Rokakoen about 7 stations. A half hour later, I was on the right track and made it through the Jr. High School's gates. I missed the teacher's meeting at 8:15 all together and barely made it there in time to start my first class. I didn't get to talk with the English teachers beforehand. We'll just say I was a bit frazzled. (ha ha.)
The teachers seemed pretty forgiving and said that no ALT in the history of ALTs had ever gotten to Roka on their first day on time due to the whole Rapid or getting lost mix up. (The school is in the middle of nowhere.) But I still felt terrible about it. And the idea of getting to school taking about an hour and a half one way is a bit miserable. I've never had to commute over fifteen minutes to get anywhere on a regular basis.
But enough about travel! The real fun was in the classes!
Even though I was really nervous, my first class turned out well. I'd forgotten how little Jr. High students were, and they were all very very cute. Even in one hour, I could tell there was such a variance in personalities - some were spacey, some where high energetic and genki, and some were just preteens. It also seemed like there was always one super super shy child in every class. Hopefully, by the end of my four months, some of them will be able to talk to me without being scared stiff. I had the realization that most of the kids were probably going through some of the worst years of their lives. No one ever wants to relive Jr high or puberty over again.
There are three English teachers in the school, all middle-aged women who were very kind, and nice to me. I felt like the balance between me and the teacher was really good. I wasn't just standing up at the front of class reading sentences. I walked around, helping students fill out sheets, answering questiosn. Sometimes when they asked if I like animals, I brought out pictures of the farm and of my dog Eli sporting some cool sunglasses. (Best picture ever, they loved it.)
I already have a love for the students I've met so far. I really hope I can get to know their names and that they'll grow to like me as time goes on. I really do want to help them in any way possible - I hope I can.
The day ended at 3:30, I was exhausted! I headed out and got home around 6:30. I got some laundry done and made rice for dinner. It's now 8:30, and I'm more than ready to go to bed.
Good night!
I woke up this morning a bit panicked. It was my first day teaching!
My alarm went off at 6:00am, and I was out the door around 6:30 - extra early so I could get to school early and make a good impression. But fate wasn't exactly with me. I took my local train to Kokubunji, which I then transferred to the Chuo line to Kichijoji, which transferred to the Keio line to Meidaimae, which I then transferred agian to go to Rokakoen.
But what I didn't realize was on my way to Rokakoen, was that I had boarded a non-local train.
Now there are like three or four different kind of trains:
Local: Goes to every station.
Rapid: Goes to every two or three stations (depending on how popular the station is, you see.)
Special Rapid: Goes about every four to six stations.
Commuter Rapid: Hits only the big stations, sometimes as far as ten to fifteen stations apart.
Yup. That's right, I got on a Commuter Rapid. I overshot Rokakoen about 7 stations. A half hour later, I was on the right track and made it through the Jr. High School's gates. I missed the teacher's meeting at 8:15 all together and barely made it there in time to start my first class. I didn't get to talk with the English teachers beforehand. We'll just say I was a bit frazzled. (ha ha.)
The teachers seemed pretty forgiving and said that no ALT in the history of ALTs had ever gotten to Roka on their first day on time due to the whole Rapid or getting lost mix up. (The school is in the middle of nowhere.) But I still felt terrible about it. And the idea of getting to school taking about an hour and a half one way is a bit miserable. I've never had to commute over fifteen minutes to get anywhere on a regular basis.
But enough about travel! The real fun was in the classes!
Even though I was really nervous, my first class turned out well. I'd forgotten how little Jr. High students were, and they were all very very cute. Even in one hour, I could tell there was such a variance in personalities - some were spacey, some where high energetic and genki, and some were just preteens. It also seemed like there was always one super super shy child in every class. Hopefully, by the end of my four months, some of them will be able to talk to me without being scared stiff. I had the realization that most of the kids were probably going through some of the worst years of their lives. No one ever wants to relive Jr high or puberty over again.
There are three English teachers in the school, all middle-aged women who were very kind, and nice to me. I felt like the balance between me and the teacher was really good. I wasn't just standing up at the front of class reading sentences. I walked around, helping students fill out sheets, answering questiosn. Sometimes when they asked if I like animals, I brought out pictures of the farm and of my dog Eli sporting some cool sunglasses. (Best picture ever, they loved it.)
