Epic 5: 関西

This weekend was a tour to the Kansai region. I originally had plans to travel to Osaka with some friends, but one of those friends had financial issues with the bank back in the States (issues I understand completely, as I will document below >.<), so I decided to sign up for the tour instead. Yamasa tours are a lot of fun, and you get to see a lot of stuff, but they're very draining and very hectic. Sacrificing freedom and your own schedule does get you a steep discount on travel costs and meals, and they will take you places that would be very difficult (and expensive) to reach on your own via taxi or obscure train route. This particular one started off on the wrong foot, as I had to commute from my host family's house to the pickup point in the pouring rain. I also had not received my confirmation voucher at this time, so I was actually rather freaked out wondering whether or not they'll even come by to pick me up. Colin did eventually show up with the van courtesy of Declan, and we were off.

Fortunately, unlike the last tour, everyone coming along this time was a native English speaker which made communication both easy and relaxing as for once I didn't have to worry about the "JP Onry" rule that pretty much runs my life at this point between school rules and the fact that Japanese really is the only shared language among many of the students here. I don't know Chinese (more than 60% of the students here seem to speak it as a native language), so there's no other way to communicate. I certainly write more English than I speak on a daily basis - which is conductive to the learning environment I suppose, but can be extremely demoralizing at times. It tends to make one feel more isolated than one would normally feel in a country where you are already a minority (and in some cases a freak show). It's something you get used to but can shellshock you on occasion if you're not ready for it. I know enough Japanese to be able to communicate what I need to in a wide variety of situations, so it's not really a problem, but it still can be intimidating at times.

Our first stop was the rain-soaked Sekigahara region, marking the location of the Battle of Sekigahara in 1600. The battlefield itself wasn't much to see, but a lot happened here. This battle was a huge turning point in what would be one of the longest running and most famous shogunates of Japan - the Tokugawa Shogunate. As I learned from one of the guides, Tokugawa Ieyasu, winner of Sekigahara and first shogun of the Tokugawa line, really does not have a good reputation amongst many Japanese. He was viewed as a "schemer", someone who hung back until the opportunity arose for him to take power. In reality, he actually kept promises to those who served him, and there were many men willing to fight to the death for him because of it.

The rain kept us from enjoying the misty mountain views atop the battlefield site for long, but we did get to hear the entire story of the battle in English in the museum down the road. One thing about Japanese museums - even if there are no signs anywhere that say it, don't pull out your camera. Apparently there is an unspoken rule that picture taking in museums is forbidden. I found this out the hard way when a little Japanese lady working for the museum came running up to me with her arms crossed in the "batsu" symbol, glaring at my camera and apologizing but still insisting that the camera gets put away. I put it away but was still irked enough to not buy any souvenirs at the place. Everyone else was smart and used their phones, which were a little less obvious than my digital camera.

We then stopped at a few more temples and had lunch along the banks of a river in Kyoto. One of the guides mentioned that Nintendo headquarters was right down the street and I suddenly realized what Shigeru Miyamoto (the man who created Mario) meant when he said in an interview that he could bike to work every day. The place is just gorgeous. Mountain scenery, non-crowded roads lined with shops and restaurants, and lots of riverboats - some restaurants themselves. It didn't really seem like a rich area, but a peaceful one. An area reeking of tradition and begging to be explored fully. Seeing the scenery around here made it really obvious to me how someone growing up in an area like this could get inspired creatively.

But we weren't here for Miyamoto. We were here for Murasaki (Shikibu), author of The Tale of Genji. Apparently ten chapters of the novel, the English translation of which I read back in college, took place at one of the temples around the gorgeous river-street. I don't remember much about The Tale of Genji but I do remember it was really messed up. Actually, most of the historical and contemporary stories I read for my Japanese Literature class were really messed up, but I could write a whole blog entry just on that topic. The temple was certainly interesting to see, but a lot of the temples are starting to blend together at this point and it's getting hard to remember exactly what happened where.

Our last stop before heading into town was Ishiyama temple, where The Tale of Genji was (allegedly) written. They even have a little animatronic Murasaki Shikibu writing away in a little corner of the temple where the book was supposedly written. Personally, while I recognize the literal significance of that novel, I found it a little odd and off-putting to have a robot at a Buddhist temple. It just seemed too "touristy" for me.

