STUDY ABROAD: WEEK 43

JUNE 22

I am still in shock.

This morning Akane and I went back to the apartment dealer. There were three out of five places that we could go see today, and the first one just so happened to be my first pick as well. As soon as I stepped in I knew it was the place. I didn’t really want to see the other places, but I didn’t want to make an impulsive decision, so we did check out the other two places. In comparison, they seemed small, unappealing, but maybe that was because I had already made my decision.

When we headed back to the dealer, and I mentioned that I really liked the first place. I thought that would mean, all right come back again next week and we’ll draw up the contract. No, they had the paperwork ready. I knew it was the right place, so now or later it didn’t really matter, right? I didn’t want someone else to take it. We worked through the paper and they printed out the initial bill for me. It wasn’t just rent, but also a gratuity fee, insurance, neighborhood fee. In the end, it came to about 2000 dollars. I had to pay it this week. Also, I had to move into the new place within a month of signing the contract. July 19th it is.

It felt like I was doing the right thing, but I couldn’t help wondering if I had acted impulsively. Was I supposed to inform the university first? Or, was I missing some vital piece of information? It all seemed to go too smoothly.

We ate at SUSHI-RO after that, and I was still in shock.

Then I returned to Nagoya in the late afternoon, only to run into Jordan outside Nagoya Station. His plans to meet someone had fallen through and he was just on his way home. Turns out, he hadn’t eaten at the time so I took him to the nearby udon place for some venting time for the both of us.

So excited! And terrified! Am I really doing this all on my own?

JUNE 23

The last International Cafe… so sad. I will miss all the regular faces, and the bi-weekly excuse to talk about nothing in particular. Takahiro and Yuto also showed up today to hang out. Apparently, they needed a picture of me for the interview, so Yuto snapped one with his phone. I wish he had told me about it sooner because I was not at all dressed for a photo today.

JUNE 24

I did my duty and paid for the apartment today. So much money gone, and once again the bank account is starved. The JASSO money should be coming in soon though. I got to save up because it looks like we’ll be traveling next month: Disneyland, Universal Studios, who knows! It’s going to be an adventure. I’m pretty sure we are going to USJ because the new Harry Potter attraction will open around the 17th. I can’t wait to go; I’ve never been to a Universal Studio or Disneyland before.

JUNE 25

No time to work on manga today, only class and training. I’m in the last stages though; I think I can finish up the pages in a couple more days!

JUNE 26

Joy joined me to play futsal again. We always have too much fun playing against each other. Also, now that I know a few more of the members, we can actually interact with them as other matches are going on. Speaking a few sentences in English is fairly popular, but the conversation always reverts back to Japanese. Our conversations aren’t about much, but we have a great time playing futsal.

After futsal I went straight to dance practice for a few hours. Now I am home and showered. Tonight I’m going to try and get some more pages done. I have all night to do it since there’s no class tomorrow. Less than one chapter to go!

JUNE 27

It’s done! It’s done!

The pages are all complete! I finished the last details at 6pm, just in time for me to go to Open Mic Nite at the Heart n’ Soul Cafe. I even started on the cover, so all I have to do is check out the pages and prepare them for printing, finally.

Going to Open Mic became my initial celebration. Rachael and a couple other students also came to the event this time. Takahiro was there working as the MC, and he somehow managed to convince Rachael to perform next month. On one condition: that I perform with her. I enjoy karaoke, not singing on a stage. I can’t even sing that well. But, if it’s for Rachael, I’ll brave that fire. Somehow, someway, we’ll pull a performance together.

JUNE 28

Today’s culture experience was all about traditional Japanese instruments and yukata. As one of the first to arrive, I had the chance to watch our teachers for the day wander into the university all dressed up properly in yukatas. As soon as our class officially started, at 9am, we were dressed in various yukatas. They weren’t so much separated by size as they were by height, meaning there was few for me two choose from. This time, as one of the older women helped me put the yukata on and set the obi I tried to pay close attention. I would be buying my own yukata for the upcoming fireworks festivals, so I had to figure out how to wear it properly on my own.