I already have a love for the students I've met so far. I really hope I can get to know their names and that they'll grow to like me as time goes on. I really do want to help them in any way possible - I hope I can.
The day ended at 3:30, I was exhausted! I headed out and got home around 6:30. I got some laundry done and made rice for dinner. It's now 8:30, and I'm more than ready to go to bed.
Good night!
August 23, 2009
New Home - August 20th
Well four days have passed since my last post. (ha ha... oops) A lot has happened, so rather than throwing it all into one conglomerate of a post, I've decided to split it up into different topics or days.On August 20th, I was told during training that I was moving to my new apartment that day. In the next hour *laugh* So I went home, packed up all my luggage and was headed off to Kyodai City. It's far enough from the Metropolitan that there aren't many foreigners in the area - thus leading to strange looks in my direction quite often. From Iidabashi - where Interac's Office is - it's about 50 minutes.
After getting lost a few times on the way there (the lady taking me had never gone there before) we made it to my nice little apartment that I am quite fond of. It was actually much larger and newer than I anticipated. It's equip with a clothes washer, stove, mini refrigerator, microwave, TV, desk, and futon. I was really excited about the futon- last time I was in Japan I slept on a bed, which made me feel like I didn't truly experience pure Japanese culture. (ha ha, I know I'm weird.) It's got a ladder up to a loft that's over the kitchen and bath area. It's a good area to put the futon, it's got a shelf with an outlet up there. Behind the curtain are some more shelving. You can move the latter to the left so you can actually reach them.
The kitchen is rather small. The stove has two burners and then a sink next to it. Unfortunately it doesn't have a grill under it like most Japanese kitchens do. No grilled fish for me. *sigh* The fridge and microwave are behind it.Japan does their garbage much differently than we do in America. (Or at least Utah anyways.) You can't just throw your trash out in the bin, it has to be sorted into the following: Bottles, Aluminum cans, plastics/ nonburnable items, burnable items, and papers. Each day of the week is assigned to a specific garbage type. So I now have three different trash cans in my room/kitchen area. It's a hassle, but it's smart.
The toilets rather simple in my apartment. No bidet or heated toilet seats (dang.) It just has the handle you can push back to let more water into the bowl or pull forward to have it flush. When it flushes, water comes out of the faucet on top that you can wash your hands in. The water just goes into the tank for when you flush it next time. I think it's a rather ingenious way of conserving water.
The washroom has the tub and washing area. The Japanese usually wash themselves outside the bathtub, and only when they're clean they relax in the tub. My host family two years ago would keep the same water in the tub for about a week before draining it and putting new water in. The tub actually had a heater that kept it at a constant comfortable temperature. Personally, I'd get bored in a short while of sitting in a tub with nothing to do, but I guess it's one of the ways the Japanese unwind after a hard day. Washing is usually done sitting or kneeling down.It's taken a while, but I think I'm finally settling down and gotten all the things I need to live normally (Like towels, food, utensils, toilet paper...) Now that the weekends over, the real work begins!
August 18, 2009
Arrival
I am happy to say that I made it safely to Japan. I left Sunday morning August 16th from the Salt Lake City Airport. We touched down in Seattle and then continued to the Narita airport. The flight was ten hours long - but not too miserable. Luckily there were a lot of movies playing that I wanted to watch including Star Treck, XMen Origins, Monsters VS Aliens, and then I watched the live action Dragonball movie just because I was curious.
I made it through customs without any problem and exchanged $600 in Travelers checks for about 58,000 Yen. I then met up with an Interac employee who was waiting for me. We waited for five other ALTs (Assistant Language Teacher) to arrive. All together, twenty five new ALTs arrived that day for training. I was surprised at the diversity - there were people from the USA, England, Scottland, New Zealand, and many other places.
We took the skyline train around 7:00 PM and got into Tokyo around 8:00. We're all staying at the Asakusa Central Hotel, which is about five minutes from the Asakusa Shrine. By the time I got my room, I had been awake for about 25 hours. I was exhausted! After eating something, I crashed - and woke up around 4:30 the next morning.
