NOVEMBER 24
Field trip, field trip! Today we are going on a bus
trip to Ise Jingu. It’s not a part of our classes, like our trip to Inuyama
Castle was, but it was organized by the school. We knew beforehand that some
Japanese students were chosen to go on the trip with us, but we didn’t know
there would be so many! There was probably one-hundred and fifty or so people
altogether, and we filled up three buses.
In preparation for the trip I bought a few snacks from
the convenient store. From our itinerary I knew that it would be a four-hour
trip one way, and it was a normal thing to prepare snacks. To our surprise,
however, the bus tour guides (/school) prepared a good size bag of treats for
us! They also divided up the international students amongst the buses, so we
had plenty of chances to make friends with the Japanese students. Mark,
Aurianne and I were on the same bus, and coincidentally we sat in the same row,
so I talked to the girl next to and behind me mostly.
After an hour we made a quick stop at Kameyama Parking
for those that needed to go to the bathroom. It had only been one hour, so the
stop seemed unnecessary since we would arrive at the first location (of three)
in the next hour and a half.
Our first stop was Futami, famous for its shrine by
the sea. The Shrine was intended for couple’s and there was actually a wedding
taking place when we arrived. There were also dozens of frog statues on the
shrine grounds as well.
My favorite part was the sea; I had never been so close to see and smell
the sea that way before. There was a small beach we could walk on, but at the
time we were already heading back to the main building for lunch.
I didn’t even expect simple box
lunches, so I was floored when I saw the gourmet set up they provided us for
lunch— just lunch! Soup, chicken, raw fish, salad, rice… there was so many
things to eat! It was so fresh, too.
One of the AIDAI students I met, Rafael, was a friend
my Japanese counterpart, Takahiro, who is studying at my university now. To my
surprise, he didn’t like raw fish, and neither did Aurianne, so I gladly traded
some of my food with them.
From there we went to a small place called Mikimoto,
which was famous for pearls. At the museum, there was an amazing display of
art, jewelery and sculptures made with pearls. There were also pearl diving
demonstrations performed by women dressed in all white called ama-sans.
I know the water was freezing, because the wind was chilly. Yet, they didn’t
even flinch when they had to dive into the water and pull up shells from the sea
bed. It was all right to watch them dive down and come up, plop a shell into
their basket, and dive again. If we had been able to see them under water in
action, maybe it would have been more interesting.
(One of the amazing pieces of art made out of pearls.)
The silliest part about the trip came right after we watched the pearl
diving display. Our group was led into an activity room to build kaleidoscopes,
as if we were elementary students. Don’t get me wrong, it was kind of fun, but
I never would have expected that on a university trip.
We left Mikimoto around 2pm and finally we were bound
for Ise. Traffic had been smooth and clear for most of the journey, but once we
made it to the shrine the streets were packed. Every 10 years the Ise Shrine
seems to be renovated, or in the case of this last decade, relocated, so many
people came to see the new shrine. Also, with fall comes momoji, quite
literally ‘going to see the changing leaves.’ Though I love fall colors and the
changing leaves, I didn’t realize how much I had missed them until we were in
the shrine, surrounded by the essence of autumn. There are hardly any trees in
Nagoya, so I didn’t even notice if the leaves were changing.
(A piece of the reconstructed Ise Shrine)
Six hours from our departure and we finally made it to
Ise Shrine. That said, we only spent maybe a grand total of 30 minutes on the
shrine grounds itself. We washed our hands in the small stream where many
people drop coins for luck. Then, we walked up to the shrine building itself,
paid our respects, and came back down the hill towards the entrance. It seemed
odd to me that we went all that way, only to be rushed through the actual
shrine itself. Futami and Mikimoto were considerably more entertaining.
After we parted from the shrine’s entrance, we had 15
minutes to walk down the road and by omiyage. I bought akafuku, which
is another dessert based on adzuki bean paste. Then I also bought some daifuku
for myself. We boarded the bus again and started off down another small road,
back towards the old Ise Shrine. It was another short 20-minute or so in and
out trip, but I like the older shrine’s architecture better. The path to the
shrine itself was also more simple and to the point. But, that was it for our
adventure. Soon we were back on the bus, heading for Nagoya. Our magical bus tour
came to an end, but the memories and new friendships shall live on! I hope.
NOVEMBER 25
Spent most, if not all of my free time today working
on my presentation for tomorrow’s Survey class! I was putting the presentation
together in the Media Lab, since I don’t have Powerpoint on my computer, when
Shin and Kentaro found me. They couldn’t find an empty computer in the lab, but
they needed to print their homework for their next class. Rather than asking,
Shin simply confirmed ‘I can use this, right?’ as he took over the mouse. At
that time I had already closed my presentation, so I handed over the computer
to them. We ate lunch together after wards, and then it was off to grammar
class for me.
Class went as per usual, as did the International
Cafe. It wasn’t until 5th period that things got interesting. Last week, Mrs.
Yamamoto invited us to join her seminar class and talk to her students. We
couldn’t say ‘no’, but none of us expected it would turn out the way it did.
