Monday, October 19, 2009
Days 15-21: The ebb and flow
Day 15
Sunday, usually a day celebrated as a day off of work. A time for relaxation. Bullshit.
I spent my day from 9am in the morning until 3pm in the afternoon studying Japanese and doing homework. Not what I’d call fun.
When I finished, me and Eva wandered over to the local grocery store, MaruKyou and got some much needed groceries. Things like juice, milk, bread, fruit, beer, tea, beer, miso soup, instant ramen and more beer.
You know, the essentials.
On our way back we ran into our friend Matt who told us abpout a local festival going on until about 6pm. At that time it was 4:54pm. We decided we should promptly leave (after dropping off groceries of course). So we went, Matt, John, Zack, Eva, Mike and myself.
The festival was being held at iota castle and from what we were told it was a music festival. I wasn’t really sure what kind, but what the hell right? It’s a festival. Among the many food stalls, savory smells wafted betwixt us all and tempting our hungry stomachs. Besides food though you could buy toys, enter a raffle and buy a tombstone or toilet if you so chose ( yes, you could buy toilets and grave stones there. Why? I haven’t the foggiest idea). Wandering around the food, everyone split off to go search for something that fit there pallet. I got some yaki ika ( Barbequed squid), and it was both savory and delicious. Zack , after wandering around a bit found something both familiar and delicious; fried chicken and beer. Being from North Carolina, Zack enjoys the simpler things in life and beer and chicken are some of those things. As he said “Its almost like home, all that’s missing is some guy in a cowboy hat trying to sell me NASCAR tickets”.
After eating our fill, we traveled back to the kaikan and continued to hang out. Nora, Charlotte, Matt, Mike, John , Zack Eva and myself went to Johns room and we commenced watching a hodge podge of internet videos and TV shows including “ Always Sunny in Philidelphia”. Then for internet videos, we watched a lot of random ones, I showed the DBZ abridged series and it was a huge hit.
TeamFourStar for the win.
While watching shows me, nora and eva all drank a bit and it was great fun. But at midnight john kicked us out, cause he had to wake up early the next day. After leaving, Charlotte, Eva, Nora and myself went to my room and talked until half past 3 in the morning. This day seemed so very long. So very long indeed.
Day 16
After going to bed at 3:30 the previous evening I woke up at 8am Monday bright eyed and bushy tailed. Why? I don’t really know. But I woke up , showered, ate breakfast, cleaned my apartment AND wrote for my blog all before noon. I was very productive for once in Japan.
At noon a bunch of us headed over to the festival ( it was a multi day event). When we arrived there I finally got an idea what kind of music: 1950’s-60’s Japanese songs and the old women who danced in brightly colored dresses to them. It wasn’t dancing like you would expect in America, rather, a series of fluid and slowly choreographed hand and foot moves that amounted to some sort of Disney-esque “one day my prince will come” type of dance. It was a little strange.
Here again we wanted food but there was a slight problem; nowhere to sit. The festival was packed. So we spent 40 mins hunting down open spaces till Eva finally snagged one. She had bought a hot bowl of ramen, and with nowhere to sit, a look akin to a lost puppy entered her eyes and it wasn’t long after that a nice Japanese family gave us their table. Who says playing the blonde card doesn’t work( even if its not intentional)?
I decided to follow in Zacks footsteps and I purchased myself some fried chicken, which was excellent by the way. I was still hungry though so I wandered off and bought a large piece of curry bread and some takoyaki ( fried octopus balls).
Around 3 or so we left for the kaikan and upon returning decided we should play some football. So we split off into two groups; one that would go ahead and one that needed to get ready and we headed off at different times to play football by the river. In my group ( the ones that waited) was Eva, Fabian, Matt, Quinn, and Riika. When we got to the river, ready to play some football, we saw no friends, so we went off to look. After an hour we couldn’t find them so we just ended going back. It was kind of strange.
The rest of the night was spent eating and with Eva I watched some “That 70’s Show” and talked. It was a pretty calm day.
Day 17
Class began at 10:40 and Sakai sensei, as usual was relentless. Her energy and efficiency definitely woke us up. We reviewed more Japanese but I think this time the knowledge will more or less stick., unlike the first time we went through it.
At lunch kaoru found me and gave a birthday present. I was shocked and a little moved that my tutor had not only remembered my birthday, but got me a present. She got me a bottle of C.C. Lemon ( A lemon flavored soda I love), a home made/decorated card and a very nice photo album to put my pictures. Can you say best tutor ever? I sure can.
The other interesting thing was mine and Eva’s trip to MaruKyou with John where we picked up exciting things like peanut butter and bacon. I was excited anyway.
I spent most of the night studying and hanging out with Eva. Not the most exciting of days, but whatever. Tomorrow is gonna be busier I hope.
Day 18
Nope, just more class. From 10:40 until 4:20. I went to my new class today though, and the teacher is really cool, his English is well spoken and the class interesting. Its called “Understanding Japanese Cyber-Cultures”. Based on his class introduction, it seems this class will be very helpful to understanding our fellow Japanese of the younger generation. I am excited for the class.
Upon returning home lots more studying was done and that night , me and Eva went with our friend Nora to a new place to buy snacks and food, MaruShoku (not to be confused with MaruKyou), MaruSholu is basically a mid-sized grocery store that’s open until midnight. It was here that me, Eva and Nora found cheese. I was very excited. As far as I’m concerned it was a major event in my Japanese study abroad. Now there seems to only be two kinds of cheese in Japan: cheese and a white Japanese cheese. They’re both good, but they got nothing on Sharp Cheddar. Having bought some food, we returned to the kaikan, sleep was necessary for mine and eva’s very early class.
Day 19
6:30 is a very early time. A VERY F*%$ING EARLY TIME. But when you have class at 9am, what are you gonna do? Me and Eva managed to stumble into the train station and make our train. Class was better this time, not nearly as boring. We actually learned something, plus we got assigned reading books for the next week, which I assume we will have to translate. The story seems really cool so I’ve no complaints.
After class Eva, Jesse , Riika and me hit up the AMPM on campus and got some snacks. I got my spicy fried chicken and curry bread. I found a new juice too; Austrailian Pear. Its extremely good. Its like if you took the best pear you have ever eaten, and turned it into a liquid. That’s what that juice was, Scrumptious.
After an hour of quasi studying and talking I had to run off with my tutor to add my new class and when I finished with Kaoru I went off to meet mine and Eva’s friend Yuiko for lunch. Yuiko had studied in SF for a year during mine and Eva’s freshmen year. Small world huh?
Lunch was fun and much too short, We had to run off to our next class. Eva had a different one than me, but its ok, we both seem to like our classes pretty well.
The next class after, Intercultural communications is a class I get excited to go to, its that good. Its here in this class that you learn the differences and subtleties of Japanese social conduct and interaction. Its designed to smooth the transition between your culture and Japan’s and to more easily make friends. Plus Nagaike sensei is nuts and highly entertaining.
When class finished Iw went off to wait for Zack for our club. Its starts at 6:20 and it was 4:30 or so when I finished signing up for the JASSO scholarship money. So I had some time to kill. I spent it studying and listening to music out in the quad. Unfortunately though, zack missed the 5:15 train and the next one wasn’t until 6:33 so we decided to just try the club next week. I walked back to the station and hopped on a train back home. I was a little tired and grumpy at this point, so I headed over to the Famous Mos Burger which is possibly the best Japanese Chain Burger joint ever. For those of you who haven’t eatenthere the burgers are delicious and the fries are better than In n out fries. Even the kids from San Diego agreed. They are THAT good. With food in tow, I went back home ( after a quick detour to pay my cell bill at the local conbini). I relaxed the rets of the night and went to sleep. I was so tired I forget what happened after eating the burger and fries.
Day 20
Class was at 1:10 but there was a mandatory meeting at 12:30 for the international students and their tuors. The meeting was a basic info meeting about the next days field trip. No big deal.
In class, I along with the rest of the class felt we had learned something. Finally Nanri sensei taught us something that seemed relevant and useful. That something is proper and detailed explanation on how to use particles. We only learned one group Friday, but I finally may start to understand particles. Back in the states particles are definitely the hardest thing in Japanese grammar for me right after word order. It was very exciting.
At the end of class, Jesse, Eva and I went on a walk to shikido and searched around a second hand book-Cd-Dvd-Game store called “ Book –Off”. Inside I got a Taiko Drum Master DS game ( fun as hell) and the newest Shiina Ringo Album “ Sanmon Gossip”. I was very happy, I love shiina’s music and its great she started to put out albums again.
From the store we went to the neighboring Japanese style fried chicken ( karage) place, Oita Karage. The foods is deliocus and while we were eating, the staff took our pictures and told us that they would put our pictures on the wall with our names in plaques below. ( I am NOT joking. At all.).