After trying to fall back asleep and failing miserably, I took this time to sort through all my luggage observe people on the streets, and go for a walk. I wandered to the Asakusa shrine and discovered a whole network of shrines in that area. The Japanese often have shrines that you can pray to for certain things. There were shrines you could pray to for fertility, a good marriage, health, studying, and other things. Unfortunately all of the signs were in Kanji, the most difficult writing system in Japan - so I couldn't read what all of them were for. But I decided to go to the main temple, wash my hands in the sacred water, toss some yen into the shrine donation grate (I don't know what they're called, just that you toss yen in) and prayed for a good time in Japan.
After that, I wandered some of the streets - which were packed full of little shops that were still closed. I went back to the hotel about eight.
At 8:30, all of the ALTs gathered together to go to our first day of training. We took the trains, and hit the end of rush hour so it was a little cozy. We were led to our training room where we got a lot of packets and things.
Our trainer is a fun, energetic, and loving man from South Africa. He's been teaching English for quite a few years now and is absolutely wonderful at it. He seems a little crazy sometimes, but then the children he teaches love it. He makes teaching seem so easy, but I wonder if I'll be able to put myself out there and be willing to be ridiculous sometimes.
Training went to 5:30, with an hour lunch break in between. I wandered the streets and just picked up an onigiri (a rice ball that usually has something tasty in the middle) and some egg noodles with chicken. When training was done, I was tired! We all headed back to the hotel and went to get something to eat. Me and two other guys went to the back streets and found a small Udon shop where I got ebi tempura soba - shrimp caked in batter which is then fried and put on top of a bowl of buckwheat noodles in a broth. It was the first cooked meal since I've gotten to Japan, and it tasted like heaven!
I then went to a 100 Yen store - which is like a dollar store. They sell everything from food, office supplies, dishes, to rain coats. I love them. I didn't buy very much because I'm still living in a hotel and I'd have to carry it all to my new apartment on Friday. I also went to a Grocery store where I got some food for breakfast and such - and some Azuki Bean Popsicles. They're actually quite tasty.
Wednesday morning I woke up at 6:30. Dinked around in my hotel until 8:30 when a bunch of us headed to the training building. There was no one to lead us this time - and of the twenty people who left at the same time I did, I was the only one who didn't get lost on the way. So was I alone for ten minutes waiting for everyone else to show up.
I got my work phone, which I love. It's a SoftBank PANTONE, which is cool because the screen cycles through different colors and has the swatch number labeled on it. As a graphic designer, I think it's amazing.
I was also taken to my school, Roka Jr. High School, to meet with the English teachers there. They were very nice and it seems like I'm going to be just assisting and not really teaching the lessons. I think it will be nice at first, just so I can get used to things - but maybe as time goes on I will be able to be more involved in planning and everything.
The school is very nice, with a lot of huge trees and some bamboo around it. It's very quite as there are no big streets by it. Everyone either rides their bikes or walks to get places in that area. The building is rather old, but in good shape. I'm looking forward to working in it with the teachers and students. I'll be starting next Wednesday.
Getting to my school took a lot of time and a lot of walking - I barely made it back to the hotel where I crashed around 8:00. I wanted to go out and see things, but I still have a lot of sleep to catch up on. Hopefully I'll get the chance to see all the shops when they're still open before I move to my apartment. I don't know when I'll get the chance to come back to this part of Tokyo once I've moved.
I made it through customs without any problem and exchanged $600 in Travelers checks for about 58,000 Yen. I then met up with an Interac employee who was waiting for me. We waited for five other ALTs (Assistant Language Teacher) to arrive. All together, twenty five new ALTs arrived that day for training. I was surprised at the diversity - there were people from the USA, England, Scottland, New Zealand, and many other places.
We took the skyline train around 7:00 PM and got into Tokyo around 8:00. We're all staying at the Asakusa Central Hotel, which is about five minutes from the Asakusa Shrine. By the time I got my room, I had been awake for about 25 hours. I was exhausted! After eating something, I crashed - and woke up around 4:30 the next morning.
