Oodles of Joy

So I'm sick. Rather, love sick. It's a pretty distracting and uncomfortable feeling, but somehow thrilling at the same time. This is bad. (Not like this is something new for me. Just...inconvenient...or something.)

Moving on. Tangent. Every day, I fall more in love with this country. Brad was explaining about our little notepads and the study abroad curve we have. Where first we get here and are in total bliss (honeymoon stage). Then school starts and our enjoyment dies a little and reality hits. Eventually, we'll hit a low and then slowly start climbing back up from our slump and we're rather stable by the end of the program. It's interesting to see everyone around me hit that slump. Me, I'm perfectly satisfied with my class and the amount of work we have to do. Sure, typical whining about how I don't wanna do anything, but really, I am still gawking over everything here. Everyday I learn something new. So if this is somehow an extended honeymoon or I've just done well adjusting, I'm rather happy about things now.

Speaking of which, I really don't remember getting culture shock. At all. Maybe I'm a late bloomer or something...Or not. Yeah, I don't think I got it at all. I mean, I've said "Well that's weird/interesting." But I've been trying to stop myself from saying that. Kinda failing, really. But I really am trying to understand this other lifestyle. Because I really do enjoy it here.

***

Last Monday, I had Kimono Etiquette class, and all the yukata (traditional summer kimono) were so pretty. And of course, the guys looked so 格好いい (cool) in theirs. We learned how to put them on and to tie the obi. It looked really hard when they showed us, but actually doing it wasn't TOO hard.

This next one is a really fancy and expensive kimono called an uchikake. It's only supposed to be wore once. The bride wears it over her wedding kimono. It's super heavy and, to me, rather gaudy. But hey, it is what it is.

I was so sad when we had to take off our yukata. I hope to buy one for the upcoming festival...

***

Thursday, I went to try out Judo, the martial arts that involves a lot of throws and using the opponents weight against themselves. I wanted to try it at Yale, but since I couldn't find out any info about judo there, I took Taw Kwon Do instead. So this was a great opportunity. For those who don't know, Judo is not the same as Karate. Karate (空手) means empty hand while Judo (柔道) means "way of gentleness". Karate does a lot of fighting stances while Judo focuses on self-defense and using the opponent against himself.

So warm-ups are always intense and kill me. but actual class was pretty cool. I will say that I felt really bad for throwing high school students on the ground. Just...wrong. >.<

I'm definitely going back next week when we get to attend 3 classes.

***

Friday was tea ceremony. We went to the high school that is just a little bit more uphill, and the tea ceremony club gave us a sample of how the ceremony is performed and how to make the tea. Was okay. Interesting, considering I know nothing about tea ceremony. My strongest feeling about that class, though, is that I CANNOT DO SEIZA. AT ALL. Glad we only had to sit like that for 5 minutes. But even that was painful. And I have a low tolerance for pain... : /

***

OMG, this weekend was amazing. We got a mini vacation from Hakodate and did an overnight trip to Ohnuma, this resort that is about 30 minutes away from my town. The weather was great, and the activities abundant. 

The display outside the Soba shop where my friends and I ate for lunch. I know Kristina would have wanted to steal the kappa statue. XD

When we got there, me, Ivona, my roommate from the hotel, and one of the girls I ride the train with everyday went around and tried 2 of the "attractions". First, we did the 2 person-bike, but it's more like a little cart that you peddle, not your typical 2-person bike. Going uphill was a pain, but the downhill ride was awesome. And in the mean time, I graced Sandra (roommate from hotel) with some awful Lion King serenading. And as penance, accidentally choked on a bug that flew into my mouth.

Afterwards, we went to what is apparently the longest slide in the world. Or was it the biggest...? Whatever, some slide. That was rather fun though intimidating at the same time. The ride consists of us sitting on these scooter looking things that go up an automatic moving track up the huge hill (actually, side of the mountain). There's no seatbelt, just a level that we hold onto and pull to break, push down to go faster. I enjoyed it. Made me want to ride a roller coaster (haven't done that in so long).

A lot of people couldn't find it since you had to walk around the mountain a little and it's hidden behind the trees. Apparently some guy accidentally fell to the side since he was going too fast. Don't worry. I'm smart enough to know when to brake when they tell me to brake. :P

Afterwards, Nicole, girl I ride the train with, and I went karaokeing for an hour before dinner and the talent show. At the talent show, besides individual people, all the classes put on a joint song. Ours was 「世界にひとつだけの花」 (The Only Flower in the World) by SMAP.