After our short lived stardom me and Eva went back to the kaikan and I regrettably spent the evening studying. It was a pretty cool day though, I would have to say.
Day 21
The field trip bega at 8:30 on buses. We drove up to Mankouji Temple and practiced a form of Zen meditation called “Za-zen”. We did this for about an hour or so. The meditation was both calming and a little uncomfortable on account of the position used for the meditation itself.
The temple grounds were beautiful and the one surprising feature was the number of large spiders that frequented the temple grounds. They…. they were…… everywhere. –shiver-
After the temple we went to lunch, which was in a plain looking building. Inside thoiugh the room for dinign was large and a delicious traditional Japanese lunch was prepared. It was very good.
We went to Futagoji afterward, set high in te mountains, a beautiful spot and a temple to match it. As soon as we got off the bus it rained, until we were inside the temple. A bad omen maybe?
The little ceremony was coolm and the monk who gave it also gave us some history on the temple itself and the area around. After the ceremony I bought myself a luck charm for my keitai and hope it will indeed bring me good luck.
The last place of the day was a Tangerine Farm called “Sekiguchi Kanko Noen”. Here we were allowed to pick our own tangerines. On the farm we could as many as we wanted for free, and to take them home it was 200 yen for 1 kilo. I got 6 an it was only 120 yen for it all. When we purchased our new fruit, we got on the bus and returned home.
There is no rest for the weary however, and Eva, Mike, Matt, Surugi, Charlotte and Nora went with to Jun’s house. Why were we going to his house? To party of course. Whats the occasion? The birthday party Jun had planned for me of course. We got there with beer, sake and snacks in tow. There was much drinking and carousing and much talking. Most of the time we spoke to each other in Japanese, which was a lot of fun actually. During the night a cake was brought out and happy birthday was sung. I was aglow with happiness. Never before had I had this many parties or people to celebrate with on my birthday. I was a bit sad when we left to catch the last train, but me and Eva had to wake up early the next day. So a bit drunk and happy witrh life me and Eva and the rest wandered back to the kaikan
Sunday, usually a day celebrated as a day off of work. A time for relaxation. Bullshit.
I spent my day from 9am in the morning until 3pm in the afternoon studying Japanese and doing homework. Not what I’d call fun.
When I finished, me and Eva wandered over to the local grocery store, MaruKyou and got some much needed groceries. Things like juice, milk, bread, fruit, beer, tea, beer, miso soup, instant ramen and more beer.
You know, the essentials.
On our way back we ran into our friend Matt who told us abpout a local festival going on until about 6pm. At that time it was 4:54pm. We decided we should promptly leave (after dropping off groceries of course). So we went, Matt, John, Zack, Eva, Mike and myself.
The festival was being held at iota castle and from what we were told it was a music festival. I wasn’t really sure what kind, but what the hell right? It’s a festival. Among the many food stalls, savory smells wafted betwixt us all and tempting our hungry stomachs. Besides food though you could buy toys, enter a raffle and buy a tombstone or toilet if you so chose ( yes, you could buy toilets and grave stones there. Why? I haven’t the foggiest idea). Wandering around the food, everyone split off to go search for something that fit there pallet. I got some yaki ika ( Barbequed squid), and it was both savory and delicious. Zack , after wandering around a bit found something both familiar and delicious; fried chicken and beer. Being from North Carolina, Zack enjoys the simpler things in life and beer and chicken are some of those things. As he said “Its almost like home, all that’s missing is some guy in a cowboy hat trying to sell me NASCAR tickets”.
After eating our fill, we traveled back to the kaikan and continued to hang out. Nora, Charlotte, Matt, Mike, John , Zack Eva and myself went to Johns room and we commenced watching a hodge podge of internet videos and TV shows including “ Always Sunny in Philidelphia”. Then for internet videos, we watched a lot of random ones, I showed the DBZ abridged series and it was a huge hit.
TeamFourStar for the win.
While watching shows me, nora and eva all drank a bit and it was great fun. But at midnight john kicked us out, cause he had to wake up early the next day. After leaving, Charlotte, Eva, Nora and myself went to my room and talked until half past 3 in the morning. This day seemed so very long. So very long indeed.
Day 16
After going to bed at 3:30 the previous evening I woke up at 8am Monday bright eyed and bushy tailed. Why? I don’t really know. But I woke up , showered, ate breakfast, cleaned my apartment AND wrote for my blog all before noon. I was very productive for once in Japan.
At noon a bunch of us headed over to the festival ( it was a multi day event). When we arrived there I finally got an idea what kind of music: 1950’s-60’s Japanese songs and the old women who danced in brightly colored dresses to them. It wasn’t dancing like you would expect in America, rather, a series of fluid and slowly choreographed hand and foot moves that amounted to some sort of Disney-esque “one day my prince will come” type of dance. It was a little strange.
Here again we wanted food but there was a slight problem; nowhere to sit. The festival was packed. So we spent 40 mins hunting down open spaces till Eva finally snagged one. She had bought a hot bowl of ramen, and with nowhere to sit, a look akin to a lost puppy entered her eyes and it wasn’t long after that a nice Japanese family gave us their table. Who says playing the blonde card doesn’t work( even if its not intentional)?
I decided to follow in Zacks footsteps and I purchased myself some fried chicken, which was excellent by the way. I was still hungry though so I wandered off and bought a large piece of curry bread and some takoyaki ( fried octopus balls).
Around 3 or so we left for the kaikan and upon returning decided we should play some football. So we split off into two groups; one that would go ahead and one that needed to get ready and we headed off at different times to play football by the river. In my group ( the ones that waited) was Eva, Fabian, Matt, Quinn, and Riika. When we got to the river, ready to play some football, we saw no friends, so we went off to look. After an hour we couldn’t find them so we just ended going back. It was kind of strange.
The rest of the night was spent eating and with Eva I watched some “That 70’s Show” and talked. It was a pretty calm day.
Day 17
Class began at 10:40 and Sakai sensei, as usual was relentless. Her energy and efficiency definitely woke us up. We reviewed more Japanese but I think this time the knowledge will more or less stick., unlike the first time we went through it.
At lunch kaoru found me and gave a birthday present. I was shocked and a little moved that my tutor had not only remembered my birthday, but got me a present. She got me a bottle of C.C. Lemon ( A lemon flavored soda I love), a home made/decorated card and a very nice photo album to put my pictures. Can you say best tutor ever? I sure can.
The other interesting thing was mine and Eva’s trip to MaruKyou with John where we picked up exciting things like peanut butter and bacon. I was excited anyway.
I spent most of the night studying and hanging out with Eva. Not the most exciting of days, but whatever. Tomorrow is gonna be busier I hope.
Day 18
Nope, just more class. From 10:40 until 4:20. I went to my new class today though, and the teacher is really cool, his English is well spoken and the class interesting. Its called “Understanding Japanese Cyber-Cultures”. Based on his class introduction, it seems this class will be very helpful to understanding our fellow Japanese of the younger generation. I am excited for the class.
Upon returning home lots more studying was done and that night , me and Eva went with our friend Nora to a new place to buy snacks and food, MaruShoku (not to be confused with MaruKyou), MaruSholu is basically a mid-sized grocery store that’s open until midnight. It was here that me, Eva and Nora found cheese. I was very excited. As far as I’m concerned it was a major event in my Japanese study abroad. Now there seems to only be two kinds of cheese in Japan: cheese and a white Japanese cheese. They’re both good, but they got nothing on Sharp Cheddar. Having bought some food, we returned to the kaikan, sleep was necessary for mine and eva’s very early class.
Day 19
6:30 is a very early time. A VERY F*%$ING EARLY TIME. But when you have class at 9am, what are you gonna do? Me and Eva managed to stumble into the train station and make our train. Class was better this time, not nearly as boring. We actually learned something, plus we got assigned reading books for the next week, which I assume we will have to translate. The story seems really cool so I’ve no complaints.
After class Eva, Jesse , Riika and me hit up the AMPM on campus and got some snacks. I got my spicy fried chicken and curry bread. I found a new juice too; Austrailian Pear. Its extremely good. Its like if you took the best pear you have ever eaten, and turned it into a liquid. That’s what that juice was, Scrumptious.
After an hour of quasi studying and talking I had to run off with my tutor to add my new class and when I finished with Kaoru I went off to meet mine and Eva’s friend Yuiko for lunch. Yuiko had studied in SF for a year during mine and Eva’s freshmen year. Small world huh?
Lunch was fun and much too short, We had to run off to our next class. Eva had a different one than me, but its ok, we both seem to like our classes pretty well.
The next class after, Intercultural communications is a class I get excited to go to, its that good. Its here in this class that you learn the differences and subtleties of Japanese social conduct and interaction. Its designed to smooth the transition between your culture and Japan’s and to more easily make friends. Plus Nagaike sensei is nuts and highly entertaining.
