Arrangements

I got up this morning with the resolve to keep myself on my toes all day. A third of the way through Yamada-sensei's class I failed this resolve. I'm almost sure I'm fighting some sort of cold, or maybe I haven't been eating enough. I basically have no energy despite getting a full night of sleep. I managed to drag myself through class even though I had forgotten my notes as well. Both Yamada and Dr. Hayashibara were checking to see if I was alright. It also didn't help that I didn't understand anything today in Yamada's class as she was using the dreaded videos and tapes.

At lunch I grabbed some food and basically chowed down as much as I could to get some energy back. After eating a sat down with An and talked with her. She brought in a travel magazine of Niigata for me today. I couldn't understand it but I could at least flip through the pictures. We talked through till the end of lunch until I had to go to culture class.

Today's culture class was Ikebana, or Japanese flower arrangement. Joy had her ikebana sensei come in and show us how to create flower arrangements before giving us our shot at them. I put mine together without too much deep zen thought like one should use in ikebana, but I think it looked pretty good. Not that I know when flowers look good or not. When I finished I took some of my leftover flowers back to the cafeteria where An was studying. It was felt ridiculously childish to give a girl flowers but Japan does that to you. We talked for an hour before leaving for conversation partners. First we stopped by the cafeteria side room to show her my ikebana.

At conversation partners we worked with several new terms. I learned quite a few useful things today, despite the fact that Alex and Seth kept working with complicated terms. Despite this, conversation partners just flew by. Afterward we hung out in the hallway with An and Hitomi for a while before everyone wandered off to various places and events. I sat with An and talked with her until 5:00 when she had to catch the bus to go home. We talked about our careers and what we would be doing in our own countries once we graduated.

I went back to the apartments and relaxed with Nate, Mariko, and a few others until 7:00 when we met Yuu outside to go to a pizza party at Saizeriya. We took a big group consisting of most of the JCLP students along with about 5 Japanese students. Dinner was fun and filling, and of course many pictures were taken. Afterward we all walked over to 7-11 for no real reason other then to maybe scare the shit out of the clerks. I found some little Gundam trading models that cost a leg and a half to have imported in America. I bought a couple just for the hell of it.

More proof that Japan rocks, I got these at 7-11.

We walked back to the apartments where Alex, Mariko, Abe, and Yuu went into my room to do some drinking while I took my laptop and hung out at Seth and Mike's along with Andrew and Dani. We kicked back and joked around until my laptop died and I headed home to finish this out. Hopefully I'll feel better tomorrow, and I hope for the rest of the trip.

Swords and Fireworks

This morning was not kind to me. I think I've been blessed with a cold that has been going around the school. Japanese cold feels shittier then American cold, that much I can assure you. Once again I struggled in Yamada-sensei's class, and the less I understand, the more she calls on me. Today I managed though, and I'm getting much better and reading and writing Japanese in hiragana. If only I had more time here to study I know I could get it all down. Well, maybe not all the kanji, but at least the language and the basic characters. I've found that I have a bit of an advantage over some of the other Americans because I'm an air traffic control major. In the ATC classes, a lot of emphasis is placed on memorization of sectors, radio frequencies, and a plethora of other information. So I've been able to pick up the hiragana pretty fast, thankfully.

At lunch I sat with An, who presented me with about 10 pages of local attractions. I had barely mentioned the other day that I was looking for something to do locally with some friends and she went out of her way to print all this out. I was amazed at her kindness. An had to leave school early for something but not before Seth told her that I was wondering if she was married, much to my embarrassment. I still felt pretty shitty at lunch, so I basically just sat around after An left and avoided much conversation.

Onuma's class came and went, I felt even worse there, but she did manage to lift my spirits a bit with her antics. The real fun of the day was after Onuma's class.

Our culture lesson today was a presentation by local Kendo sensei. Kendo can be called Japanese fencing. A more accurate description would be that it is what remains of Japan's samurai culture. Instead of teaching one to kill with the sword, kendo teaches one to better oneself through the sword. The sensei gave us an overview of kendo and proper bowing practices before giving a demonstration with real swords. They sampled a few of the best techniques for us. Once this was done we were given shinai (bamboo swords) and we began to practice moves with the sensei. There are three places you can strike a opponent; the top of the head (men), the wrist (kote), and the side of the abdomen, on the armor (do). As one strikes each area the strike is yelled.

Kendo Sensei duel with real katanas.

