NOVEMBER 17
Returned to Okazaki today!!
Let’s start off in Nagoya. Before I left the station,
I bought some omiyage, as it is a custom to take something to the house
of the person you visit. I figured a Nagoya treat was a good idea because I was
going to meet with Akane’s family again later tonight.
Akane and Jon actually picked me up from Anjo station,
the major stop before Okazaki, and from there we went to the Okazaki mall. The
mall back in Toledo is pretty much all on the first floor, but its spread out
very widely. This mall was big. Not as wide, but there was three floors, so the
sizes were comparable. Another similarity was they both had a Disney store!! It
was my first time at a Disney store in Japan, so I didn’t know how different
they were. Not just in regards to merchandise, but the feeling of the store
itself. I’d say the one back home has slowly changed over the years so now it’s
really just a kids’ store. The one in Okazaki, however, was very clean, bright
and organized, with just as many, if not more, items for adults. There were a
few things I was tempted to buy, but I settled on just one mug. I always wanted
one, even if it was different and a little smaller than the ones I saw back in
the States.
From there, we were back on track. My goal: find
pants.
I found two shirts on sale for a total of 980 yen,
which was great. By chance I also ran into Humito, the break dancer I met at
Shirakawa Park a couple weeks ago. I said ‘hi’ to him when we made contact, but
I think he was a little surprised that I even recognized him, so we didn’t talk
much. Then, I stumbled upon a store called Village Vanguard. It was a variety
store, and possibly the most interesting place in the mall, with a lot of comic
paraphernalia, character goods, street wear like hats and backpacks… the kind
of store you can spend a couple hours in just looking at everything. But, I
didn’t buy anything, I still needed pants!
Our search extended itself from the mall out to the
adjacent Aeon store, where I finally found plus size clothes that didn’t cost
two arms and a leg. The pants that fit were a size 84 waist? I’m not sure. It
definitely wasn’t based on my kind of shape. Despite that, they fit, and they
were made for winter. So I bought them, and a couple sweaters, and emptied out
my wallet.
Thankfully, dinner that night was provided by Akane’s
family: fried chicken, rice, veggies, koroke (fried mashed potatoes),
tempura, and soup. Once again, they wouldn’t let me stop eating, so I ate my
full share and then some. They invited me to come back to their house on
December 30th to make mochi with their extended family. Looks like I
have one day of my vacation planned already~
Before we went to bed, Akane’s grandparents gave me a traditional Japanese sweet, wagashi, wrapped in a leaf. It even came with a small instruction card.
NOVEMBER 18
I stayed the night over at Akane’s house, and we had
stayed up a little late chatting last night. Even so, I woke up around 6am to
review for my grammar test. Akane also had first period today, so we were up
and out of the house by 8am. It was a half hour train ride back to Nagoya, and
then a 12 minute walk to school.
Usually, we only have class during 3rd period on
Mondays. However, when Mrs. Yamamoto had canceled class a couple weeks ago
because of her business trip, she rescheduled the time for 2nd period. Our test
was going to be first, during second period, and then we would still have class
during 3rd. I studied the best I could during first period, but I’m not sure it
helped. To be honest, it was the test format itself that confused me, and the
other students. Just hoping it goes better than I expect.
After classes were over kenshiyo and the other guys
said they wanted to play basketball. The arena wasn’t open until after 4pm, and
it was only 2pm. I had to go home and change anyway, so I left first and waited
for the confirmation that they were actually going to play. Unexpectedly, I got
home to find a notification in my post box from the post office. The package
from my mom had arrived!
When it seemed like the others weren’t going to play
basketball after all I ran to the post office to pick up my package. It was
heavier than I expected, so walking for 15 minutes trying to balance the box
became my exercise for the day. Vitamins, some cleaning solution, my new credit
card, various snacks including Skittles, and Ein, the stuffed bear that I’ve
had since I was a baby. When I was coming to Japan I just decided at last
second not to bring him. It was a nice surprise, and even if it’s a silly
thing, I’m glad to just have him sit on my bed and be there when I come home.
NOVEMBER 19
Right now my only cash is 10000 yen, or about 100
dollars. I don’t want to break it, and I don’t want to go to the bank yet
either. Thankfully, as I was standing in the Mini Stop today, Yohei paid me
back 1000yen for Kentaro’s party. I had fronted the initial 6000 yen or so to
cover food and karaoke, and Yohei was the last to pay me back. Just in time too!
It covered the groceries that I needed~
At dance practice again there wasn’t that many people
around. I finally told the break dancers that I wanted to start practicing with
them too. They didn’t seem too willing to help at first, and by that I mean,
they said something along the lines of ‘Sure, if you really want to, but it
will be hard.’ At that point, I backed off a little and did some hip-hop
warm-ups. But I was determined, so before practice was over I went up to them
again and told them I was serious. The look on their faces kind of changed, as
if they finally acknowledged my request— all I had to do was ask. On Thursday,
I will definitely be asking a lot of questions.