Our sensei made us learn the dance, although this is the last part where we are obviously waving our hands.

Afterwards, Sandra and I tried to go swimming, but even though we were told that the pool doesn't close until 9, the guy at the counter said it was already closed at 8:13. Let's just say I was really disappointed since it's been a year since I've been able to go swimming. I will find pool here before leaving! 必ず！

So instead, we got into the 温泉 (hot springs) a little early. Yes, I was rather uneasy about walking around a bunch of females completely naked. But considering most of them were wrinkly old Japanese women, I got over myself. After washing/showering, I got in. And when they say that the water is hot, it really is. The key is to slowly slide in and let your body adjust to it. Also, according to Sandra, it's best to sit in the ones outside, since you can really cool off with the night air. It felt so good~. :'D

No I don't have a picture of the 温泉. :P

Spent the rest of my night in my room with Ivona and Nicole talking. I wasn't really up to hanging out with a bajillion other students who were planning to get drunk, if they weren't already. Yeah, there was one person I especially wanted to hang out with, but I figured that I could spare myself the awkwardness of big groups and just chill with people I really know and like. Plus, by 11 o'clock, all three of us were dead tired.

I really wish I had taken a picture of the room after the maids had set up our futons. It really felt like a sleep over. Only the futons were SO. SOFT~. I didn't want to leave the next morning.

Sunday, a lot of people were still tired and/or complaining about the homework that they didn't want to do. I felt priveleged knowing that I had already finished mine before dinner Friday. Yeah, I'm such a goodie two shoes. NOT.

But it was rather unfortunate that no one wanted to go out and explore the town on a Sunday with me. I had so much energy and was feeling adventurous. Course, someone did bring up the fact that if I wanted to do something, I'd have to figure out what that something is before we can go anywhere. Apparently no one wants to randomly wander around places with me. :(

So I ended up spending my beautiful Sunday afternoon doing laundry, writing my weekly journal for class, and napping. As if I don't already do that on Sundays. Boo~.

***

So ママ, my host mother, is a director for both Coop (Super market chain) and UniCef (I don't think I need to explain that one), so she travels on business a lot. This week, from Saturday till about Tuesday, she was out in Sapporo, and while she was gone, I noticed that my sister and パパ (Papa) are rather not energetic. Well, it could have also been the fact that パパ had a cold this weekend, but it was still rather noticeable. Especially when she came back home. The dinner conversations became much livelier. I feel like she really holds this family together, and it shoes when she isn't home.

I really could get used to living in this way. Homesick? Not at all. Though I do miss my friends. <3

(WARNING: Big update is big) You Know You've Done a Lot...

...When you fall asleep as soon as you lie down on the rock hard futon with beads in the pillows. Seriously. I think I've gotten the best sleep that I've ever had this past week. Partly because I actually am being serious about my studies here, making sure that I do my homework before getting home and know my 漢字 (kanji - Chinese characters) the NIGHT before. Really, I feel really productive every night, even if my 作文 (writing practice) sucks badly. The other reason  that goddamn hill  is because I practically tire myself out every day going to and from school. But I think I'm finally getting used to it now. I'm still hot and sweaty by the time I get to class (did I mention that once we finish the climb up our classes are still on the 5th floor and this building is old enough to not have an elevator?) Course, my everyday mantra up the hill is "Sexy legs, sexy legs, sexy legs by August".

To give you an idea of what I keep complaining about:

That is Hakodate Yama (Mountain) as seen from the harbor across the bay.

A close up of the first picture, and that nice little 45 degree hill is my precious love. /sarcasm You can even make out the "hif" letters on the top left corner of my building. Isn't colorful?

I'll try to stop complaining about the hill and how much I hate it. Really, I don't mind walking everywhere I need to go, or taking the JR (Japan Railway) to and from Hakodate city. It's good exercise and I'm used to this concept from Yale. When I come home every night feeling like I need to soak for an hour in the tub, it's a good, refreshing feeling. I can get used to it, no problem.

