And before we know it, it's December

Sorry for such a long wait! It's been a month since that quick update before the school festival, but even longer since I've shared any useful or otherwise important information.

Culture Sho-!... Well, that's normal isn't it?

Not going to lie, I've become very accustomed to living here that everything just feels normal.  Even when I first came to Japan I'm not sure I can accurately identify any experience as "culture shock".  Mind you, I spent the past 4 years studying about Japan, so I haven't been too surprised.  When you get on an escalator you stand on one side, allowing people to walk up beside you; however, lately that seems to have ceased to in many places due to ... the danger it may cause? I guess there must have been some incident in the past two years that caused this.  Even saying that, I still see people walking up when the sign says not to.

Other things I have noticed.. .let's see. Well, I may have already mentioned in America we don't have such strict garbage separation guides.  That only took a few weeks to really get accustomed to, now it's a matter of 'do I want to start a new recycling bag for paper... or just burn it...'

Recently, more like within the last 2-3 weeks, the front tire on my bicycle was punctured.  Tried twice to repair it.  Let's just say there's more than one hole in it now and I have no motivation to try again for some time. Nor do I feel so inclined to take it to a bike shop when I can walk anywhere I want to go.  This means that my 15 minute bike ride to campus is now a 30 minute walk.  If my friends want to go to a bar or hangout we usually do it in Fushimi, or Sakae... 20-30 minute bike ride for them 40+ minute walk for me. BUT! These walks are probably one of the few things saving me from the winter weight gain.

Food... we meet again

Even without the abundant food provided at home 24/7, we still find ways to indulge our appetites.    November was seriously damaging to many of our wallets- I can't count the number of times we ate out.  One of our favorite spots is a curry house about 10 minutes walk from our apartment.  Whether you order the lunch or dinner set, the naan bread is all you can eat. That means if someone can't finish their curry, you get an order of naan to finish it off... or just because you like naan.  It is a very delicious naan bread if I do say so myself.

Another case I would like to point out is a lovely little place called Sweets Paradise.  The whole place is pink and from the moment you lay down your $15 for a 90 minute all-you-can-eat pasta and desserts, you're over.  It messes with your mind because you just dumped all that money down for a meal, so you gotta eat what it's worth, right? Mistakes were made.  I've been saying I will never go again, but when the sweet tooth kicks in I start to have doubts.  If it's someone's birthday again, maybe... and with another tactic in mind.

Since I brought up sweets, may I first remind you that there are convenient stores EVERYWHERE. These convenient stores not only sell "BLACK THUNDER" a delicious, satisfying chocolate cookie bar, but they also sell you're variety of freshly made cakes and breads.  We had a good streak of buying what's called 'melon bread' almost everyday.  The real deal, made-in-a-bakery form of melon bread not only is shaped like half of a melon, but it also carries a melon flavor. It's a simple, happy-go-lucky bread... with chocolate chips.  But that's not where it ends....... I really. really. really. love adzuki beans. Not just your average beans, but the sweet bean paste it becomes! They put it in bread. In mochi (chewy delicious rice flour, together it's called Daifuku)... and then they'll make ice cream out of it....  *sigh* ....

Drinks aren't so bad. If you go to karaoke from 10 pm to about 6 am you can get the all-you-can-drink special.  There is a more expensive alcoholic version, but soft drinks and coffees are plenty enough for us!  It is usually the only time I drink coffee, and who wouldn't if they want to stay up till 6 in the morning pretending they can sing to more than just the Backstreet Boys ^_^

Now, seriously speaking...

School life proceeds as per usual. It's not hard to keep up with the work that's expected of us, so most of the time we end up getting by on the minimum.  It's not something I'm proud of, but much of the study abroad experience is outside of class.  Also, compared to those just beginning to study, it feels like we are learning a lot less, but at the same time it's harder to learn.  My friends just took the JLPT exam recently, so they have been fervently studying for some time now.  I envy their drive.  Perhaps when the test rolls around again in July I will try my hand at it.

In a couple of my classes we have a small quiz every week.  Almost two weeks ago now we actually had an exam... because our grammar test would have taken too long during the final exam period we took 40% of it.  I'm glad we did because now I have an idea of the format (which tripped most of us up when we first saw it).