I walked home with a little more spring in my step.
Break dancing was always something that I admired; I can’t wait to practice and
get to know the dancers better. Again, I was glad I summoned up the courage and
finally talked to them.
During my walk I happened to cross path with another
exchange student, Senkon. He was always quiet in class, and we had never really
talked before. I think the extent of my knowledge of him was that he liked
soccer, and he works out in the fitness room a lot. In any case, we got to
talking, not just about sports and club activities, but about our studies. He
said one of the reasons he likes playing soccer is because when he was younger
he read a manga about soccer that inspired him. I connected with him on
that level, especially since one of my manga series was about soccer.
Whatever ice that was there between us was broken. Turns out he’s also going to
play futsal on Saturday with the guys. Now there’s another familiar face I can
look forward to seeing out on the field.
NOVEMBER 20
I spent my free time today helping Rika with her essay
that she was writing for her study abroad application. She’s a pretty good
writer, and in my opinion, she speaks well too. I think she has a good chance
of being chosen as one of the few candidates. Only two can go to my university,
but I don’t know how many get to go abroad in one year. It seems as though the
other options are Hawaii and Missouri, when it comes to America. Hawaii has an
abundance of Japanese culture and influence there, so if the focus is really to
study English and American culture with little to no Japanese influence I’d
have to recommend mainland America. Though, many people want to go to Hawaii because
it’s Hawaii. I’ve never even been to the beach, but from the way that
Joy and the others always talk about it, it makes me want to go there someday.
NOVEMBER 21
We received our grammar tests back. 83%, number one in
the class by one point. Of course, it was then that we were able to explain to
the teacher how confused we were by the format. She said the final would be the
same, so now I’m glad we had this test. When that final comes I will know what
to expect.
Another English Cafe, lots of talking about music
today. The Cafe where we had our conversations was playing music that made me
want to dance. I couldn’t wait to start learning how to break dance!
And then, they (BPM) threw a curve ball. Today’s
practice was going to be an inter-group dance battle. All participants had to
pair up, one girl to one guy. Kazuma needed a partner, so I volunteered,
despite the fact that the only experience I had was that one battle in the
park. Now what am I getting myself into? Only a couple other of the
participants were freshmen, and the rest were more experienced upperclassmen.
It was worth a try at least. Kazuma and I made it to the second round - then
I’m not sure what happened, we were just off. Next time I will be ready!
The dance battle lasted until the end of practice. No
break dancing today. I met up with Jason and Mark as they were going home; none
of us had eaten dinner yet so we stopped at Bikuri Donki (right next to
Saizeriya). Unfortunately, their hamburger was not 100% beef, so I had fried
chicken and a salad instead. The salad was pretty good, but there was only four
tiny pieces of chicken, not at all what I expected for the price. To make up
for it I bought daifuku (a traditional Japanese treat, anko filled mochi (rice dumpling filled with adzuki bean paste)). It is quickly
becoming my favorite~!
NOVEMBER 22
I finally tested out my credit card at the ATM today!
My wallet is once again ready to take on the world, or buy me double dinner.
Yes, double dinner. Mistakes, delicious mistakes, were made.
It was just a normal day at first. I was hanging in
the library, minding my own business when suddenly I was invited by two
Japanese girls to join them for dinner. At first the group consisted of them,
two other freshmen boys, Jason and Mark. Coincidentally, I knew the guys from
English Cafe and the English class on Wednesdays that I still go to during 2nd
period. They invited me, and I couldn’t exactly turn down their invitation. We
went to Marukame to eat udon, and I found myself doing most of the
chatting with Tomohiro (Tom) about Japanese comedy.
In reality, the atmosphere was a little awkward
between the group. I didn’t realize it until after Jason, Mark and I split off
from the group to join Taigen at Shooters. It was our initial plan from the
start to meet him, but somehow the first dinners plans collided. This meant we
had second dinner at Shooter’s with Taigen. We went from Japanese to American style
in just a few hours: classic hamburger and fries. The funny thing was that the
little flag they stuck in my burger was the China flag…on my American classic,
in Japan.
NOVEMBER 23
FUTSAL!!! It’s been a couple weeks, but finally! Once
again, I played futsal from 10-12 with Senkon, Kentaro and a dozen other guys I
still don’t know. I’m pretty sure they’re older than us though, they don’t seem
to be students.
It was Saturday, so I hoped there would be a chance to
dance at Shirakawa Park again, but everyone went to Osaka for an event. My next
option was to work on my presentation for the Survey class, but the whole
school was closed! Is today a holiday or something?
Eventually,
I decided to try and fix my bike tire one more time. Mark and Jason tried to
help me out this time, but we didn’t do it the right way. I’m pretty sure we
put three or so new holes in the inner tube when we were trying to put the tire
back on. Oh well, I’ll take it to a shop later. (First I have to find a shop.)
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