When she said ‘Oh, come talk to my students’ we all just thought we’d be
answering questions and conversing lightly, especially since not everyone that
she invited could speak Japanese fluently. As usual, nothing goes as expected.
We were not there to simply converse with the
students, but participate in the seminar itself. We all split into groups to
plan the best way to organize an international event, if one were to occur at
the campus. Our group based our ideas similarly to that of the school festival,
with different rooms holding different activities on global awareness, and also
an international menu. It took us the bulk of the class just to come up with
the ideas, since not even her own students were sure what she expected of us.
In the end, we had to leave our concocted ideas in the hands of her seminar
students. We’re supposed to go back to the class on the 9th, after the
semester’s last International Cafe.
Now, back to finishing up that presentation!!
NOVEMBER 26
First period, survey class: it was our first day of
presentations, and I was the top batter. I stood up and did my presentation,
just as I had practiced. I even dressed up a bit for the class. As I spoke,
trying to cover all the important points and use proper grammar, I looked at
the other students faces. They seemed shocked, and maybe a little confused. I
didn’t know if they understood me or not: was I just speaking gibberish?
When the presentation was over, I sat down, very
uncomfortably, still not knowing why everyone was so taken aback. Then, the
next student, a girl from China began her presentation. She sat down near the
display screen, read off her speech notes, and clicked through the Powerpoint.
This was the same way we presented I our culture class - reading a prepared
speech. I looked at the teacher to see if that was okay, and she didn’t say
anything until after the presentation was over. We weren’t expected to deliver
a presentation like I had; that was why everyone was so struck. That was a
little more embarrassing than possibly messing up during the presentation. I
can’t believe I overdid it.
The rest of the day turned out to be another day to
meet people. During lunch with kenshiyo I met three of their classmates, all
graduating in the spring. Then, when I went down to the library I met a girl
named Yui who also wants to try and study abroad, and then another friend of
Maeda’s. I feel bad that I can’t remember all of their names already…
Lastly, during dance, Honami, the only other girl who
is practicing break dancing in BPM, and I practiced together. My balance is
horrible, and I feel like there is no strength in my arms at all. I really
should start to do some training.
NOVEMBER 27
Yesterday, I met a lot of new people, and I also
promised myself that I would start working out. Today, that same string continues.
As it turns out, Rafael goes to a cafe near AIDAI
called Heart n’ Soul. On Wednesdays, like today, they sometimes get together
and use the second floor as a workout area. It just so happened, today’s
workout was Insanity. Joy also wanted to go try Insanity, so she made plans to
come with me, but she didn’t show up to meet us. It turned out that she was
abducted and taken to karaoke. That left me and a group of six guys, only one
of whom I knew (Rafael). One of the guys grew up in Georgia, so he spoke to me
in English and that kind of broke the ice.
But from there it was all business, or rather all
cardio, just cardio. If I hadn’t been dancing consistently for the past two
months, there is no way I could have kept moving until the end. Then, they wanted
to do the extra ab workout as well. I tried, but my efforts quickly dwindled
down due to exhaustion. I didn’t appreciate it all until it was over. I might
even go back and do it again if I have time. Now that I know a couple of the
other guys are actually students from AIDAI and know Takahiro as well (small
world) it won’t be as intimidating to workout with them again.
NOVEMBER 28
Let’s start the day at lunch. Mark, Jason and I
decided to go eat at Coco Ichiban, a Japanese curry house. It’s known for its
notoriously spicy levels of curry. I had been to one once, back in 2011, but I
don’t know what level that curry was. I only know that my friend tried the
level 5 and found it too spicy. So, that’s what I decided to order. Might as
well determine for myself I its spicy or not. I’m proud to say that level 5 was
cleared with no problem.
We had made plans to go to Nabana no Sato in
the evening with some girls from AIDAI, but when we were done eating it was
only 2pm. The guys went home for a bit, but I stayed around the station,
wandering through the Sun Road Mall, Tokyu Hands, and Meitetsu Department
store. Nothing sparked my interest, at least nothing in my price range. By four
o’clock I was tired of walking, which was perfect since that was the time we planned
to meet the other students. The six of us rode the Meitetsu but out to Mie
Prefecture, where the famous illuminations of Nabana no Sato took place.
The bus was 1700 yen round trip, and the tickets into the park to see the
illuminations were 2000 yen. However, with the ticket we received two 500yen
food coupons to use inside.
It was freezing. A lot colder than it was in Nagoya.
It was, of course, also dark, so my camera was unable to take many good
pictures. That turned out to be fine with me since I didn’t want to take my
hands out of my pockets. I think that Nabana no Sato is most famous for
its ‘Tunnel of Light’ and Mt. Fuji illumination display. Those were the most
impressive. It made me realize that Christmas would be coming soon, but today
was only Thanksgiving back home.
(Nabana no Sato’s illuminations and Tunnel of Light)
In true Thanksgiving spirit, we had to eat! With our
shared food coupons we dined on takoyaki, onigiri, koroke,
gyuuman, gyoza, and zenzai. The gyuuman, or beef dumpling,
was incredibly delicious AND 100% beef! My lucky day! It was a great feast.
