２月１７日

I have taken pictures that showcase about 1/3 of my daily commute (from my host family's house to the train station) but I don't feel like doing that entry today so you'll have to wait. They're up on Facebook though if you're curious.

This past weekend had some deceptively nice weather, but now it has taken a turn for the cold. Today it even snowed just a tiny bit, for some fleeting minutes and it didn't stay on the ground, of course. I was a little upset by this.

But more importantly, on Sunday I went to Kyoto to play with Jess! After a somewhat confusing time trying to meet up in the underground passageway, we ate yakisoba and takoyaki at Mr.Young Men in Shijo and did a lot of talking in English. We poked around Shijo, and I made some purchases (which I should probably photograph when I get them all set up...) and later in the evening went to "the parfait place" which had these incredible displays in the window:





I think Jess told me you have a time limit of an hour and a half and can have as many as 10 people working on it. Someday I wish to participate in the consumption of one of these. The ones we ate were more modestly sized, but still delicious.

On the train ride home, I was filled with love for Jess and our mutual friends from Oberlin. I came to the conclusion that adventures are meaningless if you can't share them with the people you love the most. I really missed her a lot last semester.

Oh yeah, and I took some pictures of the area surrounding Kansai Gaidai from the 4th story. You can see a little bit of the campus, and the beautiful clouds in the sky on this cold, cold day.

休みの日！

So today was a holiday (National Foundation Day--I just looked it up) which means I went shopping with my host sister, Aika, in the trendy areas of Umeda and Namba. We had a lot of fun and bought a lot of cool things! We also took プリクラ of course. Now I'm going to show them all off! I also put a picture of my cell phone in a post a couple ones back.



It's winter sale time... やばい。


This was from this 300 yen store that sold jewelry that looks really fancy. I was entranced by the little crocheted balls.


Okay sorry this is MySpace-y, but showcased in this picture are the above necklace, this adorable heart-shaped tartan hair clip, and my wool dress I bought at Kyoto Station for 980 yen.

I also bought a pair of fancy tights that are a light blue/turquoise and do that fancy lace thing that I don't really know how to describe, but look super cool layered on top of solid tights. They were only 117 yen so I had to buy them.

プリクラ！ I swear I will never get tired of this.

Yeah we badass. The other ones are all really cute too, but I can't put them on the Internet until I have access to a scanner, which will probably be back at home.

Also, funny story: this afternoon, before Aika and I left, we were hanging around the kitchen and I hear her humming Aqua Timez' Velonica, which is the current Bleach opening. I slyly go, "Aqua Timez?" which resulted in a hilarious conversation between the two of us and Kazuma, who likes to make gentle fun of me for being a nerd since I know a lot of obscure references. (Pretty much everyone I meet is always going なぜ知ってる！ "Why do you know that!") I do a pretty good impression of the Aqua Timez lead singer, too.

Only two more days of classes and then it's the weekend! :D

行こう、この世の果てまで

Today was extremely fulfilling. This week of school had me a little on edge, but a couple reminders and being able to sleep in allowed me to calm down. First, I just have to pass these classes as my grades don't transfer back (just the credit), so if I get an A or a B, it doesn't matter. (Although, I do have to get above a 3.0, and I do have my pride, after all.) But really, there is no reason for me to kill myself preparing for these classes when I know that I am capable enough to do what I need to get myself through and not completely stress out. That being said...

Tomorrow I have to give a speech in speaking class of around 3 minutes. I think I have to do this every week. Mine's about Drag Ball, which I'm not sure is an entirely appropriate topic, but I don't care, I'm from Oberlin. The topic is culture from your own country, lol. But so, I wrote it, I practiced it, and then I went out and played. And I'm going to practice it more tonight, but I'm not going to flip out about it, because I'm smart and goddammit, I'm worth it (that's an old SNL reference by the way, which maybe only my father will get...)

SO, today I went to karaoke with one of my speaking partners Ryoko. She's a big No Doubt fan, so naturally we sang a lot of songs from Tragic Kingdom, because that album is still good. I did my normal fare of the pillows, anime songs, and whatever English ones I could think of (notably, Snow by RHCP, and Reel Big Fish's cover of Take On Me, which was the only RBF song they had... hahaha). Their pillows selection was excellent (I did The Third Eye, この世の果てまで, and Tokyo Bambi). Either I've practiced more, or the speed of my reading comprehension really has improved since I last went with Andy and Kevin a few weeks ago in Sawtelle.