Once everyone was dressed in their yukatas and the pictures were taken, we were split into two groups. My group was the first to experience the instruments, while the other group was taught obondori, a festival dance that takes place to celebrate obon, a festival based on the Buddhist custom of honoring one’s ancestors. In the instrument room they had set up there was flutes, shamisen, and small taiko drums. I tried the flute first, but in the allotted time I could hardly get a note through. Rachael and Joy on the other hand had experience playing wind instruments, so it came more naturally to them. Next I was sent to the small drums, which started out all right until I started going off rhythm. As for the techniques of hitting and holding the drum itself, I found that I was quite capable. Last was the shamisen, the instrument I had least faith that I could play, but it turned out to be the most fun. My fingers tend to move slowly so I thought that strumming the strings would be harder for me. To my surprise, the challenge of plucking the notes was more fun that I thought. I would have loved to have more time learning it, but our time quickly came to an end.

We switched rooms with the other group and danced for an hour in our yukatas. Dancing was nearly mindless for me, especially since the steps in and of themselves are relatively simply and they repeat for the entire song. At this point, a few people were complaining about the tightness of their yukatas as well, but I felt no such discomfort. I’m looking forward to finding my own yukata, but hopefully it’s not too expensive.

I planned a dinner get-together with the Hawaiian students and a few of the Japanese students that we have known since last year. It had been too long since we had eaten out together, outside of the curry house, so this time we went to yakiniku. Taigen recommended the place, which we found to be cheap and conveniently near the station.

STUDY ABROAD: WEEK 42

JUNE 15

Akane and I headed to the apartment dealers this morning. I didn’t expect too much when we arrived because the place looked like a smaller dealer, unlike the big names in the business: Minimini, Suumo, etc. Thankfully, I was wrong.

It was only our first meeting, but they were able to pull out five locations within twenty minutes of the station that were under 400 a month. Not only that, but none of the locations minded whether or not I was a foreigner. I think that part of that reason was because I went to the dealer in person and they could see for themselves what sort of level my Japanese was at. At least, when he spoke on the phone with the owners, that fact came up each time. Each of the places he showed me fits my preferences, so it’s hard to pick on above the other. I do have a favorite that I’ve seen during my Internet searches as well. Next week, we’ll be back to check out the places in person.

With business taken care of, Akane and I biked over to Aeon Mall. We were basically killing time until twilight, when we were going to meet with Jon and a couple of Akane’s friends to go see the fireflies. The way she talked about them, it made me think that they were a rare sight to see; little floating magical orbs. Going to see the fireflies seemed to be one of the past-times at this time of year, so I anticipated the event.

We drove up into the mountains on the curviest road I have ever been on in my life. It was only two-lanes, so we had to be careful around each corner. Deep out in the country, only surrounded by fields and then towering trees. I was enjoying the scenery along the winding ride when suddenly we were told to stop outside of a tunnel and park along the side of the road. There was only other car in the area, so we thought it was a bit fishy. But, we all got out of the car and walked through the tunnel to the other side. Then it quickly became apparent as to why we had to park so suddenly. Both sides of the road were already lined with cars of other people who had come to see the fireflies. The area was particularly popular because of the clean water in the river which ran next to the mountain’s forests.

These fireflies that were the call of everyone’s attention are the same ‘lightning bugs’ that fill our backyards every summer in Toledo. Jon and I had to laugh because this was a normal sight for us. Though, I suppose, if they only gather in these secluded areas, then it would be a rare sight for the average Japanese citizen.

There was a small trail leading down from the road, past an elementary school, down to the riverside and then back up to the road. It did not take long to walk the entire trail, so soon we were heading back to the car. We ended up in the middle of the pack, meaning that a whole new group of go-seers had arrived after us, and some still arriving. As for us, we had only snacked on some mochi while we were there so we went off to find food. At that time of night, the only place open was Denny’s. I had pancakes for dinner.