When class finished Iw went off to wait for Zack for our club. Its starts at 6:20 and it was 4:30 or so when I finished signing up for the JASSO scholarship money. So I had some time to kill. I spent it studying and listening to music out in the quad. Unfortunately though, zack missed the 5:15 train and the next one wasn’t until 6:33 so we decided to just try the club next week. I walked back to the station and hopped on a train back home. I was a little tired and grumpy at this point, so I headed over to the Famous Mos Burger which is possibly the best Japanese Chain Burger joint ever. For those of you who haven’t eatenthere the burgers are delicious and the fries are better than In n out fries. Even the kids from San Diego agreed. They are THAT good. With food in tow, I went back home ( after a quick detour to pay my cell bill at the local conbini). I relaxed the rets of the night and went to sleep. I was so tired I forget what happened after eating the burger and fries.
Day 20
Class was at 1:10 but there was a mandatory meeting at 12:30 for the international students and their tuors. The meeting was a basic info meeting about the next days field trip. No big deal.
In class, I along with the rest of the class felt we had learned something. Finally Nanri sensei taught us something that seemed relevant and useful. That something is proper and detailed explanation on how to use particles. We only learned one group Friday, but I finally may start to understand particles. Back in the states particles are definitely the hardest thing in Japanese grammar for me right after word order. It was very exciting.
At the end of class, Jesse, Eva and I went on a walk to shikido and searched around a second hand book-Cd-Dvd-Game store called “ Book –Off”. Inside I got a Taiko Drum Master DS game ( fun as hell) and the newest Shiina Ringo Album “ Sanmon Gossip”. I was very happy, I love shiina’s music and its great she started to put out albums again.
From the store we went to the neighboring Japanese style fried chicken ( karage) place, Oita Karage. The foods is deliocus and while we were eating, the staff took our pictures and told us that they would put our pictures on the wall with our names in plaques below. ( I am NOT joking. At all.).
After our short lived stardom me and Eva went back to the kaikan and I regrettably spent the evening studying. It was a pretty cool day though, I would have to say.
Day 21
The field trip bega at 8:30 on buses. We drove up to Mankouji Temple and practiced a form of Zen meditation called “Za-zen”. We did this for about an hour or so. The meditation was both calming and a little uncomfortable on account of the position used for the meditation itself.
The temple grounds were beautiful and the one surprising feature was the number of large spiders that frequented the temple grounds. They…. they were…… everywhere. –shiver-
After the temple we went to lunch, which was in a plain looking building. Inside thoiugh the room for dinign was large and a delicious traditional Japanese lunch was prepared. It was very good.
We went to Futagoji afterward, set high in te mountains, a beautiful spot and a temple to match it. As soon as we got off the bus it rained, until we were inside the temple. A bad omen maybe?
The little ceremony was coolm and the monk who gave it also gave us some history on the temple itself and the area around. After the ceremony I bought myself a luck charm for my keitai and hope it will indeed bring me good luck.
The last place of the day was a Tangerine Farm called “Sekiguchi Kanko Noen”. Here we were allowed to pick our own tangerines. On the farm we could as many as we wanted for free, and to take them home it was 200 yen for 1 kilo. I got 6 an it was only 120 yen for it all. When we purchased our new fruit, we got on the bus and returned home.
There is no rest for the weary however, and Eva, Mike, Matt, Surugi, Charlotte and Nora went with to Jun’s house. Why were we going to his house? To party of course. Whats the occasion? The birthday party Jun had planned for me of course. We got there with beer, sake and snacks in tow. There was much drinking and carousing and much talking. Most of the time we spoke to each other in Japanese, which was a lot of fun actually. During the night a cake was brought out and happy birthday was sung. I was aglow with happiness. Never before had I had this many parties or people to celebrate with on my birthday. I was a bit sad when we left to catch the last train, but me and Eva had to wake up early the next day. So a bit drunk and happy witrh life me and Eva and the rest wandered back to the kaikan
Monday, October 12, 2009
Days 9-14
NOTE: From this point on the days will be less step-by-step what happened and more a recounting of significant events and how they happened.
Day 9: Sushi Go-Round
Today we finally accomplished the one thing that was most important and the thing that also took the longest to complete. A wire transfer.
With Zack and John me and Eva traveled to the main bank branch which had called us to complete the wire transfer. We found out only after arriving that we had to go to the OTHER branch to complete the transaction. Thankfully the walk was not so far as I had thought. At the proper branch and after 30+ mins me and Eva finally had money deposited into our account after the usual questions for security reasons:
(some engrish may be used)
Q: Whats your name?
A: Jari Pearson
Q: Where’s the money coming from?
A: California
Q: What’s the purpose of money?
A: Um, a qualitative piece of paper used to exchange goods and services?
Etc.
After withdrawing some money we took a walk in search of a sushi place. We were told it was called kaiten sushi. So we headed off in a direction and asked a few folks for directions. After 20 mins of walking we found a place called “Meijin Sushi”. Inside was a magical land of conveyor belts fish tanks and even a corner devoted to kids named “Kodomo no kuni” which translates out to “ Child’s Country”. We sat down and looked around.
A kaiten sushi as I found out is a place where you sit down and the food comes to you. On either the right or left side, there is a conveyor belt and sushi and other food is placed on the belt ( on plates of course) and the sushi circulates around the room and you grab the sushi you want and then enjoy. There is even a button to call over a waiter for drinks, desserts or to order a piece of sushi you see on the menu but hasn’t come by in a while. There’s only one rule here and that is if you pick up a plate you DO NOT put it back down. I only broke that rule once, but so did Zack so I didn’t feel quite as awkward.
( pictures are on my facebook, take a look if your curious)
The best part about the place though is that everything was only 105 yen a piece. EVERYTHING. It was so glorious and wonderful, it was as though Nirvana had finally come.
After eating we took a quick trip to Daiso where me and Eva finally picked up plates, cups bowl, and the like. It was nice to finally have some freakin’ dishes.
The rest of the day was pretty chill, spent playing cards and talking with friends.
Day 10: “She’s scary!” (but not really)
The second day of classes began to early. 8am wake up and a 10:40 class. The only thing that kept us awake was our very lively teacher, Sakai sensei. The best I describe her is like our Japanese teacher at SFSU, Asano Sensei, minus the scary. For those of you who don’t know who the hell I’m talking about, the way I’d describe Sakai sensei is this:
Energetic, animated, with patience to wait for even the slowest student to answer and an intensity that feels like a mix between happy and serious which can be quite startling in the morning to those not prepared. Within the first class we actually learned a lot. Well learned is the wrong word, review is more accurate. But for all involved it really was like learning something new, because we had collectively forgot some grammar over the summer.
After class we headed to the gakushoku, my classmates and I and we ate some more delicious and cheap Japanese food. It wasn’t long after sitting that my tuor Kaoru found me and after eating lunch, we headed to my academic advisor ( Sakai sensei) and we turned in my class sign up sheet. Finally done with that! (or so I thought).
Before parting ways I presented Kaoru with a small token of gratitude; a woinnie the pooh pen and eraser set (Winnie is her favorite Disney character). She seemed very happy if not surprised to receive the gifts. It made me happy to finally see her a little less composed and a little more silly and grinning.
That night the rain began again, and that was the first bad omen…
Day 11: The Perfect Typhoon
I awoke to the sound or hard rain and strong wind. First thought: “God-Dammit”
The walk to school was miserable. The rain soaked us and the wind nearly broke my umbrella on a number of occasions. Our poor friend Surugi had her umbrella blown away as she locked up her bike, and me and Eva had to scramble after it to prevent her from getting to soaked. By the time we got to class we were soaked, tired if not a little grumpy. Thankfully Sakai sensei’s chipper and strangely intense happiness was the right medicine. We reviewed even more and walked away feeling as though we were learning something.
That happy feeling soon soured as we entered the lunch room. It was packed to capacity and the only room left was outside under the somewhat ineffective awnings. “Oh boy, wind and rain with lunch! My Favorite!”.
It was a strange occurrence to be eating at a quasi sheltered table outside in the elements. Not the most peaceful of lunches I’ve ever had but, hey. I was really hungry.
With lunch finished we headed to our “ Discover Oita” class. It turned out the teacher, Kumamoto, speaks very slowly in English and her random population and topographical info handout were less helpful and more perplexing as to how this helped us “ Discover Oita”. After class, some of the others were talking about how some of the longer term students who had taken her class had said she started out nice, and became increasingly meaner over the semester. This on top of the boring manner of her speech does not bode well. Not well indeed.
The Typhoon ( yes, a typhoon, hence the title of today) was Category 2 of the coast of Kyushuu and had become intense enough that the faculty called for the rest of classes to be cancelled. Finally the Typhoon had provided a service instead of just pissing me off. It was a nice surprise that meant I could escape the storm faster now.