Afterwards, we took some requisite purikura. I was disappointed to discover that I can't get them on my phone because it doesn't have the Internet. But Ryoko sent me the one she had sent to her phone, here it is:

Then I headed on home, and was surprised to find that I was invited to go to the local sentou (public bath) with my host sister Aika and her friend who's staying the night. I had earlier declined their invitation since I was going out, but failed to understand that they were going later. So we went.

We rode these typical Japanese housewife bikes, which at first I had a tough time maneuvering because they're very different from my mountain bike-style bike that I ride around Oberlin on. But once I got the hang of it, it was much easier than my bike, and if it weren't for the crazy drivers on these streets that can barely squeeze a car down them, I would want to ride one of those bikes all the time (watch out, Andy!).

I'd like to take a moment to express my love for Japanese baths. They just do it right. They're super hot, and just feel awesome. There's a lot of etiquette that goes along with it, and in all the signs they have posted about what not to do, it's always a foreigner doin' it wrong. But I like the idea of a public bath on a social front. I think maybe, (maybe this is just gross stereotyping) that Americans are too self-conscious to jump at the idea of getting naked in front of their peers, and complete strangers of all ages. But you know, maybe that's not true. Anyway, I like sentou. Afterwards, Aika bought me some delicious cold milk coffee in a cute glass bottle and it tasted wonderful after that hot bath.

Then we came home and ate the fabulous dinner my host parents cooked (I'm going to do a post on food really soon) and we all talked about language. My host dad speaks very good English and so does Aika, although now she's studying Spanish. Her Spanish pronunciation is near perfect, as the sounds are almost exactly the same as Japanese, which I find fascinating. So we tried to encourage her friend to practice her English (she's enrolled in the same university of economics as my host bro Kazuma, unlike Aika who goes to Kansai Gaidai, thus is very good at English) and we spoke in Japanese, English and a little bit of Spanish. My father would be so proud.

The words of so many of my sempai echoed through my head today: studying abroad is not about studying, it's about experiencing as much of the culture as you can. And I think today I achieved that.

ひきこもり

I was flipping through my lesson packets for my reading and writing class, and the title of the 2nd lesson is ひきこもり： Acute Social Withdrawal.

The first one is on blood types. Yay!

授業など

So I'm nearing the end of my first week of classes, and let's just say that things have been a little hectic so far. My Japanese classes are difficult, but I feel like if I work hard (but hopefully not too hard), I can succeed (or at least not be the worst in the class). I guess I'll back up a little bit...

During the placement test, we were told that if we felt like we scored above a 50% on the last grammar section, we should ask to set up an interview time. Before the test I felt confident enough, but afterwards didn't think there was any way I could qualify (I barely even answered half of the questions). But nonetheless, I received a notice in my mailbox to come see the people in charge for an interview. During the interview, conducted entirely in Japanese except when I didn't understand a word, which was often, I was asked if I liked speaking more than reading/writing. I answered that I liked them both the same, but I guess it's true that I'm better at speaking. So, my speaking class is one level higher than my reading/writing.

I really like my speaking class, and I think I've figured out how to succeed. The real trick is that I have to be able to explain vocabulary definitions and general concepts in Japanese, not using their English equivalent. Obviously, that's very hard, and I definitely feel like I'm a little behind in that respect. But I think if I prepare for class every day, I'll be able to keep up, and I'll definitely get better.

My reading/writing class, however, is not as exciting. It only meets 3 times a week as opposed to speaking's 5, so maybe I just haven't had enough time to bond with the class yet. But so far, it feels like I'm back in 4th grade learning how to introduce a topic, use transitions, and write in an organized fashion. Doing this kind of thing in Japanese sort of terrifies me.

My other two classes are lectures conducted in English, and honestly by the time I get to them in the afternoon, I am beyond relieved to be in my native language again. They are Sexuality and Culture in Japan: Desire, Power, and Social Order and Peace, Development, and Democratization: The Asia Challenge. PDD, as I call it, is intense. Being at Oberlin has made me more aware of what I need to do to keep myself informed about the world, and I think that so far I've done a pretty poor job of that. So, this class will probably kick my butt. But hey, I need those social science credits...

Sexuality looks to be fun, yesterday we watched a scene from Woody Allen's Everything You Always Wanted to Know About Sex * But Were Afraid To Ask (which, in typical fashion, emphasized men's fear of sexual incompetence). I'm hoping to learn some deep, meaningful things about Japan's sexuality. Ha.