So yeah, I've been getting some awesome sleep lately. And the hard futon doesn't really bother me anymore. The only thing about sleeping now is that I still wake up almost every morning around 3:45, when the sun rises. Yes. The sun rises around 4am. I was so confused my first night here and nearly panicked that I overslept and missed my train when I saw the sun shining brightly at 4am through my window. (Speaking of which, I need to take pictures of my room and host family...)

***

This weekend, I did something I don't usually do - ask people what they're doing so I can get out of the house. Course, I kinda had to since no one was going to be home all Saturday until the evening. And apparently I'm not allowed to stay home by myself - which I understand. It gave me a reason to not sit around the house like a bum as I am prone to do. So I went with one of the girls that I ride the train with to school everyday, and we (plus her host mother) went to see a little bit of this Music Festival that Hakodate was hosting.

We got there in time to see the opening ceremony and see some grade school kids play the traditional Japanese drums. So adorable, I swear.

We walked around and looked at all the pretty flowers (there was a surprising amount of florists selling flowers and decorations for really cheap) and then sat to watch the Hakodate Firefighter Band play a few songs. Yes, the firefighters have their own band, in which they played a Totoro song. XD And yes, they played underneath a rainbow.

I had my first taste of Takoyaki (fried balls of octopus).

This is them preparing it.

Tastes like shrimp to me.

And I saw this adorable little kid with a giant banana. All the little kids I see, I want steal for my own. They're just so...adorable!!! XD

Afterwards, her mom had to leave to go back to work, so we rode one train station back to Goryoukaku, a rather spiffy and more lively place than Hakodate. Our plan was to head towards the park that the place is famous for. It's called the star park for an obvious reason. But we made  a few stops along the way. First and foremost, we both wanted to buy a 電子辞書 (electronic Japanese Dictionary), and we managed to find one that was super useful and super cheap compared to the rest of the ones that most people get. Last night (Monday night) I finally figured out how to work most of the important functions on it. So happy.

BTW, this was an electronics store, so imagine how torn I was at looking at all the things in it and not buying any of it. Especially in the video game section. -_-;;

We walked a little more before we found a ダイソー, the typical Japanese 100￥ shop, the equivalent of a $1 store in America. Only better. MUCH better. You can get good quality things without it looking like someone dug it up from the garbage. Also, the selection is way better, with a variety of things to be bought.

After a little bit of walking, we finally got to 五稜郭公園 (the star park) and enjoyed some Tiramisu-flavored gelatto. It's like ice cream, only more expensive and a lot more flavors.

Panaramic view of the stream that is shaped like a star. Such a beautiful day. But everything was so greeeeeeen! I wanna come back during the other seasons of the year.

語調各公園 Tower. It's so huge, you can see it from the JR station which is at least a 30 minute walk away. Was the only way I knew how to get there. :P

So there's this really interesting fellow who fought for his beliefs before the Meiji era and died in Goryoukaku. Therefore, he's super popular in Hakodate. Don't remember his actual name, but all the cute merchandise calls him Toshi-kun.

And this was just plain scary. It's the mascot version of the tower. Only, cute in the scary way. O_O

***

Now to be backwards and tell what I did BEFORE the weekend. :P

Friday was Ivona's birthday, so 10 of us went out for karaoke after she got out of her kimono culture class. There was a little bit of a fuss with the clerk, who for some reason did not think to speak in simple terms and slower to a group of 外人 (foreigners) who obviously don't know special, complicated terms. But we got a room for 2 rooms. Needless to say, I sang a lot. Mind you I suck at singing, but I find it fun nonetheless. Although I was totally blown away the first time Emilie sang. Was not expecting a clear opera voice from that heavy accent of hers.

Thursday, 40 of us got to go visit one of the archaelogical sites of the Jomon period, one of the earliest periods of Japan from 14,000 BC.

The stick structure is to give an idea of how some types of houses were built, and the one in the back is what they believe the houses looked like. We actually got to enter the replica, something that they don't usually let tourists do.

So the houses were built partially underground, that way they would stay warmer during the winter than if the houses were above ground. The deepest they were ever constructed was about 2 meters.

These plots show where there has been evidence of the Jomon people building houses upon older abandoned houses.

This was considered a kind of dumping grounds for the Jomon people, but they didn't "throw away" things here. This was where they returned the stone tools that they used back to the earth, giving thanks to the earth for allowing them to use its resources. The guide said that this is coming full circle in a kind of way. Japan is very conscientious of recycling and keeping everything clean, including the streets and the cities and whatnot. In fact, they have this phrase もったいない (mottainai) which means "wasteful" in a sense.