We were told it was going to get full strength by nightfall and we were advised to not leave our rooms. That was just fine by me. Eva, John and I ended up finishing our Discover Oita homework and then watched some “hell’s Kitchen” in John’s room for a little while with Nora, Matt and Zack.
The storm that night would prove to be loud, but surprisingly not the thing that was loudest. The resident cat that lives at the Kaikan was far louder and more aggravating than the typhoon could hope to be. As some of us were talking in the hallway near the entrance to the dorms, we heard the cat outside mowing and we all thought “ Shit! The cat is out in the storm!”. So, out of the kindness of our hearts we let it in out of the rain, and Matt even dried it off with an old towel. This , as we were to find out was a very poorly planned out venture. When we went to sleep not long after letting it in, for the next 3 hours or so ( it was about 12:30am at this point) the cat just traveled to each door wand would yowl, loudly, at it for about 5-10 mins depending. The first 3 of 4 floors were kept awake. It only yowled for 3 hours cause Fabian got frustrated enough with the little so and so , and threw it outside so we could get some blanking sleep.
A category 2 Typhoon with 60+ mph winds and torrential rain was beaten out by cat in the loud noise department. It kind of makes you think doesn’t it?
Day 12: The Longest Day
After little to no sleep after the night of noise waking up at 6:30 for our 9am class was easy. That, if you can’t tell was sarcasm.
The only perk of that morning was the realization that the rain was finally over.
Many of us the next day piled into a train and headed to school and by some stroke of luck made it to class. As soon as the teacher came to the class, the luck dried up. She spoke in the slowest, softest Japanese I have ever heard. It nearly put us all to sleep and to quote Jesse “Her voice was like a lullaby”. It was the most excruciating class I have taken in a long time. I’m hoping next week, a larger dose of sleep and more breakfast will cure the severe boredom or at least by proneness to drowsiness within the class.
After class Eva, Jesse and I made a beeline for a conbini and got some food and drink, then talked for and hour or so, Charlotte joining us after 15 minutes or so. I had some spicy fried chicken, a pizza filled bun, peach flavored water and 2 little cans of iced coffee. It was a glorious feast.
The feats continued on in the cafeteria. It was full again and we had to sit outside once more, sans wind and rain. I spent the time working on my kanji work and drinking my peach water. It was strangely peaceful.
From lunch I went to the next class, The Politics of Globalization. The class was surprisingly interesting and taught by a man from England. The class had strange feeling though, one half of the students (the foreigners) very amused and reacting to the professor’s jokes and jovial manner. The other half (Japanese) stared on in blank silence. It was a strange dichotomy.
The final class of the day, Intercultural Communication, was my next stop. The class was taught by Nagaike Sensei and she is the definition of energy and positivity. She speaks fluent English with a little bit of an accent but her class was greatly amusing and interesting. She has charismatic energy which is definitely absorbed by us students and it is one of the class I am excited to attend. The classes premise is to help ease the transition for foreigners into the Japanese way of thinking. Explaining the social rules of conduct and behavior as well as the methods one can more easily befriend Japanese. This is going to be one amazing class.
After class Chiemi picked me and Eva and we drove us to a store that I would equate to a Japanese Ikea called, Nitori. It was here in this wonderful place I finally got a coffee maker and a fuzzy rug to place on my cold hard floor. It was just another piece to make my apartment feel like home. After Nitori Chiemi asked a favor of us and we accepted with no complaint, for we had a giri to uphold.
A giri is an obligation. In Japanese culture if someone has helped you out, you owe them a giri or obligation to do any favor asked of them no matter how small or large in exchange. This is one of the building blocks of Japanese social construction. It was not a problem however, considering how much Chiemi and Papa had done for us.
The favor was to tell Papa’s sister “ Happy Birthday!” in loud English. We curiously agreed. After arriving at the house and yelling out our greeting Chiemi burst out into a fit of laughter while papa’s sister semi startled and very happy welcomed us into her home. Inside we found papa and we talked with Chiemi, papa and his sister for a half hour or so while we were served hot green tea and sweet red beans. It was very nice to become more a part of the Ando family with their numerous extensions of support and love. On the drive back home, Papa said they thought of us as 2 new children in the family. Me and Eva were both startled and touched by this revelation and were at a loss for words.
As they dropped us off, Chiemi handed us obento (Japanese style lunch/dinner homemade or store bought with a menagerie of food. Theyre very filling and delicious). Is there anything they the Ando’s can’t do?
That night, Eva, Zack, Jon, Mike, Matt and I went to a local Mexican restaurant. I got some nachos and Eva got the “Couple Service” Maragarita. The food was pretty accurate to Mexican food, although much less heat than I expected. The Margarita was pitiful. Although big, it amounted to plain shaved ice stacked precarious upon itself and doused with about 6 shots of Tequila. We drank it anyway but it was the strangest god damn margarita I ever drank. From the Mexican place we wandered over to a McDonalds and got some fries, which one the walk home tasted so very good..
Day 13: Linda Linda!
Today is my birthday. It was really great day even though it had an awkward start.
Class was at 1:10 pm so me and Eva woke up around 9 or so and Eva offered to cook me a birthday breakfast of bacon and eggs. I excitedly accepted, and it was delicious. Japanese bacon is about the same width but a lot shorter than its American counterpart. The eggs also taste a little different but both were delicious.
After breakfast and getting ready we headed for the train at the usual time. Whenwe got their though we missed the train by less than 2 mins. We were forced to take the 12:57 train and after much fats walking arrived at Grammar and Discourse about 15 mins late. Thankfully Nanri Sensei had a sense of Humor about our lateness.
When we finished class Eva, me and some of our classmates went to the student center to sign paper work and for me and Zack and Eva to look into some possible clubs. After some Q&A with the staff we settled on checking out the kickboxing and Judo clubs. It should be fun.
We returned back to the kaikan around 4:30 and prepared to leave at 5 with friends to kaiten sushi to celebrate the end of typhoon, and my birthday. Zack, Nora, Cheila, John, Mina, Jesse and mike came and we had a blast, trying out all kind sof new sushi and other food.
Having stuffed our selves we went back to the station to pick up our other friends, Charlotte, Ashley, Matt, Emi, Marion and John’s tutor Sayumi and her friend Aya. Together we went to a nearby department store and ascended to the B2 floor. As the doors opened, spread out in front of us was a large karaoke bar. We got a large room and a great deal ( from 9pm-2am students with ID cards could sing and drink all the non-alcoholic drinks they wanted for only 11$) it was great. As the music started I was handed birthday beer, sake, fizzy umechu (plum wine) and some other stuff. I kept ona drinking and we all kept on singing. After an hour and a half I belted out “Linda Linda” by the Blue Hearts and felt so happy. So many people had remembered and came to my quasi birthday party. It was great to have them all their.
Ashley and Charlotte have beautiful voices and both sung a mixture or Korean, Japanese and English songs. By hour 2 1/2 or so Mina took over and decided she would put 8+ songs or so into the lineup for herself. A half hour later I decided that was lame and with Eva we returned to the kaikan, full of drink.
Day 14: Ando Birthday Party
I slept in till 10 or so and then Eva wanted to make more breakfast for the two of us. It was maple sausage and bacon with eggs this time. I was blissfully content once more.
After breakfast we made a quick run to the grocery store and were picked up shortly after to go to Chiemi and papa’s house. We were served a Japanese lunch of chestnut rice, green tea, karage, sweet beans, seat potatoes and some Japanese vegetables. After lunch Chiemi presented both me and Eva with calendars for the coming year. They were really cute and Eva couldn’t stop giggling at all the cute dogs on hers. At their home we met papa and Chiemi’s mothers respectively. We learned for them how to make croquets and sushi from scratch. Eva was definitely a bit more dexterous but I picked it up quickly and we both had a lot of fun. After making the food we took the Ando family dogs, Su and Seira, out on a walk. We visited both a temple and shrine and I took many photos. When we got back, me and Eva talked awhile with the family and then Saori on skype. She thought it was strange she was calling from America and talking to us in Japan, from her own home no less. It was fun.
When Chiemi’s younger sisters Miho and Noemi arrived with their husband and daughter respectively we began a feast. Some of the items included karage ( Japanese style friend chicken), sushi, croquets, sashimi, kim-chi, sweet potatoes, bitter melon, rice, and plenty of beer. It was really delicious. We were surprised mid-way when Noemi and Miho presented me and Eva with gifts. They were a nice set of chopsticks, with a nice tea cup and bowl, all finely made and beautiful. It was quite a surprise which I deeply appreciated.
When dinner finished two cakes were brought out, a chocolate and a vanilla one topped with fruit. Candles were lit and people sang happy birthday to me and pap, in English. It was very nice ^___^
After cake and more beer me and Eva returned home. Happy, with presents in tow and our own boxes of leftovers from the nights feast. When the food and gifts were squared away, I went to hang out with some friends in Mike’s room and I continued drinking and talking with them till half past 11 or so. It was a very fun day, if not a little tiring.