Last week, I also had a presentation!  It wasn't my first presentation actually.  In our culture class we've already had two presentations regarding something we're interested in within Japanese history and the tea ceremony or calligraphy.  These presentations were basically make a Powerpoint, write up what you're going to say to go along with it, and then during the presentation you can get by by just reading off your paper.  That's not how I'm used to presentations going.  So, for my survey class I assumed the presentation would be a bit more interactive.  In this case, I ended up being chosen to present first on the first day of presentations, so I didn't have any example to go off of. Therefore, when I presented, I stood up and was as lively as I needed to be.  I didn't realize the looks on everyone's faces meant they weren't expecting that.  But, no one stopped me... and from there the presentations continued as they normally do. Sit. Read. Questions?

So what you're saying is...?

The last point I want to touch on in this post is vague expressions.  Part of the politeness that the Japanese society is known for comes from these vague expressions: instead of saying I can't go, or don't want to go, they might say 'Oh, that day is a bit...' or 'Maybe I won't go.' Maybe doesn't help me understand, is it yes or no???  It may be one of the hardest things to understand when it comes to talking with Japanese people.  Many of the students we have become friends with have studied abroad, so usually they are more direct with their answers.  But in some cases it's impossible to read the true meaning behind the message, ESPECIALLY if it's a text message.  Personally, I already find texts tricky, so I may read into them too much.  But, thankfully, they will correct me if I'm mistaken... most of the time haha.

That's all for now~ It's only 10 pm but I want to sleep! haha.. .That's the problem with winter: it's cold and it gets dark early :<  Oh well.  Take care, and until next time~

STUDY ABROAD: WEEK 13

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.)

STUDY ABROAD: WEEK 12

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.)

STUDY ABROAD: WEEK 11

NOVEMBER 10

Nana contacted me a few days ago and invited me to her school’s festival. I had met her two years ago when she was a high school student in Toyohashi. Now, she’s going to a college in Nagoya.

This morning, Jason and I headed out to her school. He wanted to see what another school’s festival was like. It was inarguably much larger than AIDAI’s, and that was because there was an actual school grounds. Along with the large sports field, the buildings were also used for things like a haunted house. By the way, this was an All-Girls school, but it was amazing! They even had a nice stage set up on the field and several acts, including dance and ensembles.

It was really nice to see Nana and hang out, but since it had rained that morning the field was muddy. It was still kind of raining when we were there, so we didn’t do much, just wandered around and looked at all the different attractions. Nana’s club was miniature pizzas made on top of gyoza (dumplings) by using the dough sheets as crust. I think a few of the flavors were quite good; maybe I’ll try it out on my own one day.

Speaking of pizza, one of the past exchange students left a small toaster oven in Totoro’s care. I received said oven a few days ago in preparation for a possible pizza party. When I came from from the school festival, I bought a microwaveable pizza from MaxValu and tested it out. The heat setting was a little uneven, but that was because I only turned one side on. Overall, the oven worked out great! There is definitely going to be a pizza party~

NOVEMBER 11

Today was relatively slow, and even though I didn’t have anything dire at hand I woke up early enough before I need to go to school to clean my room. I wanted to thank Shin for giving us a discount on Friday, so I bought him a couple onigiri (rice balls) for lunch.

During 3rd period, our grammar class, we found out that next week we are going to have a test worth 40% of our final!! How did this come up all of a sudden? We don’t even have finals until January! I guess it’s supposed to cover the first five chapters or so that we studied so there is less material on the final. 40% is a bit daunting though, looks like I’ll be studying this weekend.

Also, some of you may know that 11/11 is referred to by some people as Pocky day. Pocky, and Pretz, are two snack brands in Japan that are basically thin, flavored snack sticks. A couple of us went to the convenient store to buy some Pocky in honor of such a day but it was all sold out at the Mini Stop on campus. Like I said, this is a real thing. We had to go to another convenient store down the block to find a couple boxes.

We enjoyed our special Pocky flavors, Strawberry and Almond Crunch in the discussion room. I’m fairly sure we’re not allowed to eat in there, but every once in a while people with bring snacks in and eat them out of sight of the library attendants. It wasn’t until about 6pm or so that we left school and headed out for dinner. Today was my first visit to the ramen place, even though it’s 3 minutes from our apartment. The ramen servings are a good size for the price, but today I ordered the beef strips and rice because I REALLY just wanted some red meat. It was only a handful, so I ate it slow and savored every bite. Next time I would like to go back and try the ramen though— it looked really good!