One other thing I learned here, which is something relatively fascinating, is that the koi in a lot of the temple ponds have an average lifespan of 180 years. The biggest problem for them is skin cancer, which is why they try to keep the ponds shaded in a lot of areas. I had no idea a fish could live that long - particularly if it's fed as well as the temple koi are. You learn something new every day.

In Kyoto we had delicious yakitori at a small place down an alley in the Gion district (a.k.a. World Geisha Headquarters) and explored the surroundings. I had a very interesting conversation with one of the guys who does a lot of the staffing for Yamasa about organizational problems that can occur when developing software, and realized I'm more knowledgeable than I feel most days at my job, and yes, that is a good thing. We had drinks at a couple more places and saw a shrine to Susano-oh (my favorite character of Japanese mythology) lit up at night before returning to the hotel - which was fully Japanese style, a separate futon on the floor for each person, and VERY comfortable. The guys were all in one room and all the girls in another, so unfortunately I had to deal with snores coming from both sides, but at that point I was so exhausted that I really stopped caring.

The next day was Ninna-ji garden, a used kimono shop, and a nice (if unusual) Western-style breakfast where they managed to ruin the bacon by smothering it in ketchup, along with the breakfast sausage. Okay, fine, if you're going to ruin something, ruin the sausage, but leave the bacon well enough alone. It doesn't need your help, thank you.

Osaka was far away, and by the time we got there we didn't have a lot of time to eat. One of the guides picked out a tempura place and then proceeded to order tons and tons of raw seafood, which was very hit or miss. Some of it was delicious, some was edible but barely, and some of it was just bizarre - like slimy, whole mini squid or some kind of drink made of kombu. The other guide and I were both relatively irked that we went to a tempura bar and almost no tempura was ordered by the time we left. I was mad enough that I decided to buy some takoyaki at the nearest takoyaki stand on our way back to the car. Osaka is famous for takoyaki which is - for the uninformed - little balls of savory dough seared golden brown with generous pieces of cooked octopus on the inside. I know how weird it sounds to other Americans, but octopus is actually not that bad and is one of the few seafoods that doesn't taste fishy at all.

Ordering street food creates a problem, and it's one that we take for granted in the States. Despite how clean Japan is, they really don't have many garbage cans around that aren't for businesses only. And so, when you order a messy food like takoyaki and then have a piece of takeout garbage oozing with onions and sauce, there's no place to throw it out. With drinks it's not really a problem as you can just put the bottle away until you find a place to put it, but drippy, messy food containers are a huge pain in the neck. I couldn't throw out the takoyaki wrapper until arriving at a rest stop about 40 minutes after getting on the road back to Okazaki, stinking up the car in the process.

Interlude 5: Byouki

So yes, I'm aware I haven't written for quite some time again. But I have a very, VERY good reason. For the last few days, I've been fighting off the most egregious case of food poisoning I've ever had. For those people ever planning on traveling abroad, let me explain that food poisoning in an unfamiliar country is one of the most torturous experiences one can encounter during a trip. Multiply that torture a few dozen times if you have a daily commute that you have to make during your trip (as I do - 40 minutes of walking and up to an hour total depending on train times).

For me, the whole thing started with a seemingly innocent lunch bento. Homestay only includes breakfast and dinner, so you are still responsible for any food you want over lunch break at YAMASA. So, Tuesday I decide to go to my usual lunchtime spot - a nearby supermarket named DOMY. DOMY is, without equal, one of the cleanest looking supermarkets I have ever seen, in Japan or otherwise. Everything smells fresh and is well-organized. Unlike with most Japanese supermarkets, not a hint of fish scent oozes out of the seafood section. Therefore, I had no concerns whatsoever about eating lunch regularly there. For two weeks I had no problems eating lunch there daily, choosing a small pork cutlet and vegetarian sushi for lunch. Tuesday, however, I tried something different. I was feeling particularly stupid after class that day and noticed a gigantic chicken katsu (fried cutlet) on sale for 198 yen, served with cabbage. Being in a bad mood I decided to choose that unhealthy option (actually cheaper than my usual sushi choice) and then head back to school where I promptly consumed both the chicken and the cabbage.

Little did I know that there was something lurking within...

That very night it came back to haunt me with a vengeance. I'll remember this forever, because it was that very chicken katsu that managed to wake me up just in time for the Nintendo E3 conference stream at 1AM JST with the worst case of indigestion ever. Not being able to sleep, I decided to go ahead and watch the conference in hopes that something about the Wii Vitality Sensor would dull my senses and put me into a boredom-induced coma. Instead, I got to see the 3DS unveiled in its delicious 3D glory as my stomach turned cartwheels and bounced up and down inside my abdomen.