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Today I'm going to meet Jess in 伏見稲荷 Fushimi Inari for a festival. What festival, I have no idea (my host mom seemed to know the song that goes with it; my host dad had no idea what it could be). I am now wielding the all-important 携帯 (keitai, cell phone), so that makes these kind of rendezvous feasable. So, that means, if you'd like you can send me mail at siena00@softbank.ne.jp and it will go right to my cell phone, like a text message. This is one of the many reasons why Japan is awesome. My cell phone isn't the most exciting Japanese cell phone ever (far from it), but I guess 外人 can't be choosers.

What is Japan without commercials...

This is my favorite commercial so far, maybe just for Eiji Wentz (he is soooo cute). He's half Japanese, half German-American. He was in the live action Nodame Cantabile as the French student Franz, and he's also a singer, of course. This commercial is a little strange, but Eiji Wentz... three of him.

そうなんや

I posted all of my pictures to facebook, just in case you didn't see and you do facebook.

I have moved in with my host family, the 森田 (Morita) family. I feel right at home sitting on my laptop in their common room, which has 2 laptops, a desktop, and a TV (as my mother would say, everyone is on their screens). Kansai Gaidai had warned us about the possibility of our host families not having the Internet, so I was relieved when it was so easy for me to get hooked up.

But first, some catching up...

The other day, I went out with my other speaking partner Ai and her friend Yoshiko. We went to a Japanese McDonald's, and the two of them searched on their cell phones for the daily coupons and then showed them to the cashier to get a couple yen off on whatever it was they ordered. We talked about movies, and they were impressed by my Japanese. I encouraged them to try out their English since I felt bad for speaking only in Japanese. But you know, it felt like a pretty good position to be in.

The next day was the tour to Kyoto, where a million Japanese Kansai Gaidai students showed up to take a million international students around Kyoto. It was entirely up to us where to go, which was unclear to the international students. I went with some guys I met on the bus ride from the airport and our Japanese counterparts, 3 girls named Haruka, Mami, and Nana. Haruka is from Kyoto so she knew her way around. We tried to go to some shrines but they were mostly closed. We ended up at this famous dessert shop that Haruka had always wanted to try but had never been able to get into because the line was always so long. It was the mecca of green tea-flavored sweets. This picture is a little blurry but you get the idea...



Afterwards we did some プリクラ which is always a favorite of mine. But then the best part of the day came because I was reunited with Jess.



We met up in a Shakey's, which was all you can eat, and actually pretty good. I won't even bother to go into detail about our meeting (I'm sure you can see the ecstasy written on my face), because surely almost anyone who knows me knows how much I love Jess. But if you don't, Jess is my BFF from Oberlin and we met in Japanese 101 our freshman year. She's studying in Kyoto this year and I hadn't seen her since I took her to the airport in late August (she came to visit me in LA) to fly away to Japan. I spent a lonely semester without her in Oberlin. But now we are reunited. Except she's going to Tokyo for her break, haha. But we'll be reunited for Valentine's Day, I'm sure. Last year, she gave me a pear and a note that said "We make a great PEAR" so I'm not sure how she's going to top that. Maybe by making me homemade chocolates like the rest of the girls in Japan. Maybe I'll do a post about Japanese Valentine's Day when the time comes. But I digress...

And then, on Saturday, I met my host family and moved in with them in 守口市 (Moriguchi City) about a half-hour train ride from the Kansai Gaidai stop (and then plus a little, for walking to and from each station). They're a big family; parents, 3 kids around my age, and a grandmother (おばあちゃん）. My host dad Hiro "studied" abroad in San Diego when he was in college (I say "studied" because he told me that he went to Mexico every weekend and got drunk) and it clearly impacted his life very much. He said they've hosted 30+ students for 15 or so years, since their oldest (Kazuma, who's 21 and works as a sushi chef at a popular local restaurant in addition to attending a university of economics [I can feel my grasp of English grammar slipping]) was very little. So, his English is very good and he's very eager to talk to me in English all the time. I try and pipe in with my Japanese, and while they tell me I'm very good, listening to their daily conversation and the television reminds me that I've still got a ways to go.

Today was very cold, and that was a little sad. I was video chatting with Andy today (!) and said that it wasn't quite long underwear weather, but then when I went outside I realized I was wrong. It's not cold enough to snow, and it won't snow, but it's close.

Tomorrow I start class, and we'll see if I can live up to where I placed and all this general praise. I placed into speaking level 6 and reading/writing level 5, both out of 7. I've been hesitant to brag about it too much since I might be completely out of my league. I have 2 or 3 weeks to prove myself. We'll see what happens. 頑張ります。