NOVEMBER 12

Today, as usual, I and other exchange students went to the library after class. This morning I thought I was going to have time to work on my manga in the afternoon, but things took a small turn. On our way to our morning class a friend of one of the Chinese students passed out surveys to us. The surveys were about onomatopoeia, especially those in Japanese. Well, Joy and I could make heads or tails of the survey, so we met the guy in the library after class was over. He, Ryo, was a senior and he was researching onomatopoeia for his senior thesis. Eventually, the group that he had passed out surveys to surrounded him at the table and with some small explanations we were able to complete the survey. Afterwards, he agreed to join us for dinner at the Naan Curry House.

Ryo and I talked a lot about his research, along with other English and Japanese oddities, and since Ryo himself was studying Chinese, so that also came up the conversation. He’s very open-minded and curious, and I think that his opinion of many topics outweighs my knowledge of them. When I walked him back to the station he asked me how I came to study Japanese. I had the hardest time finding a simple answer, and in the end, I confused myself even more. How I came to study, and why I am studying Japanese are two different things, but I couldn’t explain one without the other.

I told him that during middle school and high school I liked watching anime and drawing manga, and that, even though I started my own manga series, I wasn’t really interested in Japan itself. Then, my senior year in high school I studied Chinese. It was really interesting and different from the other languages I had studied before (Arabic, French). I continued to study Chinese through my first year in university; at the time, I was unable to enter the Japanese language courses because they were full. Why was I even interested in the language? Well, yes, maybe part of me wanted to learn more because of what I learned from reading manga, but I can’t say for sure. I was able to take the Japanese culture class however. It was during that time that I met the head of the Japanese Department, and he suggested that if I ever wanted to work for a manga company in Japan that I should study Japanese.

In any case, there were no upper level Chinese courses at the time, so the following year I had to stop studying Chinese, and that’s when I made the full switch over to Japanese. Immediately, I fell in love with the language. It was challenging, but fun, and the respect I had for my teacher made we want to be good at the language. I guess at some point, it just clicked and was decided like that. I was studying Japanese because I enjoyed it, the idea of working, or majoring in the subject was unthinkable at the time.

That’s how it started out. I wish I had the time to explain it slowly to Ryo, but it came out more like, “Uh, I like anime and stuff before I started studying. Then when I started studying, I really enjoyed it, so I thought, “Okay, I’ll go study abroad.” I wonder if it was even that coherent. Maybe we don’t always need a clear cut reason why we do things… Ever since I came to Japan I’ve trusted my gut instinct a lot more. In some way or another I’ve been guided to this path. That’s even how I ended up walking him to the station; I couldn’t just let him walk through an unknown neighborhood that we brought him to.

In the end, he made it to the station in time for his train home. I made the return trip home thinking over what I said to him. There’s just no simple way to say everything after all.

When I came back to the apartment, I forgot my worries for a while and played UNO with the girls. I couldn’t get down to one card to save my life, and at one point my hand was full of over twenty cards. Then we played a little Black Jack, and that’s when my luck came out. I won enough Kit Kats to build a small fortress… which I let fall because I don’t care too much for their flavor.

NOVEMBER 13

Remember when I mentioned planning for a pizza party? That was for today! It is Kentaro’s birthday, and he mentioned he wanted pizza~

Between 4th and 5th period I went home, thinking that I could fix my bike tire with a patch kit from the hyaku-en store. It took me forever to get under the tire and find the hole, in which case I proceeded to put the patch on…the tire. Not the inner tube. I didn’t realize this was a problem until I had it back together and the air didn’t stay in the tube. I know I should have taken off the inner tube and put it in a bucket of water to find the whole, then patched THAT hole. I know now, but I was in a rush. In the end, I just walked back to school and carried the microwave oven in a large yellow plastic bag.

From school we walked to MaxValu to grab the pizza and other ingredients for nabe. Then we had to walk to his apartment, which was at least 15 minutes away. Thankfully, Shin and Yohei met us along the way to help carry the groceries. I didn’t know what to expect at the party because Kentaro did most of the inviting; I just started the idea with the toaster oven. Over the next few hours many of the upperclassmen that helped around Nagoya showed up, and so did a couple of the exchange students. They drank various liquors, I had cola. We tried to play some games, but everyone was too energetic for cards. Eventually, we ended up going to karaoke for the rest of the night.