Day 9: Sushi Go-Round
Today we finally accomplished the one thing that was most important and the thing that also took the longest to complete. A wire transfer.
With Zack and John me and Eva traveled to the main bank branch which had called us to complete the wire transfer. We found out only after arriving that we had to go to the OTHER branch to complete the transaction. Thankfully the walk was not so far as I had thought. At the proper branch and after 30+ mins me and Eva finally had money deposited into our account after the usual questions for security reasons:
(some engrish may be used)
Q: Whats your name?
A: Jari Pearson
Q: Where’s the money coming from?
A: California
Q: What’s the purpose of money?
A: Um, a qualitative piece of paper used to exchange goods and services?
Etc.
After withdrawing some money we took a walk in search of a sushi place. We were told it was called kaiten sushi. So we headed off in a direction and asked a few folks for directions. After 20 mins of walking we found a place called “Meijin Sushi”. Inside was a magical land of conveyor belts fish tanks and even a corner devoted to kids named “Kodomo no kuni” which translates out to “ Child’s Country”. We sat down and looked around.
A kaiten sushi as I found out is a place where you sit down and the food comes to you. On either the right or left side, there is a conveyor belt and sushi and other food is placed on the belt ( on plates of course) and the sushi circulates around the room and you grab the sushi you want and then enjoy. There is even a button to call over a waiter for drinks, desserts or to order a piece of sushi you see on the menu but hasn’t come by in a while. There’s only one rule here and that is if you pick up a plate you DO NOT put it back down. I only broke that rule once, but so did Zack so I didn’t feel quite as awkward.
( pictures are on my facebook, take a look if your curious)
The best part about the place though is that everything was only 105 yen a piece. EVERYTHING. It was so glorious and wonderful, it was as though Nirvana had finally come.
After eating we took a quick trip to Daiso where me and Eva finally picked up plates, cups bowl, and the like. It was nice to finally have some freakin’ dishes.
The rest of the day was pretty chill, spent playing cards and talking with friends.
Day 10: “She’s scary!” (but not really)
The second day of classes began to early. 8am wake up and a 10:40 class. The only thing that kept us awake was our very lively teacher, Sakai sensei. The best I describe her is like our Japanese teacher at SFSU, Asano Sensei, minus the scary. For those of you who don’t know who the hell I’m talking about, the way I’d describe Sakai sensei is this:
Energetic, animated, with patience to wait for even the slowest student to answer and an intensity that feels like a mix between happy and serious which can be quite startling in the morning to those not prepared. Within the first class we actually learned a lot. Well learned is the wrong word, review is more accurate. But for all involved it really was like learning something new, because we had collectively forgot some grammar over the summer.
After class we headed to the gakushoku, my classmates and I and we ate some more delicious and cheap Japanese food. It wasn’t long after sitting that my tuor Kaoru found me and after eating lunch, we headed to my academic advisor ( Sakai sensei) and we turned in my class sign up sheet. Finally done with that! (or so I thought).
Before parting ways I presented Kaoru with a small token of gratitude; a woinnie the pooh pen and eraser set (Winnie is her favorite Disney character). She seemed very happy if not surprised to receive the gifts. It made me happy to finally see her a little less composed and a little more silly and grinning.
That night the rain began again, and that was the first bad omen…
Day 11: The Perfect Typhoon
I awoke to the sound or hard rain and strong wind. First thought: “God-Dammit”
The walk to school was miserable. The rain soaked us and the wind nearly broke my umbrella on a number of occasions. Our poor friend Surugi had her umbrella blown away as she locked up her bike, and me and Eva had to scramble after it to prevent her from getting to soaked. By the time we got to class we were soaked, tired if not a little grumpy. Thankfully Sakai sensei’s chipper and strangely intense happiness was the right medicine. We reviewed even more and walked away feeling as though we were learning something.
That happy feeling soon soured as we entered the lunch room. It was packed to capacity and the only room left was outside under the somewhat ineffective awnings. “Oh boy, wind and rain with lunch! My Favorite!”.
It was a strange occurrence to be eating at a quasi sheltered table outside in the elements. Not the most peaceful of lunches I’ve ever had but, hey. I was really hungry.
With lunch finished we headed to our “ Discover Oita” class. It turned out the teacher, Kumamoto, speaks very slowly in English and her random population and topographical info handout were less helpful and more perplexing as to how this helped us “ Discover Oita”. After class, some of the others were talking about how some of the longer term students who had taken her class had said she started out nice, and became increasingly meaner over the semester. This on top of the boring manner of her speech does not bode well. Not well indeed.
The Typhoon ( yes, a typhoon, hence the title of today) was Category 2 of the coast of Kyushuu and had become intense enough that the faculty called for the rest of classes to be cancelled. Finally the Typhoon had provided a service instead of just pissing me off. It was a nice surprise that meant I could escape the storm faster now.
We were told it was going to get full strength by nightfall and we were advised to not leave our rooms. That was just fine by me. Eva, John and I ended up finishing our Discover Oita homework and then watched some “hell’s Kitchen” in John’s room for a little while with Nora, Matt and Zack.
The storm that night would prove to be loud, but surprisingly not the thing that was loudest. The resident cat that lives at the Kaikan was far louder and more aggravating than the typhoon could hope to be. As some of us were talking in the hallway near the entrance to the dorms, we heard the cat outside mowing and we all thought “ Shit! The cat is out in the storm!”. So, out of the kindness of our hearts we let it in out of the rain, and Matt even dried it off with an old towel. This , as we were to find out was a very poorly planned out venture. When we went to sleep not long after letting it in, for the next 3 hours or so ( it was about 12:30am at this point) the cat just traveled to each door wand would yowl, loudly, at it for about 5-10 mins depending. The first 3 of 4 floors were kept awake. It only yowled for 3 hours cause Fabian got frustrated enough with the little so and so , and threw it outside so we could get some blanking sleep.
A category 2 Typhoon with 60+ mph winds and torrential rain was beaten out by cat in the loud noise department. It kind of makes you think doesn’t it?
Day 12: The Longest Day
After little to no sleep after the night of noise waking up at 6:30 for our 9am class was easy. That, if you can’t tell was sarcasm.
The only perk of that morning was the realization that the rain was finally over.
Many of us the next day piled into a train and headed to school and by some stroke of luck made it to class. As soon as the teacher came to the class, the luck dried up. She spoke in the slowest, softest Japanese I have ever heard. It nearly put us all to sleep and to quote Jesse “Her voice was like a lullaby”. It was the most excruciating class I have taken in a long time. I’m hoping next week, a larger dose of sleep and more breakfast will cure the severe boredom or at least by proneness to drowsiness within the class.
After class Eva, Jesse and I made a beeline for a conbini and got some food and drink, then talked for and hour or so, Charlotte joining us after 15 minutes or so. I had some spicy fried chicken, a pizza filled bun, peach flavored water and 2 little cans of iced coffee. It was a glorious feast.
The feats continued on in the cafeteria. It was full again and we had to sit outside once more, sans wind and rain. I spent the time working on my kanji work and drinking my peach water. It was strangely peaceful.
From lunch I went to the next class, The Politics of Globalization. The class was surprisingly interesting and taught by a man from England. The class had strange feeling though, one half of the students (the foreigners) very amused and reacting to the professor’s jokes and jovial manner. The other half (Japanese) stared on in blank silence. It was a strange dichotomy.
The final class of the day, Intercultural Communication, was my next stop. The class was taught by Nagaike Sensei and she is the definition of energy and positivity. She speaks fluent English with a little bit of an accent but her class was greatly amusing and interesting. She has charismatic energy which is definitely absorbed by us students and it is one of the class I am excited to attend. The classes premise is to help ease the transition for foreigners into the Japanese way of thinking. Explaining the social rules of conduct and behavior as well as the methods one can more easily befriend Japanese. This is going to be one amazing class.
After class Chiemi picked me and Eva and we drove us to a store that I would equate to a Japanese Ikea called, Nitori. It was here in this wonderful place I finally got a coffee maker and a fuzzy rug to place on my cold hard floor. It was just another piece to make my apartment feel like home. After Nitori Chiemi asked a favor of us and we accepted with no complaint, for we had a giri to uphold.
A giri is an obligation. In Japanese culture if someone has helped you out, you owe them a giri or obligation to do any favor asked of them no matter how small or large in exchange. This is one of the building blocks of Japanese social construction. It was not a problem however, considering how much Chiemi and Papa had done for us.
