MAY 18
Today, I spent all day and night in Toyohashi!
My day started around lunchtime when I went do to
Toyohashi to meet Junko for lunch. It’s been a couple months since I’ve seen
here, so we needed to catch up. We ate at a small café-ish bar on the East side
of the station. Their lunch specials were sandwiches and soups, so we both
ordered the shrimp avocado sandwich. It was so nice to talk to her, even
though, neither of us really had any significant updates. She’s such a nice and
sweet girl, but she’s interesting— she has personality. I say this as I compare
her to the new string of freshmen girls that I have become acquainted with over
the past few months. Maybe those girls are too fresh to the world, so they have
nothing interesting to say. The upperclassmen, Junko and the others, are
different: many of them have studied abroad, so they have experienced other
cultures. They just have something. It’s a shame that we haven’t had more
chances to meet.
Junko and I hung out until about 2pm, wandering around
the stationary departments at the Seibu near the station. I found quite a few
things that I would have liked to buy, but not until I move into my own
apartment. I can wait, for now.
Jorden was supposed to meet me soon after Junko went
home, but he was running late due to an errand. I killed time by wandering
around some more. There was a small event going on in the street for the kids,
so the area was more crowded than usual. I happened to spot a beautiful red
husky on the street, a nice medium-sized dog. Rarely are there any large dog
breeds, but I have seen a Saint Bernard once. If I didn’t live in an apartment,
I would consider getting one.
Side note: I also found
the first volume of Battle Royale at the Book-Off, for only 300 yen!
Finally, as 3:30 rolled around I headed to the
fountain outside the station to meet Jordan. Only he wasn’t there yet. I
checked my LINE messages just in time to receive his message that said “Please
read this before 3:45 so you can catch the train.” Then my Wifi battery died,
so I couldn’t reply. I took the leap and hurried to board the local train line.
Our timing turned out to be perfect because I ran into him just as I got off the
station platform. We hung out for a couple hours waiting for the main event…
May 18th. It was the day that Dr. Hara’s new group
would come to visit Toyohashi. Today was the day of the welcome dinner, and as
UT Alumni and members of Toledo, we too were invited. I was excited to see old
faces, but most of all I wanted to see Dr. Hara, who is basically my Japanese
dad. I knew half of the group this time around; seven people who used to be
part of my life, yet we had somehow managed to get on without each other.
Seeing them didn’t make me homesick, nor did I want to go home to see other
friends, as I thought I might feel. Life goes on, we move on to the next stage,
and for me, right now, it’s Japan.
During the event I met with other ALTs from Toledo. We
indulged in the free Pizza; not only was it free, but it had toppings, so it
was good free pizza. I ate despite knowing that we would all go out to an izakaya
afterward, but I didn’t know that until last minute anyway. But, that’s how I
and the other ALTs and Dr. Hara spent our evening; socializing over various
cocktails and snacks. Many of the ALTs have been in Japan for at least two
years now, some upwards of six or eight. It’s great that I have these people to
look to, or, if nothing else, somebody to hang out with in Toyohashi.
MAY 19 - MAY 20
Just regular classes followed with work on manga
sessions. I’m trying to save money this week because we are going to a buffet
for Jason’s birthday this weekend.
MAY 21
As the only current exchange student from my home
University, I was expected to give a short speech to the study abroad group
when they came to visit the Nagoya campus. I was told to be there at 10:20, so
I had to leave my morning kanji class a little early to make it in time. I
arrived at the time they told me, but the presentation on the school had
already started. I barely looked at anyone as I slipped into the room and found
an empty chair to sit in. There, I happened to sit next to Takahiro and Yuto,
two of the students that spent the past year in Toledo. I was so excited to see
them that I nearly forgot why I was there.
When it came time to give the speech, I stood up in
front of the group; I had been in their shoes three years ago, I couldn’t have
imagined being here now. I didn’t write the speech, but I had some particular
points that I wanted to express, one of which is the same reason why I have
decided to write this journal. Though this is a study abroad, it truly is an
exchange program. You exchange your life for another’s. Studying is really only
a small part, but it is what you make of it. That said, what you do outside the
classroom will define your experience more than anything. For me, the best
decision I made was to join the dance club. My life changed. I was also looking
to the future, to keeping my new life, so my perspective was different than
that of other students who only come for six months or a year and then return
to their past lives. It costs a pretty penny to live in a country like Japan,
but the money I’ve spent here has given me more than the past few years of my
school life has altogether. That’s why you can’t only focus on one thing when
you participate in a program like this. It’s not just the classes or the traveling;
it’s the day-to-day that determines how much you will get out of this kind of
experience. That’s how life goes.