JUNE 16

…Manga…

JUNE 17

After dance practice I headed to the City Pal apartments to join the Cho-Ko party. This month both Cho, one of the exchange students, and Natsuko, the Japanese student who is assisting with our culture class, have birthdays, so they created a party together. Many of the members still left at the party were the new Chinese exchange students, so afterward when we went to karaoke many of the songs were in Chinese. We stayed until morning, so once again I let two of the girls stay in my room overnight.

JUNE 18

…Training…and it’s raining…

(View from the JR train from Nagoya to Gamagori as it rains.)

(My first attempt to explain the hard and soft ‘th’ sounds.)

JUNE 19

…Manga…Dance…

JUNE 20

Game night, we meet once again!

We started out playing Blocks, but as the members at our table grew, Rafael suggested that we play Phase 10. The makers of UNO know how to make great card games. As the name suggests, there are 10 Phases of the game, but some of us only reached the third Phase before time ran out. I’m looking forward to playing it again next month. Though, sadly it will be our last Game Night together… June is going by too quickly!!

Once again, I went to dance in Naka District with the guys. I happened to see a few more familiar faces, including that of Pepsiman. The Pepsiman I knew was always wearing short shorts, and he danced very feverishly. Today, he wasn’t dancing, and seemed a lot calmer than usual. I greeted him and we ended up talking; it turns out that he hasn’t practiced dance recently, he was frustrated with it. In some ways I understood him because I was having troubles with dance recently as well. In his case, he had been so competitively recently that dance wasn’t fun anymore, he needed to rethink it. I, on the other hand, need to up my ante and challenge myself more.

There was something self-assuring about hearing that he, as well as other dancers, have had their hard times as well. It seems to be an obvious fact, but to hear it from their own mouths really hits home. It’s hard now, but soon, very soon I’ll be free to dance and improve again. If I think about it, when I started drawing, I made a good jump my first year, and then it was a consistent slow but steady progress. I didn’t notice it because I was just enjoying myself; I wasn’t comparing my skills to others as much. Then I made a few more jumps, and here I am. If I put my mind to it, I can create anything. I think, once this project of mine is completed, I can do that again.

JUNE 21

We had a make-up class today, in place for the survey class we missed at the beginning of the semester. What really happened is we watched Mark and Aurianne’s final presentation for the class. They are in the new B class, so we usually don’t get to see each other’s presentations. However, for these final presentations, the teacher wants us all to present together, so from next week on our class times will overlap.

After class I went to training and then karaoke again with Rachael and a few others. How can I say no when our time together seems so short?

STUDY ABROAD:WEEK 41

JUNE 9

How was today already the second to last International Cafe?? This semester is going too fast. It’s too short. I don’t know what it is. Last semester was mid-September to mid-January because we had a couple breaks. This semester it’s just a straight fifteen weeks, beginning of April to the end of July.

I hung around school after the Cafe was over, expecting that I would be going to the fitness room with Shin after his class. I didn’t know until afterward that he went earlier in the day, during 4th period. Instead of working out, we bought some dinner from MaxValu and ate at Chambre 72. Then, he wanted me to show him how to dance, so we had a brief ‘This is how you dance hip hop’ session on the roof that consisted mostly of moving with the down beat.

JUNE 10

…Manga…Dance…

JUNE 11

I have been seriously looking for apartments the past couple weeks, you know, during all my free time. The only thing I know for sure is that I want to try and live in Okazaki, and I would like a place for less than 400 a month. I didn’t have too many preferences except that it was on the second floor, or higher, had a balcony, hardwood floor, storage space, a slightly larger kitchen space than my current place, and a place to put a washing machine.

A few days ago I sent an inquiry to one of the apartment searching companies, asking if the apartments would allow a foreigner to live there. Today, I received the reply: the owner would not like to rent to a foreigner. That kind of sucked, because I really liked the place in the pictures. It had a lot of closets set in the walls, too.

But, was this my first case of prejudice?

I don’t think so. Granted, the owner knows nothing about me, I can understand why they wouldn’t want to rent out to just any foreigner. What if I couldn’t speak Japanese? Or, what if I didn’t know Japanese house customs? I’ve done my research and I’ve read about some bad cases. My contact was happy to inform me that there were two other locations in their database that would allow foreigners if I was interested. That led me to contact Akane. She lived in Okazaki and recently moved into her own apartment. We decided it was best to go directly to the apartment dealer’s, so that’s what we’ll do on Sunday.

