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.