My next mistake was the next morning when, despite the fact I felt more or less like I had the flu, decided it would be a good idea to try and go to class. I managed to make the hellish commute - which hurt pretty much every step of the way as I struggled NOT to be the crazy huge sickly gaijin that puked all over traincar 4 on the Aichi Loop Line - and ended up in class clutching my stomach. I was able to endure about two periods worth of class (I had to stay as long as possible because there was a test the next day) and then couldn't hold on any longer. So it was back to the homestay via another long and painful commute. My host family was gravely worried, in particular when I woke up a few hours after returning home, briefly forgetting where I was, and began mumbling in English.. "I really needed to sleep..." My host mother panicked and asks me in Japanese if I needed to go to the hospital. I snapped out of it and replied that I was probably OK, as I had food poisoning in the US before too and it had a similar feeling to this. She was really confused when she asked what I ate that could have caused this, and I replied that it was DOMY's chicken katsu. I find out later that someone else from YAMASA had recently gotten food poisoning from a DOMY bento. Wish I would have known about that before.

A note if you get sick in Japan: you can't buy medicine at a grocery store. You have to go to a kusuri-ya (drugstore, like Walgreens) in order to get anything that will fix what ails you. Now here's the problem. I'm not feeling well. And I'm already feeling beaten to death over finding out just how little Japanese I actually DO know, even after studying it for so long... how the heck am I supposed to deal with this? Of course I can ask someone where something is at the store. The concern I was trying to ignore at the time was avoiding giving the kusuri-ya clerk a story to tell when this sickly looking gigantic gaijin comes plowing into his store meekly asking for geri-dome (anti-diarrheal agent). Yeah. Great. Eventually I sucked it up and got the medicine, thanks to my host mother pointing out exactly where the kusuri-ya closest to the house was located.

Today I am fully recovered and about 5 pounds lighter than before the food poisoning. Actually, none of my pants fit anymore. They've been gradually getting larger, but now they are all far too big. My next problem... where to find a gaijin-sized belt in Okazaki...........

Epic 4: 変な日本

So it has been a while since my last entry, and for that I apologize, but things have been moving fairly quickly ever since I moved in with the Hyoudou family. To me, it's just been one thing after another, slowly finding my way around the customs and expectations of the people in the household. In general, things are pretty laid back - everyone is very nice (except the kitty, which runs whenever she hears me moving around...makes me sad) and the food and conversation thus far has been quite wonderful. The biggest problem I encountered so far is figuring out how the shower works. I had a bit of a shellshock when I went into the bathroom to take a shower at 6AM only to find a traditional Japanese washbowl and faucet waiting for me. There was a showerhead too, but no matter what I tried, the damn thing wouldn't go on. I wasn't about to ask my host mother or anyone else how to use it （シャワーを使い方教えて下さい。。。）, so I improvised and washed up with the bowl and stool, 日本人 style. It was...weird.

Fortunately I discovered on the second day how the thing actually works. Next to the lever that controls the faucet there's a diagram that shows a picture of the shower head on the left, the kanji for "stop" in the middle, and a picture for the faucet on the right. Now even though I turned the faucet all the way to the left before, I failed to account for the fact that the "off" position is actually with the lever facing to the right. Once I figured this out, turning the faucet into the "up" position actually sent water to the showerhead.

It's very interesting talking with my host family because they are most certainly cultured even though rooted in Japanese tradition. They have multiple DS systems and are trying to practice English using them. Helping the daughter with spelling while she was using the English Trainer DS made me realize just how painful our language must be to people who are coming from a phonetic language (such as Japanese). Phonics, sounds like "th", "ck", "sh", etc., don't make sense to them because every syllable in the Japanese language (with one exception) is a vowel-consonant pair. There are no "short" and "long" vowels in Japanese. An "a" will always sound like "ah", for example, not "ah" or "ey". Extended vowels (like our double "ee" or "ie", etc.) are always written the same way and sound the same way. Double consonants also give them trouble because it simply doesn't make sense phonetically.

It was interesting that the spelling mistakes they were making are pretty similar to the ones young kids make back in the states... "plees" for "please", for example.