The favor was to tell Papa’s sister “ Happy Birthday!” in loud English. We curiously agreed. After arriving at the house and yelling out our greeting Chiemi burst out into a fit of laughter while papa’s sister semi startled and very happy welcomed us into her home. Inside we found papa and we talked with Chiemi, papa and his sister for a half hour or so while we were served hot green tea and sweet red beans. It was very nice to become more a part of the Ando family with their numerous extensions of support and love. On the drive back home, Papa said they thought of us as 2 new children in the family. Me and Eva were both startled and touched by this revelation and were at a loss for words.
As they dropped us off, Chiemi handed us obento (Japanese style lunch/dinner homemade or store bought with a menagerie of food. Theyre very filling and delicious). Is there anything they the Ando’s can’t do?
That night, Eva, Zack, Jon, Mike, Matt and I went to a local Mexican restaurant. I got some nachos and Eva got the “Couple Service” Maragarita. The food was pretty accurate to Mexican food, although much less heat than I expected. The Margarita was pitiful. Although big, it amounted to plain shaved ice stacked precarious upon itself and doused with about 6 shots of Tequila. We drank it anyway but it was the strangest god damn margarita I ever drank. From the Mexican place we wandered over to a McDonalds and got some fries, which one the walk home tasted so very good..
Day 13: Linda Linda!
Today is my birthday. It was really great day even though it had an awkward start.
Class was at 1:10 pm so me and Eva woke up around 9 or so and Eva offered to cook me a birthday breakfast of bacon and eggs. I excitedly accepted, and it was delicious. Japanese bacon is about the same width but a lot shorter than its American counterpart. The eggs also taste a little different but both were delicious.
After breakfast and getting ready we headed for the train at the usual time. Whenwe got their though we missed the train by less than 2 mins. We were forced to take the 12:57 train and after much fats walking arrived at Grammar and Discourse about 15 mins late. Thankfully Nanri Sensei had a sense of Humor about our lateness.
When we finished class Eva, me and some of our classmates went to the student center to sign paper work and for me and Zack and Eva to look into some possible clubs. After some Q&A with the staff we settled on checking out the kickboxing and Judo clubs. It should be fun.
We returned back to the kaikan around 4:30 and prepared to leave at 5 with friends to kaiten sushi to celebrate the end of typhoon, and my birthday. Zack, Nora, Cheila, John, Mina, Jesse and mike came and we had a blast, trying out all kind sof new sushi and other food.
Having stuffed our selves we went back to the station to pick up our other friends, Charlotte, Ashley, Matt, Emi, Marion and John’s tutor Sayumi and her friend Aya. Together we went to a nearby department store and ascended to the B2 floor. As the doors opened, spread out in front of us was a large karaoke bar. We got a large room and a great deal ( from 9pm-2am students with ID cards could sing and drink all the non-alcoholic drinks they wanted for only 11$) it was great. As the music started I was handed birthday beer, sake, fizzy umechu (plum wine) and some other stuff. I kept ona drinking and we all kept on singing. After an hour and a half I belted out “Linda Linda” by the Blue Hearts and felt so happy. So many people had remembered and came to my quasi birthday party. It was great to have them all their.
Ashley and Charlotte have beautiful voices and both sung a mixture or Korean, Japanese and English songs. By hour 2 1/2 or so Mina took over and decided she would put 8+ songs or so into the lineup for herself. A half hour later I decided that was lame and with Eva we returned to the kaikan, full of drink.
Day 14: Ando Birthday Party
I slept in till 10 or so and then Eva wanted to make more breakfast for the two of us. It was maple sausage and bacon with eggs this time. I was blissfully content once more.
After breakfast we made a quick run to the grocery store and were picked up shortly after to go to Chiemi and papa’s house. We were served a Japanese lunch of chestnut rice, green tea, karage, sweet beans, seat potatoes and some Japanese vegetables. After lunch Chiemi presented both me and Eva with calendars for the coming year. They were really cute and Eva couldn’t stop giggling at all the cute dogs on hers. At their home we met papa and Chiemi’s mothers respectively. We learned for them how to make croquets and sushi from scratch. Eva was definitely a bit more dexterous but I picked it up quickly and we both had a lot of fun. After making the food we took the Ando family dogs, Su and Seira, out on a walk. We visited both a temple and shrine and I took many photos. When we got back, me and Eva talked awhile with the family and then Saori on skype. She thought it was strange she was calling from America and talking to us in Japan, from her own home no less. It was fun.
When Chiemi’s younger sisters Miho and Noemi arrived with their husband and daughter respectively we began a feast. Some of the items included karage ( Japanese style friend chicken), sushi, croquets, sashimi, kim-chi, sweet potatoes, bitter melon, rice, and plenty of beer. It was really delicious. We were surprised mid-way when Noemi and Miho presented me and Eva with gifts. They were a nice set of chopsticks, with a nice tea cup and bowl, all finely made and beautiful. It was quite a surprise which I deeply appreciated.
When dinner finished two cakes were brought out, a chocolate and a vanilla one topped with fruit. Candles were lit and people sang happy birthday to me and pap, in English. It was very nice ^___^
After cake and more beer me and Eva returned home. Happy, with presents in tow and our own boxes of leftovers from the nights feast. When the food and gifts were squared away, I went to hang out with some friends in Mike’s room and I continued drinking and talking with them till half past 11 or so. It was a very fun day, if not a little tiring.
Tuesday, October 6, 2009
Dryness, a Precious Commodity: The First 8 Days
Day 1
Getting to Oita took 16 hours.
16.
Very.
Long.
Hours….
I am not Japan size and the flight over there is more than enough of a reminder of that. My legs barely fit in the seats and the reclining function of the chair was a laughable 10 degrees at most. Aside from that though, probably some of the best in flight food and movies I have experienced during an international flight (we flew ANA, All Nippon Airways). I was finally able to watch a few movies I had been meaning to watch; Monster’s vs. Aliens, Star Trek and Paul Blart: Mall Cop. It was an unexpected pleasure to catch up on a few of my American movies as we flew farther from home.
In Narita where we landed we had to participate in what I like to call the “Cross Metro Airport Transfer”. This game can be played by anyone, all you need do is fly to Narita, book your connecting flight out of Haneda ( this was our only option at the time) and then connect to the both airports via an Airport Limousine Bus. Problem was we had to 1) get through customs, 2) get through airport security 3) get our tickets and 4) get on the damn bus to get to Haneda and repeat the process airport security and checking in our flight. We had 4 hours to do this, and the bus ride alone was 2 hours plus the hour and a half to clear security and flight check-in lines. We made it just on time. Life’s is funny sometimes though, for as we had been stressing about making this flight it was delayed about 20 mins. When we learned of it, I wasn’t sure if I should laugh or cry. I chose to laugh. Hell, I was delirious from being tired and sweaty anyway, why not laugh along with it?
Upon arriving at Oita Airport (friggin finally) we were met at the airport by our friend Saori’s Mother and Grandfather. They smiled and waved at us through the glass. We had thought it would be hard to find both myself and Eva in the airport. However, finding to blonde foreigners in a airport the size of a large city bus stop was quite easy.
We ended up going to a Japanese style restaurant with Saori’s Mother and Father ( whom Eva and I affectionately refer to them as ‘mama’ and ‘papa’ respectively), and ate as much food as we could. It was good, I was so famished by that point eating made me feel reborn. We learned after the fact that it was sans cost; Mama and Papa wished to treat us to a meal, and that was just fine with us.
When we got back to their home, the Ando family dogs Su the younger brother and Seira the older sister greeted us. They had their own unique ways of doing this too; Seira would yip and run around and lick us to Oblivion and back, Su decided we were evil and must die. Thanks to Ando’s however, they separated blood thirsty little Su out of the building (Another point for Mama and Papa as far as I was concerned). After a quick bath, Eva and I crashed on borrowed Futons and got some much needed rest.
Day 2
We awoke at 8 to the smell of a delicious breakfast. Chiemi (Mama) had made me and Eva some rice, salad, little grilled sausages, cinnamon apple bread and our choice of Orange juice or Tea. It was delicious. After breakfast, Mama’s sister Noemi brought her 2 year old daughter Yuka over to meet the foreigners. The young girl was adorable, however convinced her mother was a mountain she must climb with great vigor. Noemi had a sense of humor about it though, despite the accidental ( or maybe not) choking by her daughter as she climbed up her mothers back.
When we were ready Mama took us to the station by foot, which was about 15 mins away or so, as Noemi graciously offered her help in driving our big Heavy luggage to the station. The walk over was pretty, we traversed up pedestrian bridges between large intersections and through shopping arcades until we arrived at a cell phone shop by the company SoftBank. We unsuccessfully tried to get a phone but were told we needed our alien registration cards. So much for that idea, we continued on to the train station in hopes our tutors who we were about to meet would help us get this most precious of items.