After practicing the kendo moves, the sensei took four volunteers to bout in a mini tournament while wearing the kendo equipment. I volunteered, I really had no idea how to dual but I thought "What the hell". First Dani and Roshan fought with Dani landing the two winning hits. Then it came my turn versus Brett. I managed to win but put a nasty bruise on Brett's arm. Next was the final match between Dani and myself. It was a long match and I was already tired. Dani finally got the last hit on me, much to my relief. I wouldn't have minded winning, but I was done by that point. Everyone who volunteered got to keep the head bands we wore inside our helmets. They have kanji written on them and look amazing, even though I have no idea was it says. The whole experience was amazing and I'm very happy I volunteered to try the dueling. I'm considering joining the Kendo Club back home for my final semester.

I didn't have any plans after school so I changed into athletic clothes and went back to play soccer with Roshan, Mike, Mariko, and some Japanese students. It was a good time, but I suck at soccer, and I was already very tired. I played for about 20 minutes before calling it a day and went and shot baskets for a while. I went upstairs and watched the twins do karate with Yuu and the karate club for a bit and then headed home.

At home I went up to Dani's room and joined her, Amanda, Toniya and a bunch of Japanese students for dinner. They were making American omelets and pancakes. Chihiro was there so I spent a lot of time talking with her. Eventually we decided to go set off the fireworks that one of the Japanese kids bought. We gathered up a big group of students and walked way out into the countryside. We spent the next hour or so lighting off every kind of kick ass Japanese firework you can think of. Finally we got to the "bomb". The bomb was created by taking and empty can, poking a hole in the side, filling it with sparkler powder, and attaching a fuse. In America we call this a pipe bomb, and an act of terrorism. In Japan it's just good fun. The bomb detonated not so much like a firework, but like a quarter stick of dynamite. It was yabe (Japanese slang that can be loosely translated to "bad ass").

We walked back to the apartments and I spoke with Yuu along the way. I tried teaching her how to say "microphone" but when she had trouble pronouncing it she just said "microdenwa" (denwa is Japanese for phone). Yuu will be leaving for social work next Monday and won't be back until after we're gone. This is incredibly sad for me, she's been such an awesome friend and she won't even get to see us off. I can say without a doubt that Yuu is the best friend I met here.

Once back at the apartments I went from room to room hanging out until finally getting home around 12:30. It was a good day, and it thoroughly wore me out, and tomorrow should be just as fun.

Yopparai

Monday morning a few JCLP students went to Sue's first year English class (a different one then the previous class) to help out. We discussed the differences between Japanese and American cultures. I really was at a loss at describing my own culture, America is such a mix that its hard to trace one definite answer. The first year students have impressive English skills, many of them rival the fourth years, which I don't entirely understand. That's not to say that the senpai are all bad at English, but not as advanced as you'd expect from 4 years of college perhaps. Then, I can't really say how hard the English language is, having grown up with it.

After Sue's class we had Yamada-sensai for the rest of the morning in our typical Japanese language class. I couldn't keep up with her at all and when she called on me to give an example I was at a complete loss. She had to go through all the info again before I was able to answer properly. I felt embarrassed and angry that I couldn't understand but later in the day I found out the rest of the class had felt the same way, they just hadn't been called on.

Lunch lifted my spirits as I sat with Yuu and An. I checked with An to make sure everything was alright with her family (which it was). I told her about my weekend and asked if she was coming to conversation partners. She said she would if I went so we agreed to meet. I was at lunch a little too long so I got to Onuma-sensai's class just in time. I handed in my homework and we went through her typically silly and simple lessons.

Seth, Andrew, and I went to the computer lab after Onuma-sensai's class to kill time. This was my first time logging into the campus network so it was interesting to say the least. While the keyboard has a typical QWERTY layout, many of the commonly used side keys in English (comma, period, etc.) are located elsewhere. The @ symbol is somewhere on the right side in the top row. It makes things fun.

Conversation partners with An and her friends was very productive. I made sure not to just sit around and talk but actually learn, and I think An is a very good teacher. I've been trying to learn different types of sentences while also trying to fill them with useful verbs, nouns, and adjectives. I wish it were as simple as it sounds. The main focus was the use of the "tai" verb. This is used to indicate something is wanted. A very useful thing to know in my opinion.