This is the most famous artifact found from the Jomon period, mostly because it was somehow found completely intact. Researches believe that this is a model of a god, and the reasons why the arms are not there is that whenever someone in the family was sick, they would break an arm off the clay stature in wishing the person health again.

When we visited the Jomon site, we went with some college students from Hakodate University. 日本の大学生はやっぱり格好いいよねぇ。 On the way there, we sat with this one guy named Yuuki, who was pretty cool. He tried speaking English to us several times. Apparently all the students that went with us were English majors. XD On the way back, a guy named Kazuki sat with us, and I even had a nice little chat with him about anime/manga. He was a rather hilarious guy. He asked me who my favorite character from Naruto was and kept suggesting all the cool characters: Shikamaru, Naruto, Kakashi, etc. I had a good laugh with him. He was cute too... >///<;;

 Like I said, I laughed. A lot. (More like girlish giggle, really.)

I wonder how many times I've said "adorable" in the past 2 weeks. I mean, it's Japan. My only complaint so far is that they need another word for cute besides かわいい　(kawaii).

Uh, yeah...Current Update

So apparently, Vi was right; I'm horrible at keeping a blog. This past week, and continuing on for the rest of my stay here, I'll have limited internet. I can check my mail and whatnot on the computers in the HIF building (where my program and classes are being held), but I probably won't update my blog with pictures until the weekend when I decide to lug my laptop to the 文化センタ－(Culture Center) close to my host family's house. If my laptop didn't weigh a million pounds in my bag, I'd bring it with my to HIF every now and then and use it there while I'm doing my homework after class. But considering I have to travel uphill both going to class and returning home, that's impossible to ask of me. I'll return to the topic of my homestay and what's happened in the past week in a little bit.

So last week, I had been hoping to log almost every day since I was Tokyo for 4 days and went somewhere new everyday and then made me overnight trip up to Hokkaido and met my host family. But now that it's been close to a week since then and I have homework to get to before going home, 無理だよ。That's impossible. For now, anyway. Most of the pictures that I've taken up until now have been from Tokyo, so I will write what all I did with Kristina in Tokyo. I'll probably spend part of Saturday at the Culture Center updating this with pictures and my days' adventures. For now, I'll talk about my impressions of Hakodate and my host family.

Saturday, after our 2 days of placement testing, we finally had the opening ceremony for my program, "Japanese Language and Japanese Culture", and immediately afterwards met our host family. My family's name is "Tanaka", a very stereotypical Japanese name (kinda like Smith in America). I have a Father 父, Mother 母, and 2 older sisters 姉, Aya and Sayuri. Right now, Sayuri is in Tokyo at an all girls college, but Aya has already graduated and is working for now. According to Mama, they have been hosting study abroad students from HIF for 18 years. We live about 20 minutes by JR (Japanese Railway, basically a train) outside of Hakodate, the main fishing port of Hokkaido, in a town called Nanae-cho. It's a cute little town, but since it is further up in the mountain areas, there are plenty of hills, and I have the fortune of walking up one every day from the train station. Plus, in Hakodate, I have about a 10-15 minute walk from the station before I get to a hill to climb up to the HIF building.

Hae I ever mentioned that I hate stairs? Well I hate hills even more. I remember my first time going up East Rock - so outta shape. Like I've mentioned on FB, I expect awesome conversational Japanese and sexy legs by August. Plus, I'm eating way more vegetables than I have ever eaten at Yale. (I usually have a salad on the side and call that my vegetable intake for the day. Really, it shouldn't count.)

Although I swear every vegetable that I've eaten from Papa's garden (yes, my host father spends his time tending to a garden every day) tastes like peanuts. I think my taste buds are broken are something. BTW, I tried natto Monday night. I'm so glad I have good control over my immediate responses. It. Was. So. Disgusting. Everyone in my family eats it, but after the first bite, I stopped, put my chopsticks down, and said ご馳走様でした (a phrase giving thanks to the meal just had, signaling you're finished). Everyone understood that there might be things that I don't like that I haven't tried yet, so they were cool with it, In fact, they were sorta laughing at my reactions to it. But besides the natto, I've liked everything they've cooked so far. In fact, it feels so good to have home cooked meals again. (Mo didn't really cook while I was home, so I was pretty much on my own for most of the time. :P) I've raised my tolerance of a lot of things. Such as tea. I like Southern Sweet Tea, but I'm not used to drinking regular Japanese hot tea at about every meal. I can taste the caffeine in every sip, but it's not bad, per se. Also, for a lot of meals, they have miso soup for beverage, so it's still something that I'm getting used to.