(This is this year’s study abroad group, from my university.)
In short, the speech seemed to go over well with the
students. I learned afterward that a few of them were hoping to participate in
the same program I was in next year. Towards the end of the lunch gathering I
also ran into Erika and Akane, both of whom I haven’t seen in a long time.
Erika was the third student who studied at UT last year. I barely recognized
her when I saw her; she had so much more confidence and spark. This is what we
hope for, a positive growth in ourselves, and in most cases, we wish it would
continue just a bit longer.
MAY 22
Even the mundane days are important! For example,
today: I went to class, took a nap, worked on manga, and then went to dance
practice for a bit. Mundane though it may be to write about, these are the
decisions I made. I would be lying if I said that one of the greatest parts of
this experience wasn’t living on my own, making my own decisions. The freedom
is addicting, but one must not forget their responsibilities.
MAY 23
All right, here’s something a little more interesting
for you. This Friday afternoon we, the exchange students, were invited to go to
a presentation on kabuki, one of the
traditional forms of Japanese theater. The presenter was a well-aged man who
happened to be a sort of a legend in the kabuki world. While the
presentation on kabuki’s history was short in and of itself, the
following section on the acting and way of speaking in kabuki provided
much more entertainment.
We all received the script in our information packet.
One by one we went around the room reading one line or another. It wasn’t just
us exchange students, there was at least a few dozen Japanese students present
as well, including those from Mrs. Yamamoto’s seminar class. They were shy to
start at first, but everyone read their lines. All of us exchange students
panicked a little and scrambled to write down the kanji readings. Thankfully,
the Chinese students were sitting nearby and helped us. We all did our best to
read the lines with feeling, or at least with the same quivering intonations
one would hear at kabuki. Some people within the audience were quite
skilled, and they would appear out of nowhere to break the silence. As the
reading circled back around the room I readied myself for my line…only it
wasn’t my line. I miscounted the number of people and jumped the gun. The
following line, which was my own, was much more complex in terms of wording, so
I had to be guided along that one. It was still a lot of fun though, I don’t
quite understand how they decided on the way to speak, but I always thought it
would be fun to act. Not in kabuki, just in general.
MAY 24
Today we celebrated Jason’s birthday down at the Aeon
Mall in Atsuta, near Kanayama. Joy, Rachael, Aurianne and I actually biked
there from our apartment. It took about forty-five minutes, but we were first
to arrive. We waited as Jason and the others who took the subway were still to
arrive. Our reservation had been set for 11am, and Jason showed up at precisely
11:21, perfect for his twenty-first birthday.
(The Family Viking, Mame no Hakada; “Viking” means
buffet.)
The buffet was called Mame no Hakada, or field of beans. Many of the dishes were made
with soybeans, and there was a lot of tofu, as well as traditional Japanese
cuisine. Did that make it any healthier? Not by a long shot. There were also
lattes, pasta and ice cream. Ninety minutes, all-you-can-eat for approximately
fifteen dollars. Then we needed to lightly digest before leaving because we
were stuffed. We headed towards the game center and by chance there was a huge
bucket of coins just sitting by one of the games. No one was claiming them.
Were they a freebie? We put a few coins into the game of our own accord, and
when those ran out still nobody had claimed the full bucket. The clerk even
gave us the go ahead, so we spent the next hour or so playing a Mario quiz game
until sadly the coins ran out. Joy and I had our side set-up pretty well, but
once the others took the coins to other stations we were doomed to fail. It was
very enjoyable though, almost to the point that I could see how people become
addicted to it. I don’t even know if there was a goal to reach after completing
the puzzles, but I’m sure it would be a waste of money. Fun while it lasted
though.
After the game center, we all went our separate ways
to get home. Joy, Rachael, Aurianne and I were once again on our bikes, heading
toward Sakae. I passed the dance members at the park on my way home, but I
couldn’t stay because I needed to hurry and go to training. Meanwhile, Jason’s
birthday continued as a party in my room and also on the roof. When I got back
home, I found that my room was still in one piece. That was mostly because many
people had moved onto the roof until the landlord came up and told us we were
being too loud. At that point, many people went home. One of my friends stayed
around because he was a little tipsy, and he loved to talk. He eventually went
home around midnight, on his bike, to Kanayama. Knowing how far away that was,
I was worried whether he would make it or not, so I stayed up waiting for his
message. Once he got home at around 4am then I too was able to sleep.