After school we waited around for everyone to gather for a drinking party some of the Keiwa students had put together. During this time we were told to guess An's age. I guessed 20, other guessed 20 or 21. She told us she is 28(!). Needless to say I'm still floored by this. Once everyone gathered we headed off to the apartments and then the bus stop to head to Shibata City. An couldn't join us, so she said she would do something with us Thursday night.

The drinking party, while filled with great food that completely filled me, was still a drinking party. Pretty much everyone but three of us got completely trashed. The Japanese girls didn't take long at all, usually one drink before they were drunk. The party lasted long into the night before we finally stumbled outside. We split into groups and headed home. Seth, myself, Andrew, and a drunk Brett walked Yuka and her friends home before walking home ourselves. It was 1am by the time I got into my apartment where I promptly passed out.

I don't drink, I don't like alcohol or its effects. I also don't like seeing my friends get stupid drunk. In America it doesn't happen to often, but it does. Seeing my Japanese friends in the same situation, I felt a little sad. While drunk people can be humorous sometimes, they're still drunk, and that's not all that funny. I probably won't be attending any more drinking parties in Japan, unless its to make sure everyone gets home alright.

Matsumi Heights, home.

A Glass Half Full

With no plans made for Sunday I decided to sleep in and play it by ear. As far as I knew almost everyone was off doing something today. Nabe-chan was taking a large group to the hot springs, Dani and a few others went to Sado Island with Professor Brown's son, and Mike and Roshan went to the beach. I woke up around 10 and found my roommate was back from the dance party he and a few others had gone to. I hadn't even heard him come in last night, I was completely out.

After Alex got up and after I did some laundry, we went next door to see if Saiyu wanted to go get something to eat. He and Ronnie joined us and we went over to Saizeriya. Little Ronnie managed to out eat all of us guys, although I'm not entirely surprised, seems like everyone in this country can eat more then me. I asked Saiyu and Ronnie some questions about China (they're both Chinese students studying abroad). Ronnie was actually kind of surprised that I knew of the area she was from (Dalian). They both want to travel to America to attain graduate degrees in English some day. I hope they do, I think it would be a good experience for them.

We took Alex to Saiyu's favorite hair salon to get him a haircut. It was pretty much exactly like an American hair salon, except the service was probably better. After the haircut we headed back to Saiyu's place and hung out while watching Lord of the Rings 2. Yuu came down and joined us for a while. I headed back to my room to study but I ended up taking a long nap. I woke to hear Seth and Alex talking outside so I headed out. The bus with the spa group showed up as I walked out and they announced we had been invited to a barbecue hosted by the Katagiri family.

I convinced as many people as I could to come to the barbecue, I really wanted them to meet the Katagiri's and experience the kindness that I had over the home stay. Even Yuu agreed to come along with us. Hisako and a friend came to help haul us over to the village. She was as full of energy as ever, such a wonderful woman. Once at the village we parked the cars at the new house and took the scenic route over to the old house. I played tour guide as best I could, although I hardly had to say anything about the old house, it was impressive without a word being spoken about it. I took Seth, Alex, and Yuu up to the shrine and then back down the mountain. When we got back to the house food was just starting to be served.

At the house we met Justine, a Canadian that was apparently teaching English locally. She was very friendly, I'd like to talk to her more about how she came to be here. The entire night was filled with amazing food and good fun. I wandered into the kitchen a few times to joke around with Hisako and Nabe-chan. Hisako's husband got drunk once again and had most of the guys drinking with him. Eventually all the food was eaten and the night died down to small talk and joking around. We got together for group pictures, an all too common thing these days, but something we all desire. These pictures along with our memories will more then likely be all that binds our lives together after these last 2 weeks end. Hisako's friend and Nabe-chan drove us back home and we all wandered into our individual apartments.

This ends my first two weeks in Japan. Half of my time here is now over. I haven't regretted a single second of it. Every new experience has been outstanding, I feel like my mind has opened farther than I could ever imagine. 15 days ago I had never travelled overseas, never visited a country where no one spoke my language, never submitted myself to a continuous torrent of new experiences. My only regret now is that I waited until I was 22 to do this. The places I have seen, the people I have met, even the food I have tried, I know has changed me in some way. No matter where I go now I will never see the world the same. We are strangers from the other side of the planet who don't speak the same language, yet tonight I was able to make people smile and laugh, which is one of the best parts of life in my opinion. The definition of friendship has been redefined for me, its a much more powerful thing now. I will spend the next two weeks making these friendship strong enough that they will last forever, that is my dream.