After trying to fall back asleep and failing miserably, I took this time to sort through all my luggage observe people on the streets, and go for a walk. I wandered to the Asakusa shrine and discovered a whole network of shrines in that area. The Japanese often have shrines that you can pray to for certain things. There were shrines you could pray to for fertility, a good marriage, health, studying, and other things. Unfortunately all of the signs were in Kanji, the most difficult writing system in Japan - so I couldn't read what all of them were for. But I decided to go to the main temple, wash my hands in the sacred water, toss some yen into the shrine donation grate (I don't know what they're called, just that you toss yen in) and prayed for a good time in Japan.
After that, I wandered some of the streets - which were packed full of little shops that were still closed. I went back to the hotel about eight.
At 8:30, all of the ALTs gathered together to go to our first day of training. We took the trains, and hit the end of rush hour so it was a little cozy. We were led to our training room where we got a lot of packets and things.
Our trainer is a fun, energetic, and loving man from South Africa. He's been teaching English for quite a few years now and is absolutely wonderful at it. He seems a little crazy sometimes, but then the children he teaches love it. He makes teaching seem so easy, but I wonder if I'll be able to put myself out there and be willing to be ridiculous sometimes.
Training went to 5:30, with an hour lunch break in between. I wandered the streets and just picked up an onigiri (a rice ball that usually has something tasty in the middle) and some egg noodles with chicken. When training was done, I was tired! We all headed back to the hotel and went to get something to eat. Me and two other guys went to the back streets and found a small Udon shop where I got ebi tempura soba - shrimp caked in batter which is then fried and put on top of a bowl of buckwheat noodles in a broth. It was the first cooked meal since I've gotten to Japan, and it tasted like heaven!
I then went to a 100 Yen store - which is like a dollar store. They sell everything from food, office supplies, dishes, to rain coats. I love them. I didn't buy very much because I'm still living in a hotel and I'd have to carry it all to my new apartment on Friday. I also went to a Grocery store where I got some food for breakfast and such - and some Azuki Bean Popsicles. They're actually quite tasty.
Wednesday morning I woke up at 6:30. Dinked around in my hotel until 8:30 when a bunch of us headed to the training building. There was no one to lead us this time - and of the twenty people who left at the same time I did, I was the only one who didn't get lost on the way. So was I alone for ten minutes waiting for everyone else to show up.
I got my work phone, which I love. It's a SoftBank PANTONE, which is cool because the screen cycles through different colors and has the swatch number labeled on it. As a graphic designer, I think it's amazing.
I was also taken to my school, Roka Jr. High School, to meet with the English teachers there. They were very nice and it seems like I'm going to be just assisting and not really teaching the lessons. I think it will be nice at first, just so I can get used to things - but maybe as time goes on I will be able to be more involved in planning and everything.
The school is very nice, with a lot of huge trees and some bamboo around it. It's very quite as there are no big streets by it. Everyone either rides their bikes or walks to get places in that area. The building is rather old, but in good shape. I'm looking forward to working in it with the teachers and students. I'll be starting next Wednesday.
Getting to my school took a lot of time and a lot of walking - I barely made it back to the hotel where I crashed around 8:00. I wanted to go out and see things, but I still have a lot of sleep to catch up on. Hopefully I'll get the chance to see all the shops when they're still open before I move to my apartment. I don't know when I'll get the chance to come back to this part of Tokyo once I've moved.
August 14, 2009
すぐに行きます - Leaving Soon
It's a relief to finally say that all the paperwork is done, and I am officially leaving to Japan on August 16th and returning to America on December 23rd.
I'm teaching English in Tokyo, Japan through Interac, a company that provides Japanese schools with English speaking teachers. Most of the time, companies that do this sort of thing require the person they're hiring to have a bachelor's degree. But Interac has a unique opportunity to teach as an Internship - so no degree is required - and the commitment is shorter. You don't have to commit to a full year, just three or four months. Perfect for me!
Right now, the places I'll be teaching aren't for sure. Last I heard, I'm going to be teaching at Roka Jr. High School . There's also word I might be teaching in an Elementary school as well. Unfortunately, finding placements this time of year is difficult as the Japanese school year starts in April. Because of this, there's the chance I'll be working in Interac's Tokyo office or getting some obscure part time job in Japan. Personally, I'm a fan of some obscure job. If I got stuck in some random little ramen shop down some little alleyway, I'd be completely happy. I want the chance to be immersed in the culture and forced to speak the language in order to survive.