Then again, I'm having trouble wrapping my head around some of the more complicated parts of the Japanese language, especially since this course is turning out to be a turbocharged version of my college course on Japanese linguistics. Japanese classes for 25 hours a week, most of which deals with exceptions that I never knew existed or only slightly understood the rules. This course is certainly building my vocabulary and giving me a stronger grammar base, but it's making me more hesitant to speak (at least in class, for fear of being completely wrong). It's something I need to get over, because as I've learned from the time with my host family, I can most certainly be understood. It's the teachers' job at Yamasa to tell us if our answer was not 100% grammatically correct.

I found an arcade fairly close to my host family's home, and I gather it may even be walking distance. So yes, finally, I have located a BlazBlue Continuum Shift machine if I ever need a fix. Fortunately the console version is due not too long from now, so I won't need it for much longer.

This weekend I went to Nagoya with some friends and may have extended travel plans. Next weekend we're planning to visit Osaka and the week after that, Tokyo (Disneyland) and a ryokan. One of my friends wants to try to get into the Ginza Vampire Cafe...we'll see how that goes...

A few weird things:

1.) Natto (a.k.a. fermented soybeans) which are apparently "good for your health" taste like nuts at first but the rancid aftertaste of something which has been partially fermented is a bit too strong for me.

2.) I tried Natsu Dango (summer) proving once again that mochi is evil, no matter how tasty the filling may be. Deliciously themed dumplings of blueberry, peach, and mango were silenced by the overwhelmingly chewy, gooey, sticky mochi mess. I don't think there's any way to make that stuff good.

3.) Breakfast today, courtesy of my host mother: hot dogs. But not what you're expecting, oh no. One "hot dog" was made of breakfast sausage, ketchup, and lettuce on a bun. The other was a hard boiled egg and cucumber on a bun. Served with a side of soup and fresh kiwi. Weirdest breakfast I have ever had.

4.) Nagoya is home to one of Japan's finest creations: The Bacon Wrapped Onigiri. Yes it exists, and yes, it's as good as it sounds. A salted rice ball wrapped in a large layer of bacon seared over a charcoal grill, then basted in a sweet soy-glaze and topped with sesame seeds. Mmmmmm...heaven. Proof once again that bacon wins against all. We need to find a way to integrate bacon and sushi. Not raw bacon though.

Interlude 4: Kazoku

Well, I am happy to report that today's speaking test definitely seemed (note I'm saying SEEMED) to go better than the last ones. I blame my lack of familiarity with the testing procedure for my problems on the first speaking exam. Taking my time, thinking through each answer carefully, and then answering with the appropriate response worked a lot better this time around than blurting out the first thing that came to mind and hoping somehow the Shinto gods would turn it into competent Japanese. The one thing I dislike about this testing procedure is that it discourages creativity, and this is true for one very important reason:

They are evaluating your speaking ability, and the more you speak, the more mistakes you're gonna make.

Japanese people are raised on "cram and spitback" procedural exams, not on creative answers. So creatively answering a question and trying to speak more Japanese than required will only screw you over in the end. That's what class is for, not the tests. This makes sense when looking at things from a Japanese mindset and I probably should have anticipated something like that would occur.

I played hookie this afternoon (yeah, I know) in order to pack and prepare to move to my host family's house. Admittedly I was worried sick because I wasn't sure what I was getting myself into, how far away they would be from the school, what kind of commute I'd have to take to get there, etc... plus I wanted to make sure I didn't accidentally leave anything in the room. After packing up and getting picked up, I was moved into the host family's home, a few miles away from the school and a 10-minute ride by train.

The family is wonderful. The grandmother is very nice and seemed relieved that I could speak Japanese. According to her, the last student that was hosted by them could not speak a word of Japanese and didn't really want to use the stuff she was taught in class in order to communicate, instead relying on English and hand signs. I must look like a superstar to them.

The parents are both very nice. The mother is a housewife and the father works at Mitsubishi Motors. Pretty typical Japanese arrangement. They are in their early 40's and own what I think is a VERY nice house by Japanese standards. It's very tall, and each floor is relatively small in size (similar to the big game centers in Tokyo). Each floor has one or two rooms only and a small, narrow staircase leading to yet another floor. There are at least four floors in this place but I'm only going where I've been shown out of courtesy.