NOVEMBER 14

Karaoke until morning once again! This time I didn’t chance going home to take a nap first, especially not with the first class being Mrs. Yamamoto’s. I just went home, cleaned up, grabbed a few bites to eat and went back to school.

I made it through class with no problems, but then 2nd period rolled around and it was the first day of English Cafe. If I wasn’t talking to someone that whole period, and drinking coffee, I would have fallen asleep. Also, it was Thursday, so I hoped to go to dance practice later. I even went to school prepared, and in my dance clothes. However, once lunch rolled around, and we were sitting at Mos Burger again, I was like ‘Yup, I need to sleep.’

That’s what I did. Now, here we are, writing about another night’s escapade. Back in the States, I was never out past 11pm unless I had work. I knew about the night life, but I never really experienced it. Now, I guess I am seeing first-hand what the night life is like in Japan. It’s a regular thing to go to karaoke until morning, especially for those who miss the last train. Even just hanging out with everyone while their drinking is a new experience— I don’t feel any pressure from them, which is nice, and I get the chance to see a side of them when they are not so careful about their actions or words. I can understand why Japan is a drinking society: it has to be hard to fit in with societal standards every day. They need to loosen up. And though I can’t forgive them for over-drinking, if they enjoy singing their hearts out in a dim room with close friends and colleagues, then by all means, drink and be merry.

Side note: Our landlord put up a Christmas Tree in the lobby this morning! It made me happy for no reason at all~

It’s a bit soon for Christmas, but there is no Thanksgiving holiday in Japan (for obvious reasons). There are also illuminations appearing all over the city already.

NOVEMBER 15

All beef hamburgers do exist!!

Once again, it’s Friday, so we made plans to eat lunch with Yoshimi at a place called Saizeriya. Unfortunately, she made a mistake in her schedule and couldn’t join us, but we went anyway. Now, first, let me tell you that Saizeriya is a little place known for its cheap pasta dishes, and because of that you either have people who love it or hate it. I am now a member of the former group. Why? Because they also have 100% beef hamburger steak. That means it’s not mixed with pork, and since Saizeriya is all-around a cheaper place, it’s not expensive.

When we received our food I was confused for a moment however. First, I wanted chopsticks to eat my salad… but there was none. No chopsticks? I thought. How am I going to eat this? The answer was with a fork. I’m not going to lie, it was a little weird having metal in my mouth again. I do have a few spoons and forks in my apartment, but I think I have used the spoons twice in the last two months. It’s only been a short time, but I am already accustomed to eating with chopsticks.

Then, there was one more occurrence that gave me pause. The hamburger steak I ordered came with delicious gravy that I hoped to indulge in as well. However, as I looked for an appropriate side to eat with the gravy I was stuck between bread and rice. Had I been back home the answer would have been undoubtedly bread, but today I went with the rice.

What does this mean? Am I simply adapting to the culture? Or is the influence going much deeper~?

NOVEMBER 16

We picked the wrong day to hang out at Elephant’s Nest, haha. All of “cool kids” finally had a chance to hang out together, and we ended up at the bar on a game night. I’ve never seen the place so crowded. A tons of businessmen gathered to watch the soccer match, Japan versus Orlando. This also meant that the owner of the place was out and about, which meant no chance at getting a discount tonight.

While we were there, there was a couple sitting at the table next to us. The girl came up to me and started talking to me… well, complimenting me. She said she thought foreigners were so cool. So, I did the best thing I could think of and gestured over to the guys: two guys from Hawaii, one from China, and let’s throw in the two Japanese guys as well. Neither side took the bait. Within a couple minutes, she was back talking to me. Apparently, “white” foreigners with high noses and big eyes are cool. It was getting a little awkward, but whenever I looked to the guys for help they just watched the game and talked amongst themselves. Thanks. I’ll let them enjoy this one, I guess.

As soon as the game was over we escaped to Long’s apartment and watched a few videos before Mark had a great idea. “Light art”. It was a photo project he had interest in and we wanted to test it out on his camera. We all headed to a small parking lot a couple blocks down the street. It was dark enough there that we could take a long-exposure picture and draw with the light from a cell phone to create a picture. The pictures turned out quite interesting, and I think Mark wants to try it again with a stronger light source and his real-deal camera. We couldn’t stay out long though because it was freezing! It’s getting colder and colder these days. Hopefully, tomorrow when I go shopping I can find something good for winter.