So I'm leaving Sunday at 11:30 with another guy who is doing the internship too. I'll land at Narita Airport August 17th at 4:40pm where we'll be escorted to Asakusa Central Hotel. I will stay there four days for training. I a bit scared for the training. Most interns get a week long training, and mines condensed into just four days. On the 20th, I'll be taken to my new apartment and be shown around my school! I'll start teaching on the 24th.
As an Intern, I'm more like a language assistant than a full time teacher. Though some assistants tend to do most of the work in classes. It just depends on how the school goes about it. I don't need to know any Japanese to assist, as I am there so the students know how native English sounds. In most cases, a student will study Japanese for six years, and when a English Native talks to them, they still can't understand them. So having a native speaker is becoming more and more popular to have in all levels of public education.
I'm getting pretty nervous! I really hope I make a good teacher and don't make any huge cultural blunderings. Just because the culture is so different, making mistakes will be easy, so I gotta be careful.
Anyways, I will try to update this blog on a daily, or every other day basis once I get to Japan. I should have internet at the hotel, but access at my apartment may take some time to get. I'll keep you all updated!
I'm teaching English in Tokyo, Japan through Interac, a company that provides Japanese schools with English speaking teachers. Most of the time, companies that do this sort of thing require the person they're hiring to have a bachelor's degree. But Interac has a unique opportunity to teach as an Internship - so no degree is required - and the commitment is shorter. You don't have to commit to a full year, just three or four months. Perfect for me!
Right now, the places I'll be teaching aren't for sure. Last I heard, I'm going to be teaching at Roka Jr. High School . There's also word I might be teaching in an Elementary school as well. Unfortunately, finding placements this time of year is difficult as the Japanese school year starts in April. Because of this, there's the chance I'll be working in Interac's Tokyo office or getting some obscure part time job in Japan. Personally, I'm a fan of some obscure job. If I got stuck in some random little ramen shop down some little alleyway, I'd be completely happy. I want the chance to be immersed in the culture and forced to speak the language in order to survive.
So I'm leaving Sunday at 11:30 with another guy who is doing the internship too. I'll land at Narita Airport August 17th at 4:40pm where we'll be escorted to Asakusa Central Hotel. I will stay there four days for training. I a bit scared for the training. Most interns get a week long training, and mines condensed into just four days. On the 20th, I'll be taken to my new apartment and be shown around my school! I'll start teaching on the 24th.
As an Intern, I'm more like a language assistant than a full time teacher. Though some assistants tend to do most of the work in classes. It just depends on how the school goes about it. I don't need to know any Japanese to assist, as I am there so the students know how native English sounds. In most cases, a student will study Japanese for six years, and when a English Native talks to them, they still can't understand them. So having a native speaker is becoming more and more popular to have in all levels of public education.
I'm getting pretty nervous! I really hope I make a good teacher and don't make any huge cultural blunderings. Just because the culture is so different, making mistakes will be easy, so I gotta be careful.
Anyways, I will try to update this blog on a daily, or every other day basis once I get to Japan. I should have internet at the hotel, but access at my apartment may take some time to get. I'll keep you all updated!
May 15, 2009
歴史 - The History
I think most of my desire to go to Japan comes from my background. I always knew my Grandmother was Japanese, and so that propelled me forward to my dream. I've always known there was a cool history of my Japanese ancestry, but I found it shrouded in mystery and rather vague. There were a few things I picked up here and there, but I couldn't really piece it all together.
This last week, my Grandma and Grandpa came and visited us - and I was determined to get as much history and stories I could get out of them. I was successful in my endeavor. Still, there are many holes and things I don't understand, but I feel I made a definite jump forward. I've found myself at the mouth of a cavern leading into a deep and rich history.
Here are some of the things I learned about my ancestry...
My Grandmother's maiden name is Atsuko Ueda - Born of the Ueda and Kubo family. She had two older sisters - Yoko and Kinue, and one younger, Bo-Chan. She grew up in Yokohama, Japan.