This trip isn't over, I'm not going to countdown the days to the end. I'm going to get up every morning ready for a new adventure, and I'm going to keep going all-out. No regrets, no quitting, no looking back. Live everyday as if we'll never see each other again.

Everyone after a wonderful dinner. I'll never forget
the Katagiri's and their incredible kindness.
Thank you.

Aizu Wakamatsu

Today we gathered outside the apartments to head to Aizu Wakamatsu. The bus showed up around 10 and we headed off. The drive to Aizu Wakamatsu is about an hour and a half from Shibata. Most of us settled into our mp3 players and relaxed on the long drive through the Echigo mountain range. Eventually we reached Aizu Wakamatsu and Nabe-chan (the Nabe-gator) managed to get us only slightly lost. Eventually we did reach our destination.

Aize Wakamatsu Castle was our first stop. It's a feudal era fortress basically that was destroyed during the civil war with the feudal lords. It was rebuilt in the 1960's and now seems to be a popular tourist attraction. After taking a guided tour around the grounds we went inside the castle itself. Inside is a multistory museum dedicated to the history of the castle. We went all the way to the top of the castle which afforded us a great view of the surrounding cities and the mountains that encompassed us. After the museum we had a great lunch in the museum's cafeteria and headed off to our next destination.

Group photo in front of Aizu Wakamatsu Castle

Up next was Aizu Bukeyashiki, which was a restored samurai manor. It was a little boring to tell the truth, most of the stuff there was common in Japanese society. The mixture of gardens was rather relaxing though, and the Coy pond was fun. Outside the manor we got green tea ice cream before getting back on the bus.

Next we drove to the local train station where we boarded a steam engined train which we rode back to just outside Niigata. The ride took us through the mountains and villages of the Niigata countryside. People were out all along the tracks watching the train go by. On board I spent most of my time in the observation car with Seth. The observation car was also used as a little crafts area for kids to keep them occupied. We took plenty of pictures of the scenic views and the kids. Nabe-chan spent a lot of time there too, acting like he was about 8 years old. Saying "hello" to two young girls ended up earning me and Seth two little friends. They didn't talk to us much but they were still fun, following us around the train cars. When we finally got to our station I waved goodbye and received the same in return. Once again, kids here are so flipping awesome.

The Keiwa College bus was waiting for us at the station. We drove back to the apartments where we dispersed. I ended up hanging out in Mike and Seth's apartment the rest of the night, shooting the shit as it were.

School Visits

Today was a field trip to a variety of local schools to catch a glimpse of the Japanese education system below the college level. To be honest, I was a bit reserved about the trip. Experiences with kids in America haven't exactly had the most positive impact on me. However, as everyday is a new in adventure in Japan, so would this day as well. We met Joy, Dr. Hayashibara, and Nabe-chan at the school before heading out.

Our first stop would be Hasuno Elementary School. This was probably the scariest part of the trip for me. Images of hundreds of Japanese children tearing me limb from limb were coming to mind. Needless to say they were more then a little excited at seeing American college students for probably the first time in their lives. They had recess around the time we arrived so we wandered around watching them play and goof around. Many came up to us and messed around, playing around and being kids. We were just in awe of the absolute cute overload. The principal gave us a tour of the classrooms we would be each visiting. I took many pictures as I wanted my sister, an American elementary school teacher, to see what it was like in Japan. After this we went back to the meeting room where we waited for a representative from each class to come and retrieve us.

An adorable little girl came to get me and led me to classroom 3-2 (Third grade, classroom 2). The class was making Sumi, which are Japanese calligraphy. At first everyone was a bit shy, but after a while the bravery kicked in. They had me try a few lines of the sumi-e, which is like painting with a big brush in the simplest sense. The kids were very impressed with my horizontal lines apparently. After this they each presented me with their name in sumi-e (katagana and romanji). As each student handed me their paper they introduced themselves and asked me what my favorite something was. The questions ranged from my favorite book, movie, color, sport, food, and so forth. As I answered the questions the students became more and more interested in me as they found I liked many of the same things they did. My limited Japanese surprised them as well.

