Tea, Karate, and Tomodachi

Thursday started very slow considering the events of the previous night. I only managed less then 7 hours of sleep and Alex was even worse off with a hangover. However, we needed to go into school early today to have Keiwa IT set our laptops up for use on the Keiwa network. A small group of us walked over to the school with our laptops and met Doctor Hayabashira and Nabe-chan at the entrance foyer. They took us up to IT where we dropped off our computers and then went to Japanese language class. Today we moved onto more complicated rules of hiragana and reviewed the previous day's work. We also wrote our names in katakana (like a lower case hiragana, as foreigners it is proper for our names to be spelled in katakana).

After language class we headed to lunch and met up with Saiyu and Yuu in the cafeteria. Hayabashira spoke at length with Yuu and thought she was an interesting girl. Yuu isn't like most Japanese girls, she is forward and raises her voice, much like an American. She's very animated and helpful, a great friend. Saiyu is from China and is a bit more quiet, but he's very kind. Its hard to tell, but he might like Mariko a bit. Its hard to tell because many of the Keiwa college students like Mariko. The guys glance at her in the halls all the time and today at lunch a female student came up to her and with some help got her e-mail all while telling her she was "kawaii" meaning "cute". Mariko agreed to be her "tomodachi" or friend and the girl was elated.

After lunch we went across the hall to attend a traditional Japanese tea ceremony hosted by the tea club. We sat on our knees on "tatami" mats while the club members presented us with sweets and tea in the traditional Japanese manner. The motions of those presenting and preparing the tea are carefully practiced and precise. A lot of bowing also takes place as each item is placed or removed. The green tea we were given was very rejuvenating and the whole ceremony was a unique experience.

After class we attended the Karate Club's practice. Yuu is a member, she may be the captain, I'm not quite sure. Saiyu is also in the club. We spent the afternoon learning kicks and punches and different ways of fending off an opponent. Just outside the room Seth and Robbie learned Kanji (advance form of Japanese writing) from some students they had met. I was really surprised by the number of students that participated in after school sports activities.

From left to right, Mariko, Saiyu, and Dani.

We left karate early to go buy groceries for a meal we were going to make in return for Saiyu and Yuu's kindness the night before. Mariko and Andrew made teriyaki chicken in my apartment and then brought it next door to Saiyu's. Many of us crammed in and enjoyed chicken and rice. There were a lot of tired study abroad students that left early, and Saiyu had to go to work, so the twins, Mariko, Alex, and myself stayed with Yuu and Saitoru (the student from last night whose name I couldn't remember). For hours we talked back and forth in Japanese and English. Yuu helped us with our hiragana and eventually, Megumu, my reading partner from the first day of class stopped by. It was 11:30 before we finally called it a night, and it was worth it. Hanging out and trading off our languages like that helps me learn a great deal. Classroom learning only goes so far with my mind, I need real experience to cement things in.

Today was my fifth day in Japan and I feel like this has been some of the most amazing five days of my life. There is no doubt in my mind how happy I am that I went for this opportunity. To anyone who hasn't travelled abroad before, I have to say, the world is an amazing place. I've discovered so much in fives days, I can't imagine what awaits the next twenty five.