For a long time, it was believed that there were only four daughters of the Ueda family, but it turns out that this was not the case. In Japanese culture, when a couple cannot have children a relative must give up one of their own to that family - as dictated by the head of the family line - usually a father, or grandfather. Atsuko's oldest sister, Rieko, was given to one of her aunts. It was not until after the death of Rieko's parents that it became known that she was her sister. In fact, when my mother and father were introduced to Rieko, she was introduced as a cousin - because that information was still unknown.
The Ueda family was a noble family. My great grandfather owned a large estate. My relatives were world wide travelers. An Uncle opened a bank in New York before WWII, another uncle opened the first international bank in Kyoto. Two uncles owned their own towns. Some were diplomats, some opened companies that soon became international and are still opened and highly successful today.
So what happened? How did my grandmother end up in America with nothing?
After WWII, the American's came to Japan for the reconstruction - bringing new ideas, new hope, and a new political system. My grandfather was part of that. A young American Private who loved his country.
One day, his friend was invited to the Ueda residence by Atsuko's sister, who worked with the government. My Grandfather (Joe) was invited to come along. The two met the four sisters while they were there, and Joe started talking to Atsuko, as she had been taught English almost her entire life. When it was time to go, Joe asked if he could see her again. She said yes.
Two months passed and they were in love. But due to the law, American soldiers could not marry Japanese women. Three years passed when the law was finally withdrawn, and they eloped. ( I think they eloped due to the fact that my grandmother was actually betrothed to another noble at this point.)
A year later, Joe was stationed back in America, making Atsuko leave everything she knew behind. But they were in love and so she felt that she wasn't really leaving anything behind. Even to this day, she feels she didn't leave anything behind that was worth more than their love together. Even the hard times were worth it - when she was not accepted into their new home by Joe's family because she was Japanese. Even when they had to travel all the way across America on $500 to start a new life. They had nothing by the time they reached California, only $50 and what they had in the car.
But they had their American dream. Joe found a job, they settled down, and had two children - My father and my Aunt.
I don't think I can give enough justice to this story. It's truely remarkable to me that they had everything and then gave it all up for love. That two people from two very different cultures and two sides from a war came together with such devoted feelings.
I feel honored to be part of such a history.
This last week, my Grandma and Grandpa came and visited us - and I was determined to get as much history and stories I could get out of them. I was successful in my endeavor. Still, there are many holes and things I don't understand, but I feel I made a definite jump forward. I've found myself at the mouth of a cavern leading into a deep and rich history.
Here are some of the things I learned about my ancestry...
My Grandmother's maiden name is Atsuko Ueda - Born of the Ueda and Kubo family. She had two older sisters - Yoko and Kinue, and one younger, Bo-Chan. She grew up in Yokohama, Japan.
For a long time, it was believed that there were only four daughters of the Ueda family, but it turns out that this was not the case. In Japanese culture, when a couple cannot have children a relative must give up one of their own to that family - as dictated by the head of the family line - usually a father, or grandfather. Atsuko's oldest sister, Rieko, was given to one of her aunts. It was not until after the death of Rieko's parents that it became known that she was her sister. In fact, when my mother and father were introduced to Rieko, she was introduced as a cousin - because that information was still unknown.
The Ueda family was a noble family. My great grandfather owned a large estate. My relatives were world wide travelers. An Uncle opened a bank in New York before WWII, another uncle opened the first international bank in Kyoto. Two uncles owned their own towns. Some were diplomats, some opened companies that soon became international and are still opened and highly successful today.
So what happened? How did my grandmother end up in America with nothing?
After WWII, the American's came to Japan for the reconstruction - bringing new ideas, new hope, and a new political system. My grandfather was part of that. A young American Private who loved his country.
One day, his friend was invited to the Ueda residence by Atsuko's sister, who worked with the government. My Grandfather (Joe) was invited to come along. The two met the four sisters while they were there, and Joe started talking to Atsuko, as she had been taught English almost her entire life. When it was time to go, Joe asked if he could see her again. She said yes.