When we got to the station, we met Noemi and retrieved our luggage and went into the train station to find our tutors. After a quick phone call with help from Mama we found them all decked to the nines in cute clothes and big smiles. My tutor Kaoru ended up being a girl. The name Kaoru can go either way but I just figured I’d get a guy. Her mentioning an interested in cooking and piano dancing should have tipped me off. Oh well. Kaoru is if nothing else ruthlessly efficient ( if not too much at times , lol) and concerned with my well being. I was pretty lucky to get assigned to her. After some introduction we began the 20 min walk to the Kaikan ( The international Dorm downtown) by foot, hefting our heavy luggage behind us as we went, but this time with help offered by Kaoru, Ryoko and Rie ( Those would be Eva’s tutors, she ended up with two somehow). As we walked, the rain began and it would rain for many more days. I did not know it at the time, but the moments I would be dry the next week or so would be few and far between. The rain also lent a hand in making an already humid country super-saturated with moisture. Great.
We arrived at the kaikan, dropped off our bags and went back out into the city to get our necessary items: A bank account, Health Insurance, Hanko ( stamp used for signing documents with your name in Japanese), Alien Registration card and Cell phones. This whole process took 6 hours and involved much bowing, quickly spoken Japanese and numerous blank looks on both parts, but with the help from the tutors we somehow got through it all. Eva still needed to get her phone the next day however because she wanted a different color than my phone because the only one available was Dark Blue ( my phone) and she wanted the gold color which was to arrive the next morning.
We separated at this point and joined another group of tutors with their Chinese students in tow. Eva and her tutors went off to get soap and shampoo etc. while me Kaoru and Hirano ( a tutor from the other group with a car) went off to find bed sheets.
Finding bed sheets took two hours. Why you ask? Both Kaoru and Hirano were hell bent on finding me the cheapest sheets they could. This is where the “too-efficient-for-her-own good” comes in with Kaoru. We arrived at a large K-Mart type place called Home-Wide and look here for the sheets. But they had none, so we hopped back in the car and drove to a huge mall/arcade/small theme park called Park Place. Here we finally found sheets but a back and forth argument of cheap versus what I wanted began.
I sat with Kaoru and Hirano in the bedding section arguing over the cost and effectiveness of various sheets and blankets for a good 30 mins or so. I really wish that number was inaccurate but it sadly was not. They wanted me to get a comforter but I insisted I wanted to get a big soft, fuzzy blanket and a fleece none. They suggested this was bad, the reason? It was too expensive. Apparently 30$ for a good quality blanket is highway robbery. I finally got fed up and said these are what I want, we are getting these, with as stern a face I could muster. Their response? “Ok, good choice!”. I sat their shocked. I was unsure if they were serious or not. Hirano even threw the thumbs up to top off the moment. I suddenly felt very tired and wished to sit down.
We ended up getting sheets, a thin blanket, a fleece blanket a piece, a big fuzzy soft blanket each and Japanese buckwheat seed pillows which are indescribably comfortable. We drove back with some food and drink in tow and dropped off our stuff in our apartments. As I entered my place, I was greeted by a house guest; A big, ugly cockroach. Oh boy. THAT was a treat. The look of disgust on my face was enough to send Hirano at it with a newspaper. This tactic as I would learn later was a REALLY bad move. After this point I had no interest in going near my place and would stay at Eva’s place until Saturday of the coming weekend. I also later found mosquito larvae in my toilet and numerous broken parts to two of my pieces of furniture. This was going to be a fixer-upper indeed.
After my encounter with the gokiburi (cockroach) we went up to Eva’s place and together, me, Eva Hirano, Kaoru , Rie and Ryoko ate a hodge podge of rice balls, Japanese style fried chicken and lots of tea. The dinner ended at 11 or so, and then I showered and fell asleep. Thankfully, it was gokiburi free.
Day 3
We woke up early at v8 and got ready to meet Kaoru at the station at 10pm. We arrived about 10 and headed off to the campus to get oriented with the area and then go to a party thrown for us by Mine and Eva’s friend from SF State, Jun Sasaki. So we got to Oita station after a short 15 min train ride and began to walk to the university when we unexpectedly ran into another foreigner. He was from Oregon and had lived in Japan for 30 years. His English was slow but it was nice to see someone who could speak English. After we said our goodbyes to him we met up with Jun and our friend from SF state, who lived with Jun, Jesse. Jun and our tutors had a meeting for an hour, so Eva, Jesse and Me wandered about campus. It was much bigger than SFSU and had a lot more plant and animal life also. The most common animal we saw? Cats. Lots of stray cats. It seemed strange to me, but was definitely picture worthy.
We meandered over to a conbini (conveinience store) on campus and got lunch. It wasn’t long after we met up with Jun and the tutors and went on an unofficial campus tour, courtesy of Jun. When we finished our tour, me and Eva traveled back with Kaoru to pick up her cell phone before the party and to also pick up some beer. Returning to the cell phone shop ( it was AU kddi, a different Japanese cell phone company in Japan that we learned was cooler and cheaper than Softbank). Eva was thrilled to finally have a phone, and with the new keitai ( cellphone) in hand we picked up beer at a local conbini and got on the train to visit Jun at his apartment in Shikido, a stop before the University station and with his help got to the party. At the party were a number of us international students along with some Japanese. The part was a blast, we made Okonomiyaki and had snacks. There was much beer, brandy and whisky to be had and it was pretty fun. I spent some time with Jesse and Minami outside talking to them as they smoked their cigarettes. After the party we returned home in a slightly happier mood and I fell asleep quickly, the shower having quickened my eagerness for sleep.
Day 4
We woke up at about 8am again to (surprise!) more rain! It was disheartening. Me and Eva got to the train and boarded all by ourselves for the first time and made it to campus on time, and made it to the orientation room. By this time I was soaking wet and I wasn’t sure whether it was the rain or my profuse sweating from the super-saturated air. It was unpleasant to say the least.
Entering the room it became apparent for the first time we were not the only gaijin at the university. We were assigned seats on a seating chart and once we had all arrived 2 and a half hours of introductions and information about the university later we were required to take a Japanese proficiency test. The results would be available the next day, and they would decide which level of Japanese we could take. When we finally finished that it was time for lunch. I went to the gakushoku (campus cafeteria) for the first time. I finished early and got lost trying to find my way to the gakshoku, luckily for me, a kind soul offered to help me find it, and we ended up having lunch together. His name is Ryohei and after some lunch and meeting up with Eva we planned to hang out in the future and exchanged cell numbers.
Returning from lunch we had an oral interview to finish of the Japanese proficiency test and when we finished Eva and I returned to Oita city and went to the 100 yen store, called Daiso. We ended up getting some of our basic amenities their after an hour or so inside the store. We returned afterward to the kaikan and ate random conbini food and drinks. We talked for awhile and then fell asleep early, tomorrow was gonna start much earlier than we would like.
Day 5
At 6:30 the alarm went off and I swore internally. We had to be at the school by 9:15 and travel time plus getting dressed and ready took awhile. When we finally arrived at the school the weather was surprisingly rainy with a side of way to blanking humid. We found pour tutors on the way up from the station and then proceeded to the computer lab to begin our 2 hour orientation on the proper use of the Oita computer Lab. From there I went with Eva to the gakushoku again and had lunch. We had to get back to the Kaikan quickly because we had an orientation there from 4pm till 5pm. During our orientation, we learned the ins and outs of living at thee kaikan including the complex garbage system of Japan that is tedious to say the least. It was here at this meeting also that we go bug bombs and were told to set them off to kill the cockroaches. This was good news. I finally had a way to kill the little devils.
We concluded the orientation with a short (very short) field trip to the site where garbage is to be placed and then we broke off and returned to our rooms. On my way up to Eva’s I ran into some of the other Kaikan residents and we started talking. We all agreed the cockroach problem was lame and we all planned to set off our bug bombs in unison Saturday at noon, and then go out into the city for six hours or so to hang out. We were finally gonna start meeting new people at the kaikan, and I was excited.
Having made plans me and Eva went out to complete and extremely important chore: getting futons for our beds and Eva’s hair dryer. One place had both and if you bought two futons you could get free delivery. This magical place was called Don Quixote, or that Japanese nickname ‘Donkey’. We took a cheap taxi ride to it, and arrived through the rain into a wonderous place. This store has literally everything. Usually when someone says ‘everything’ its just to emphasize its size. But I kid you not when I say EVERYTHING. Its like a safeway, k-mart, home depot, toys r us, and mall all in one store. Its loud and colorful and crazy but a lot of fun. We took a little time finding the futons, and then conveying to the store clerks our intentions to by them and have them delivered. After buying them we were told they’d arrive 10am on Saturday morning, which was perfect, we would get them the day we were to bug bomb. I was excited. After Eva got herself a hair dryer we ventured to the large food court in Donkey and there were a lot of restaurants.