We bought some omiyage to take back to the
apartment. In particular, I was really excited to try the green tea flavored
cake. It wasn’t too late when we got back to Nagoya, so when we returned to our
apartment building, we found that the small Thanksgiving dinner Rachael cooked
for everyone was still going on. There was a few left overs that she saved for
use, like mashed potatoes and fried chicken. Then we ate the cake, too, which was
delicious as expected.
When will we stop eating??
NOVEMBER 29
This morning I called home to wish everyone a Happy
Thanksgiving. Every year, my family would have Thanksgiving lunch at my
grandmother’s house, including my aunts, uncles and cousins. My call was a few
hours late of the party, so everyone had already gone home by the time I called
in. That was unfortunate since I hoped to catch them, but I couldn’t wake up
any earlier. I ended up talking to my mom for a while, which nearly made me
late for class.
It would have been a horrible day to arrive late to
class because today was another cultural experience day! This time it was Tea
Ceremony (sado). For this auspicious event we met on the seventh floor
where there is an actual traditional Japanese style room! I would have never
noticed it before because it was at the far end of the hall, and around the
corner.
The Tea Ceremony is one of the traditional Japanese
arts that I can say I enjoy. Sitting on one’s legs isn’t the most fun thing in
the world, though I can handle it more than most of the students; once my legs
fell asleep though I regretted it. My dream also came true, in regards to the
sweet that was served with the tea! Omogashi, made with sweet potato,
and not simply hard sugar candies. The master of the ceremony and his helpers
were really nice; it was truly an honor to work with them.
Ever since class ended I have been trying to catch up
with this journal! We’ve been so busy that I’m two weeks behind!! Ahhh!
The rest of the day took an interesting turn.
Totoro and Chaerim decided they wanted to do another
cooking party tonight since they missed out on Thanksgiving. They left to go
shopping and prepare before I had a chance to decide whether I was going or
not. At the time, I was in the library with Mark and Jason, and then Taigen and
Long showed up. The “cool kids” were all together once again.
Since it had been a while since we were all able to
hang out, and as the end of the semester approached it looked like it would be
one of our last chances to all hang out together, we decided to go eat at
Sushi-Ro. I messaged Chaerim and tried to excuse myself from her party. Then,
as I was the only one without a bike, I had to walk home to drop off my bag
first on the way to Sushi-Ro. I hoped I would run into Chaerim so I could
apologize to her face, but I didn’t, so I was left with no choice but to leave
for Sushi-Ro.
On the walk to Sushi-Ro I finally got Chaerim’s reply.
She had been looking forward to having me at the party, and even bought beef,
just for me. I felt guilty, but all I could do was apologize. To make things
worse, since I had to walk to Sushi-Ro, by the time I got there the guys had
nearly finished eating. To me the atmosphere was a little different when I
ended up the only one eating at our table, but part of that was because I
turned down Chaerim. I decided I would try to go back to see Chaerim when we
let Sushi-Ro, so I only ate a few plates.
My focus went from enjoying time with the “cool kids”
for what could have been the last time to setting things right with a friend
that I felt I had shunted. Thankfully, once we got back to the apartment, the
party was just getting started. It all worked out in the end, and we had a
great time at the party. Maybe all my uneasiness was for nothing?
NOVEMBER 30
Every time I think I’m going to have a slow and easy
day it turns out to be quite the opposite. I started off with laundry, and then
as I was cleaning my room mark asked me if I would go to Sakae with him to do
some shopping. Well, I didn’t have anything planned, so why not?
Part of the reason we had to go to Sakae was because
he wanted to go to H+M; the other reason was that he promised to visit a friend
at their workplace. However, in the case of the latter, he didn’t want to show
up alone, just in case his friend wasn’t there. We stopped in to see his friend
first; she was working at a little Italian style cafe. Unfortunately, you can’t
just walk into a cafe, say ‘hi’ and leave, so we had to order lunch. It was a
little pricey, as are most things in Sakae, but it came with an all-you-can-eat
bread and rolls deal. His friend also gave us the all-you-can-drink deal even
though we didn’t order it. Do these guys really get away with just giving their
friends special deals?
It was a delicious lunch. The rolls in particular were
fresh and oh-so yummy. We had plenty of time to work them off to because as
soon as lunch was over it was shop, shop, shop. We went to countless stores,
piling up various items for Mark’s winter wear. I spent a grand total of 200
yen on a spray bottle. After an 1100 yen lunch, I wasn’t in the mood to spend.
Besides, that evening there was a chance we were going to an izakaya. At
least that was the plan. It wasn’t until we were on the way home that we found
out no one wanted to go. Margeaux had really wanted to hang out, so instead we
asked her to meet us at Shooter’s. More American delicacies~ Cookies and Cream
Shake and tacos, wonderful!!
We happened
to run into Kentaro on the way out of Shooter’s. Maybe we’ll try to go to the izakaya
with him and the other students tomorrow?
(Shooter’s Cookies & Cream Shake, along with
a taco topped with Singapore’s flag. I’m not sure why they are using such
random flags for ‘American’ food.)