Two months passed and they were in love. But due to the law, American soldiers could not marry Japanese women. Three years passed when the law was finally withdrawn, and they eloped. ( I think they eloped due to the fact that my grandmother was actually betrothed to another noble at this point.)
A year later, Joe was stationed back in America, making Atsuko leave everything she knew behind. But they were in love and so she felt that she wasn't really leaving anything behind. Even to this day, she feels she didn't leave anything behind that was worth more than their love together. Even the hard times were worth it - when she was not accepted into their new home by Joe's family because she was Japanese. Even when they had to travel all the way across America on $500 to start a new life. They had nothing by the time they reached California, only $50 and what they had in the car.
But they had their American dream. Joe found a job, they settled down, and had two children - My father and my Aunt.
I don't think I can give enough justice to this story. It's truely remarkable to me that they had everything and then gave it all up for love. That two people from two very different cultures and two sides from a war came together with such devoted feelings.
I feel honored to be part of such a history.
May 11, 2009
はじめる －The Beginning.
When I was little, I knew that somewhere out there, there was a place called Japan. I didn't understand the distance or even the reality of it at that time. The world I lived in was small, containing the block I lived in, the grocery store down the street, the school I went to, and on occasion, a place somewhere a little farther off like the grandparents' place in Idaho - in which the world seemed to stretch and strain in order for me to get there and have such a place exist.
Japan was just another place out there somewhere beyond my world - vague and surrounded in mystery. Back then, I knew only a few facts: My grandmother was Japanese, thus making me part Japanese, the kimono my mother kept safely stored away for me was from Japan, and that manju and yokan, a rare treat we sometimes got in the mail from my grandmother was a Japanese food.
For some reason, I only needed those facts to compel me to try and learn the language and pursue the idea of ever going to Japan. That was in third grade.
Since then, I've mostly studied the language and culture on my own, with only one year of study in a classroom setting (that was all that was available for me). When I applied for a scholarship to become an exchange student in Japan for the summer of 2007, it seemed pretty unlikely due to my lack of official Japanese study and the fact that I was a year late in applying. But I guess I got ridiculously lucky and they thought that there was something good was on my resume. I was soon applying for my passport and packing for Japan!
Japan is different from America, and there's a lot that goes unsaid in books and websites. There's nothing out there that can accurately describe the culture. While I did write in journals when I was there, I never really blogged about it. So when I applied for an internship to teach English in Japan for four months - and was accepted - I knew that a blog was a must.
So here it is, that's what you're reading right now. Starting in the month of August and continuing through December 2009, this blog will capture the everyday life in Japan, from the broad ideas to the little quirks of Japanese culture (which there are many odd quirks indeed!).
I hope that those of you who come across this will enjoy the insights and observations I make during my stay - and learn more about the world outside your own.
Because out there, it is a very big world indeed.
Japan was just another place out there somewhere beyond my world - vague and surrounded in mystery. Back then, I knew only a few facts: My grandmother was Japanese, thus making me part Japanese, the kimono my mother kept safely stored away for me was from Japan, and that manju and yokan, a rare treat we sometimes got in the mail from my grandmother was a Japanese food.
For some reason, I only needed those facts to compel me to try and learn the language and pursue the idea of ever going to Japan. That was in third grade.
Since then, I've mostly studied the language and culture on my own, with only one year of study in a classroom setting (that was all that was available for me). When I applied for a scholarship to become an exchange student in Japan for the summer of 2007, it seemed pretty unlikely due to my lack of official Japanese study and the fact that I was a year late in applying. But I guess I got ridiculously lucky and they thought that there was something good was on my resume. I was soon applying for my passport and packing for Japan!
Japan is different from America, and there's a lot that goes unsaid in books and websites. There's nothing out there that can accurately describe the culture. While I did write in journals when I was there, I never really blogged about it. So when I applied for an internship to teach English in Japan for four months - and was accepted - I knew that a blog was a must.
So here it is, that's what you're reading right now. Starting in the month of August and continuing through December 2009, this blog will capture the everyday life in Japan, from the broad ideas to the little quirks of Japanese culture (which there are many odd quirks indeed!).
I hope that those of you who come across this will enjoy the insights and observations I make during my stay - and learn more about the world outside your own.
Because out there, it is a very big world indeed.
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