They had a Baskin Robbins with Japan only special Halloween flavors, a ramen shop, a taiyaki shop ( red bean cakes), a Mos burger ( EXCELLENT burgers!!), a giant buffet style bar and a takoyaki shop. We ended up going to Takoyaki and it was delicious! We went to Baskin Robbins afterward where I got a pumpkin ice cream smoothie and Eva got a specialty Halloween flavor which tasted like a mix between apple, grape and bubblegum. Sounds strange but was friggin awesome. We headed up to the second floor after food and played around in the game arcade, making purikura and then playing some Taiko Drum Master. Having shopped eaten and played around we returned home and sorted through our trash and put the proper trash into the 1 different categories. Exciting right? We ended up dropping off the proper one for pick up at the garbage site and went back to Eva’s room and we drank some beer and fell asleep. It was a nice cozy evening despite the rain.
Day 6
Friday was the first day we could sleep in… till 9am. It wasnt much but hey, beggers can’t be choosers right?
After getting ready we headed to the school, Eva and I had our first class “ Japanese Grammar and Discourse”. The teacher is a nice man but his English was confusing, and roundabout. I hope this problem will change in the future. ><;;;
It was at this class though that we met a lot of the international students, and after class we agreed to have a long lunch together. We needed to be back at school for the international student party at 5pm anyway, so what the hell right?
During lunch we exchanged #s and stories and we met some great people. Jon and Zack from North Carolina, Mike and Matt from San Diego, Sugi and Charlotte from Korea, Nora from Hungary, and Riika from Finland to name a few. It was great, talking and eating for a few hours, we started to connect with people from all over the world. We traded stories of friends, our experiences in Japan and our hopes for the coming year. In what seemed almost no time though, we had to leave and go to the party.
This party was the first of two planned for us, and consisted mostly of eating and mingling , with an introduction game at the end. It was interesting way to introduce everyone; the premise was to state your neighbors home country and their name. Then that person would state their name, and then THEIR neighbors name and home country and so on. This would go on until the last person named everyone’s place and name in sequential order. We all then sat down in our groups of about 5-7 and each group took a turn naming of all their group members. It was definitely a way of introduction I had never experienced before.
This party was followed by another more relaxed setting involving more mingling eating, and this time, alcohol. I did not partake however a number of others did. There was many a red face about in the room. It was super easy meeting people and I made a dozen or so new friends. This had by far been the best day so far.
Us international kids though, not satisfied with two parties, went off to a Karaoke bar downtown and decided to booze and sing it up. We sung such songs as “ Bohemian Rhapsody”, “Chop Suey”, “ Linda Linda”, “ Sk8r Boi”, “ Glamorous Sky” a Korean song and a random Japanese pop song. It was really fun. I was a lil uncertain of singing at first but after 2 mugs of beer that no longer became a problem.
We finished around 1 am and on the way back to the dorm, Eva, Mike and I stopped at a Yoshinoya beef bowl and had some excellent beef bowls. Cheap and delicious, my favorite types of food. Walking back there was a cool breeze and no rain. This is a rarity here in Japan, that I enjoyed greatly.
Day 7
Saturday was the first sunny day. It was so unfamiliar after the week of rain, I wasn’t sure how to react. Joyous was an idea, but I opted to kind of stare out my window like a small child at something brand new. Our Futons arrived (victory!) at 10am on the dot. That one of the many great things about Japan is how ridiculously on-time everything is. Its superb. When we unloaded the futons, we finished dressing and met our new friends in the lobby after all the bug bombs had been set off: We had time to kill, 6 hours to be exact and our first mission was lunch.
We met up with Jesse at the train station, and after only having lost communication with him for 10 mins or so. We headed off to a curry shop where the portions were huge and the taste was large. I had shrimp spicy curry and the rest seemed to have either beef curry or chicken cutlet curry. Most couldn’t finish the meal, except me and Mike. I was rather proud of myself actually.
After paying for the meal we wandered into the local high end department store, Tokiwa, and ended up buying ice cream on the bottom floor, which entirely made up of food stalls. I had blue berry ice cream and it was SO frickin good, and I’m not usually an ice cream fan. We went out of the Tokiwa and began heading to our true goal, first the castle and eventually the river.
The castle was large and old. It had a shallow moat where a variety of fish and turtles swam. The castle was like any other Japanese castle, except for the large modern building that took up the center of it. The Castle was hosting some sort of Construction technology expo there so we diverted over to the river side of the castle and watched the many large koi and turtles fight over bits of bread a group of Japanese kids through at them.
After taking many pictures we finally decided to continue on to the river and it was breathtaking, never ending both right and left and probably a quarter mile across or more. We walked along its edge for awhile till we stopped for a spontaneous photo op. on some nearby stairs. ADD took the better of us after awhile though and we walked back to the Kaiakan to prepare to go to that evening’s moon festival.
On the way back I bought a delicious new drink, its flavor? Candied Apple. It was one of my favorite new Japanese sodas and definitely deserves another try. Returning to the walk back, after we had cleaned up a little bit we went walking around for the moon festival and found a small town gathering at a local elementary school. There we were served free tea and local foods like soy beans, sweet potatoes, local flavors of onigiri and lots of alcohol. The alcohol was unexpected especially considering the source. Not as soon as we sat down, several of the older gentlemen came over and handed us big bottles of Sake and Shochu (potato alcohol). Both were great and the older guys seemed very happy we drank our fill. After eating a bit I got to talking with these 3 Japanese kids, ages 7 and 2 of 11 years. One was the older brother of the 7 year old. They were wearing baseball outfits and seemed to play on a local pee-wee league. The friend though had no such attire on, but he did have one sport he was good at, so he told me. That sport was running. I decided it would be fun to see how fats he was so I asked him to show me, all I can say is: Damn. That kid was fast, REALLY fast. It was staggering to realize how out of shape many American kids are. >>;;
We returned a little boozed up and with Eva and Zack I watched a few episodes of “Always Sunny in Philadelphia” on Zack’s computer, courtesy of Jon. Afterward I went off to sleep in my room for the first time with my new futon and I have got to say, it was incredibly soft. I hadn’t slept so well since the first night I arrived. The bug bomb seemed to work, but, do still see the occasional baby cockroach from time to time. It didn’t matter to me at that point because I could finally use my room properly. It was a turning point in the trip.
Day 8
Sunday was the day Chiemi ( Mama) invited us to an indoor soccer game in Beppu, a local town near Oita famous for its hot springs. We had no idea what to expect and it was definitely nothing like what I thought.
After getting on a train and then na bus we arrived at the stadium. We entered after buying some souvenirs and food and sat down near a section that defiantly looked like fans of the home team.
The team around Beppu is called “Vasegey Oita” and their mascot is a monkey with a staff, colors are orange, black and white and as we were to find out, this was no friendly game of soccer. As soon as the game started the fan section near erupted and for the whole game, with drums and horns and choreographed cheers in hand cheered ther team on. It seemed their were special and appropriate cheers for every occasion and it could be hard to keep up.
Indoor soccer is brutal. 5 guys were injured during the game, and 2 with broken limbs. It was really intense. I was actually excited about soccer for once. Maybe Eva and I will come back again for another game? Anyway, Oita lost to Machida, Tokyo 4-3. The last 30 seconds of the game Machida scored a goal and it was game over at that point.
After the game concluded Eva and I went searching for the mascots and managed to nab pictures with them. They’re pretty cool, pictures I must say. It wasn’t long after the pictures that a security guard escorted us to a back room to wait for our most generous of hostesses, Mama. She concluded her work after 10 mins or so and we hopped in her car and headed off to dinner. Before the restaurant opened we went inside a bakery and bought some delicious bread (courtesy and free of cost because of Mama). I got a donut and a hotdog quesadilla wrap. Then after that me and Eva jointly bought a hot water maker. We now have the ability to make tea and ramen. It was a very exciting moment for the two of us. I digress though, for the true treat of the night was the restaurant where mama was about to take us.
At 5pm it opened and we went in and sat down. After an appetizer or salted vegetables ( delicious) and a bowl of hot Miso soup ( also great) the main course came: ten-don.
Now Ten-don is NOT tendon as you may think, in fact its very different. What Ten-don is a rice , lightly soaked in a seat and salty sauce, topped with big pieces of tempura fried veggies and the crown on top of giant tempura fried shrimp which were at least 6 inches or more in length. The rice in this bowl was THE best I have had in Japan, and that is saying something because all rice in Japan has been cooked very well. The veggies and shrimp were so good, it was a food experience close to Nirvana.
When we got back to the kaikan, more and Eva and some of our new friends took a quick journey to the local grocery store, Maru-Kyo. I was finally able to get some milk, juice, ramen, drinks and snacks. It was very exciting. After the groceries Nora, Zack, Jon Eva mike and I piled into Jon’s room and watch some more Always Sunny and even some Aqua Teen Hunger Force were much beer and snacks were had. It was a great day!
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