I will say that by the time I get back to America, I'll probably be ruined for Japanese food. I haven't tried any real sushi here yet, but I told Aya that one of m favorite foods is sushi with cream cheese in it. She wouldn't stop mentioning it to Mama for several days.

Although it's rather 大変 (dreadful) that I have to go uphill to and from class every day, I think it's fortunate that I'll can walk and eat pretty healthily during my stay here. Course, you won't hear me saying that I love walking up those hills. It's rather annoying that when I get to class around 8:40 that I'm sweating and it's ridiculous hot, even when it's only in the 60s here.

Here at HIF, they have a dining area where we can use the vending machines and buy lunch, but I haven't eaten there yet. I've been stopping by the コンビニ (convenience store) in the morning before getting to HIF to buy yogurt and my lunch. Monday, I went downhill to the Co-op store and bought a not so great breakfast and on top of that climbed right back up the hill. I realized that since I have extra time in the morning before I get on the train and before I get to HIF that I can stop by one of the 7/11s on the way. To prevent from climbing back up. :P

BTW, it never occurred to me, but a croissant wrapped around chocolate is genius. And I am obsessed with Strawberry Flavored Drinkable Yogurt. In fact, America should sell a lot of things that Japanese コンビニ do. Otherwise, I'll be rather sad when I get back.

During our time here in Hakodate, on top of class, homework, and kanji quizzes everyday, we're expected to complete an Independent Study Research Project. We have to meet once a week with our sensei and discuss our plans and our progress. I think I've decided on tryingto gauge how Japanese youth and young adults interpret and think of manga and anime (if they read/watch it). While I was in Tokyo, whenever we were on the subway or JR, I always saw people reading manga, and when you're walking through Akiba, it's safe to say that most people you see like anime and manga to some degree. Here in Hokkaido, it's a total different vibe from Tokyo. You could think of the area I stay in as rather rural, so not everyone is as obvious about it here. I want to know what they think like, and I feel like asking them about what they think is special or most important for them in the manga they read or why they have a favorite if they do is a common ground in which I can get a grasp on how Japanese youth think here. It's rather complicated to explain or justify why I want to do such a topic, but I find it rather intriguing. We'll see how this goes. First, I have to get over my scare of going out and talking to people and asking them about things, even though I am obviously a foreigner with not so great conversational Japanese asking weird questions about their personal preferences. D=

I'll try updating about last week on Saturday. That way you get to see more of Tokyo before you see nothing but Hokkaido. lol

OTAKU~

Woke up bright and early at FIVE AM! That never happens. Guess jetlag really does mess you up – although mine isn’t so bad considering how I slept for half the trip here. But yeah, woke up at 5 am to use the bathroom. Then went straight back to sleep. Sleeping on a Japanese futon is…weird. And rather not comfortable. That’ll take some getting used to.

But today consisted of going to Akihabara, from now on referred to Akiba. For those who are not familiar with Akiba, this is a prefecture in Tokyo that is pretty much a shopping district for otaku of all kind. They have stores like Book-Off that sell HORDES of manga for dirt cheap [there’s even a 100￥ - almost $1 – section], Japanese and Western music CDs and movie DVDs, and video games. Then there’s Animate, a multi-level store that sells all kinds of merchandise for currently popular anime and manga and video games, sometimes doujinshi (fan comics). And lastly, Mandarake, the ultimate paradise for ANY otaku. The top 2 floors sell figures of just about anything that has ever been popular, from Star Wars to Dragonball Z to Disney, and also collector’s items (trading card et al.). Next is the floor aimed at female otaku, typically BL and yaoi doujin, original works, and idol and popstar pictures. Afterwards is the floor for male otaku, which includes porn-ish items involving females, yuri, I assume. We didn’t even stop on this floor, so I really don’t know what’s on the floor. I just know half the guys in the elevator got off there when we were going up. Haha. The bottom floors I’m not sure what was there since we left after the female otaku floor. One of the floors did have video game stuff there, I read on the sign.