After all the sumi-e names were presented (an absolutely awesome gift, I plan on hanging them all up when I get back to America) we talked (tried to) and took many pictures. Then it was time to take me back to the meeting room. The entire class grabbed a hold of me and guided me back downstairs in a mob of Japanese third graders with a 6 foot American at the center. I couldn't stop smiling, it was the cutest thing I have seen in my entire life. Once back at the meeting room I went inside while they all bunched up around the door. I shook hands and gave high fives while saying goodbye. Eventually others had to get in the door as well so we said our final goodbyes and parted. I really miss them, my brief time with them was amazing, something I'll never forget. I can't put into words the effect those kids had on me, other then they are absolutely kawaii (cute) beyond all possible reason.

Me with class 3-2

We ate a school lunch in the meeting room (much more appetizing then the stuff I had back in elementary school) and then got back on the bus for our next stop, Shibata Chuo High School. Shibata Chuo is a private high school located almost next to the Keiwa campus. Two students from one of three classes came to the meeting room and picked us up. Eventually two girls came by to get me and took me to their class where I joined their small group. They all took turns asking me questions in English and I responded as best I could. After a while they took me on a tour of the school and eventually back to the main entrance where all the other groups met up. I asked for them to write down their names (but I can't seem to read their handwriting). After lots of group pictures we boarded the bus and were once again on our way. Although the high school kids weren't as crazy and energetic as the elementary kids, they were still a lot of fun and very enjoyable.

We now headed to Seiro Middle School. This is a brand new public school that is attempting to introduce some American school styles. The two main differences is that students change classrooms with subjects instead of teachers, just like in America. Also, this school has a cafeteria, instead of having the students eat in their classrooms. The school itself is beautiful, built with a clash of modern and traditional. Wood covers almost every surface and emits a warm feeling. We participated in a tea ceremony hosted by the students under the supervision of the Keiwa College tea club. They did an excellent job, but I'll never get accustomed to sitting on my knees for such a long time. After this we were given a tour of the school by the international club. The junior high students were much more quiet and reserved then the high school students, which was understandable. After the tour they thanked us for coming, group pictures were taken, and we were back on the bus, headed for home.

After a short stop at home for a bite to eat we got on a local bus and rode to Shibata Station. From there we walked to the local baseball stadium where we watched the Niigata Albirex (I have no idea how its spelled or what it even means) play some other team. It was a lot like an American minor league game, but both teams weren't exactly very good. The score ended up 2-1 with Niigata winning. It was a pretty enjoyable game, and the food there was very good. We walked back to Shibata Station and then took cabs back home. Back home we relaxed the rest of the night since no Japanese students were around.

This was probably one of the best days of the semester so far, mainly just because of the elementary kids. All the students we met today were polite and kind, great representatives for both their schools and their country. I'm proud that they were all brave enough to talk with and guide foreigners that barely spoke their language. All the JCLP students agreed, this was a great day. I'll never be reserved about meeting Japanese kids ever again, they're amazing.

Happy Birthday Seth

Today would be the last day of actual class for this week, as we have field trips on Friday and Saturday. We spent the morning in Onuma-sensai's class learning colors and object names. We played a game called Color Demon, which is a bit like tag. After class I had lunch with An and Mai-chan. An is very sweet, and she makes me work my Japanese whenever I talk to her. She's a very good teacher. I invited her and Mai to Seth's birthday dinner later that night.

After lunch was Dr. Hayashibara's second culture class. This one dealt with Japanese anime culture. A lot of it was spent discussing what an Otaku is. Otaku is like an obsessed fanboy that does nothing but sit inside a dark room and watch anime day and night. At least that's what Hayashibara told us. He had three examples of anime and I was the only American who had seen them all. I think it was more coincidence then anything, I'm really not otaku.

The anime class was followed by Sue's first year English class. We had volunteered to help with an interview project. First though, we through a short surprise party for Seth, since its his 19th birthday. Then we broke up into pairs and were interviewed by the Japanese students. For freshmen their English was incredible, I was very impressed.

Seth's surprise party, Seth and Nabe-chan.

After class An told me she wouldn't be able to make it to dinner as she had a family emergency, Seth and I made sure everything was alright and told her it was fine. Then we headed to the restaurant for the party. It wasn't just Seth's birthday today, but a Japanese student, Maika, as well. So we ate lots of good Japanese food and had lots of laughs. Afterward we all drove to a local park and brought out birthday cake. Everyone had their picture taken with Seth and after he gave a thank you speech we all headed home. Seth summed up his day as the best birthday ever, and I have to say I'm pretty envious.

Later we just hung out in the apartments talking before finally wandering off to bed.