JUNE 12

…Manga…Futsal…Dance…

Joy couldn’t come to futsal today, so I went alone. I only played with the girls today, which is fun, but they still group up too much. Once they start to spread out and get a hang of the game then I think it will be a lot more fun. I also met some more of the guys in the club, mostly third years like Shogo. They seem pretty cool. One of the guys is named Rikiya, but his nickname is Rickey, which also happens to be the same name of one of the club’s main teams: Rickey’s. I wonder if he has something to do with that.

JUNE 13

As a member of the newspaper club, Yuto asked me last week if I wouldn’t mind doing an interview with one of his juniors. He couldn’t join us for the interview, but we managed pretty well, I think. I couldn’t tell what his junior thought of my answers, and there were only a few basic questions prepared. Those basic questions were nearly over before we started, since I had sent the information to Yuto prior. I gave the interviewer more information, checking to see if there was anything else she wanted to ask about. Somehow, the topic settled on manga. I was hoping to keep that secret from the mass, if for no other reason than I didn’t want to be written off as another person who came to Japan because of manga and anime. I guess we’ll see how that turns out.

JUNE 14

…Manga… so much toning to do…

STUDY ABROAD:WEEK 40

JUNE 1

Oh no! It’s already June and I’m still not done with my manga! My birthday is next month. I have no choice, but to put more time and effort into it. Sorry in advance.

The good news is that today I managed to complete the final touches on chapters 8-12. The final two chapters, 13 and 14, are also ready to be cleaned up since I scanned in all 80 pages yesterday. I’ve done so much this past month already, but there is still more to do.  Soon I will be entering the home stretch.

JUNE 2

I had to take a break from working on ‘you know what’ in order to homework for this week. There’s going to be quite a few days that I’ll probably just isolate myself and work on finishing up these last two chapters, so please bear with me. I won’t bother you with the dreary details too much.

On the other hand, I salvaged a lily that fell off my ikebana when we moved it to the second floor. The closed bud has now opened up!

JUNE 3 - JUNE 5

Three days of going to class, and then coming home to work on manga. I did go to dance practice on Tuesday and Thursday, that’s the only thing keeping me sane. I also had training on Wednesday. Honestly, I keep forgetting how long a simple task like cleaning up line art can take. Then again, there is about eighty pages…

JUNE 6

The morning and afternoon went as expected. However, this evening I made plans to meet with Kazu. She invited me to an all-girl’s dance practice in Fushimi. I’ve seen pictures of the groups online before, but this would have been my first time going.

I met Kazu and two other girls (all break dancers) at Fushimi Station and from there we walked to the studio. The small studio was actually right above a hair salon, and down the street from where Long’s apartment used to be. I thought it would be a bigger room, but once everyone showed up it quickly became very small. About thirty people showed up over the next few hours, dancing genres of all kinds: hip hop, jazz, wack, lock, and, of course, break.

Fushimi’s famous Eri also made an appearance, though I suppose she is famous throughout Japan’s break dance world by now. I watched her perform at Dance@LIVE in Tokyo. She’s someone that I can look forward to, as a future challenge, WAY in the future. I mean, I may never challenge her, but it’s good to have someone’s level to reach for. I didn’t have a chance to speak with her directly, and though I was primarily there to practice break dance I also floated around to the hip hop genre for a while. I saw familiar faces, but I didn’t know anyone outside Kazu and the two girls I arrived with. So I made a few more acquaintances.

We danced in the studio until 11pm and then everyone started on their own ways home. I walked with Kazu back to Nagoya Station. There we parted and I continued home on my own in the light cool rain. Tomorrow it’s back to the grind.

JUNE 7 - JUNE 8

The saga continues. Line art is clean, proceeding to add contrast with black ink.

We ate at one of the restaurants where a Taiwanese exchange student is working part-time. It’s famous for its udon dishes, so a couple of us tried the shrimp tempura miso udon.