Needless to say, I was satisfied with what all I saw but disappointed with what I restrained myself from buying. Kristina and my slogan the entire time was, “I wish I had $1 million to spend.” Haha!

This reminds me so much of New York City.

A store full of vending machines that sell you little balls with little trinkets in it. Never bought one, so I don't really understand the obsession with them. I saw some program in America where Americans save up money and go to Akiba just to buy those little things. :-\

Multi-level chain stores.

It really is a normal city. Even if it's otaku land.

Lunch was at McDonald’s – Japanese cheeseburgers are no different American cheeseburgers; but I can’t speak for the rest of the Japanese menu. I mean, Teriyaki burger – WHAT?!

For dinner, we went to Roppongi for tonkatsu. It was rather good, kinda like pork chop. After, we looked for the view of Tokyo tower.

You know when jetlag is kicking your butt when you’re tired at 9pm when you’ve been going to bed at 2am or later every night before.

Day 0: Arrival

ALL. DAY. I was internally freaking out. Even last night, when I kept putting off bed, I had a hard time believing that I was actually coming to the country that I’ve adored for years. When we went to TGIF for my last dinner in the States, when I wasn’t fully enthralled by the conversation, I remembered what I was about to do in less than 12 hours.


Then, during my 3-hour layover in Oregon, it was like, “Okay Ro, this is it. Once you step on that plane, next time you hit land will be in Japan.


Really, the panic ended when 8 hours later, my laptop had about 20% of life left and my PSP was running on reserve battery. I was ready to be off that godforsaken plane, although 30Rock on the TV screen did help with the boredom. :P


It was pretty straightforward when we landed – follow the path to immigration, baggage claim, and customs, although there were times when I worried if I was going the right way by following these random people. I think the best part about the walk to immigration was on the huge escalator where I read 「お帰りなさい」(Welcome home) on the wall. For some reason, it warmed my heart knowing that the Japanese have little signs like that welcoming their people back to their country. And then on the same escalator, in roman letters, it read “Yokoso Japan!” (Welcome to Japan) It was written in other languages as well, but I wonder why they couldn’t just write “Welcome to Japan” for the English sign. Haha.


As soon as I left customs, Kristina was waiting for me, and then I made my first withdrawal of Japanese money (￥yen). Handling Japanese yen is really weird for me: the bills are much bigger than US dollars, I feel bad for folding them to put in my wallet, and the coins are such similar sizes that I typically have to look at the amount on the coin before handing it to the cashier. (I’ve dropped change at almost every store I’ve been to so far. -__-;; )


Amusingly, my first meal in Japan was pork ramen. REAL ramen. Of course, I’ve had real ramen in NYC, but I got to see what Japanese pork is like. My slice was rather…tough.

So my first night in Japan was rather eye-opening, as I expected. I learned that you stand to the left side on the escalator so as to let people pass on the right. When you pay, there’s a little plate at the cashier where you place your payment – that way your hands don’t brush against the cashier’s. And that I want to buy everything I see in the コンビニ (combini = convenience store).


I was too tired and carrying too much luggage to take any pictures. Besides, all I would have taken pictures of would have been the subway and Azubu-Juban (the prefecture where Kristina and Baku stay) at night.

Gomen...

Sorry sorry sorry sorry sorry...

I'm alive. I don't have stable internet yet. I have much to blog about. I have many pictures. Be patient please.

Here. Have a song. And a lyric/translation. It's the best I can do for now...

T____T

When the Sun Rises, I'll Head Towards Its Origins

I can't believe it. In less than 24 hours, I'll be on a plane heading to Tokyo. I'm finally getting the chance to see the country that I've adored and studied for years.

And I feel so under prepared, I swear.

I've enjoyed my little vacation back home. Saw friends and family that I haven't seen or talked to since last summer. I basked in the humid 80-90 degree weather that I missed so much while I was in the Have. I'm going to miss this place, most definitely.

Needless to say, my nerves are shot.

I'll leave with a link to a song.

Next time, I'll be in Japan. Most likely with pictures.

Till then. じゃまた

Edit: Apparently the comment button isn't working. Weird. Oh well, there's always email. :D