The 6-year-old daughter, though she appeared nervous when first meeting me, is not shy. Gaijin that are the size of Godzilla apparently don't scare her, as it only took me an hour of being here before she popped into my room with her fashion game on her DS and started talking to me. She is Japanese cuteness personified and I think I'm going to learn quite a bit of Japanese from just talking with her and the others in the house. I am told that the others that stayed here were mostly otaku, so I'm going to do my best to make sure that I leave a good impression of both Yamasa and Ameritaku (yes I just made that up and I'm keeping it) by the time I leave. I'm very much looking forward to what is going to be a life-changing experience for me.

はじめまして！　　＾＿＾

Interlude 3: Tanjyoubi x Shuumatsu

I haven't written in a while, mainly because I've been so busy. Thursday was my first exam and - although I did very well on the written portion - I bombed the speaking. I think it was a combination of not knowing what to expect and the sensei typing out everything I'm saying (including the interjections) on a laptop as she's asking me questions. I was so nervous that I drew a blank...similar to what I guess most people would call "stage fright" although I never get stage fright on stage... and couldn't speak. The garbage Japanese that blurted out of my mouth at that point was completely incorrect, and I felt very bad after exiting the testing room and realizing just how badly I probably did.

So not only did I have a lousy test on my birthday, but the following conversation in class was about Japanese funerals - how ironic. Though I really shouldn't beat myself up too much about that test, I feel that as a 4-year student I should have done better. The important thing is that I know what to expect in a speaking test now and will be fully prepared. The biggest clue I could have given myself ahead of time would be to relax, gather your thoughts, and then speak. Don't blurt out the first thing that comes to your mind.

In the evening some friends met me for dinner, and we went to Aeon and had some delicious tempura and played around in the game center for a while. Not a bad way to spend my first birthday in Japan.

On Friday we reviewed the ~ba form, which is fortunately something I'm quite familiar with. There are many more exceptions to using it then I remember, though. I know all those exceptions are going to be on the next test. I have come up with a new gameplan for handling the material here. Even though most of it is going to be review, the fact of the matter is I need to come to class prepared to speak it. Thus I will be spending the majority of my time each morning before class doing preparations for the day's class rather than reviewing the material from the class before. I think this will make me more effective.

This weekend we went to Okazaki Castle and the culture center, where there are free conversation classes in Japanese for foreigners on Saturdays and Sundays. We did conversation drills in this lesson that were very similar to the ones covered in class, but at a slower pace. I will be attending these lessons weekly. I also took a few pictures at a cosplay event held in that same culture center today. Cosplay in Japan isn't as crazy as most people would have you believe - it's about on par with the stuff here. There was a really decent Zero from Code Geass and a clown on stilts, along with the usual assortment of catgirls and lolis. This evening I'm doing some preparation for tomorrow's classes and watching a few episodes of Japanese action shows and dramas. It looks like rain so it doesn't seem like a nice evening for going out.

Epic 3: 強くなりたい

I have a lot to say and not a lot of time to say it. After my first day of class finished up, I was sort of dreading a long and uneventful weekend before things finally got rolling on Monday. However, things didn't quite end up that way. After returning to the student village I ran into a few people who I've seen around and was invited to go karaoke with them. I was admittedly quite thrilled because ever since the first night here I haven't really been out and about all that much - just going to school, grabbing dinner, and coming back home.

Although I totally stink, it was a lot of fun. This place is great. Far less expensive than the one in Shibuya that I went to before in Tokyo, and they actually give you all-you-can-drink soda and tea during your karaoke session. Yes, really. They also have special pricing where for approx. $20 per person you can karaoke as long as you want as long as at least one room is available to other guests.

I also signed up for a tour to Kobe and Nara which happened over the weekend. Although usually temples and shrines aren't necessarily my thing, I did want to make a return visit to Kobe, and plus an overnight trip sounded like a lot of fun. And it was. It really, really was.

The person who drove us around, Colin-sensei, is a cool guy. A former Yamasa student and now married to a teacher who is from the area, he is actually far past the "bitter gai(koku)jin" phase of living in Japan and had a lot of really good insight into Japan, its people, and its culture during the trip. He is also a huge Star Wars nerd and spent a lot of time debating semantics of the "extended universe" (known to the rest of us as 'the books') in terms of what is and is not technically canon material.

I couldn't remember the names of all the places we visited if it killed me, but there were some really cool highlights. And low-lights, I suppose.

Highlights:

1.) The temples we saw were absolutely gorgeous, including the one where Last Samurai Was filmed. That one required you to take a gondola up a mountain in order to access the grounds. How often do you get to see something like that? Not very often. Todaiji, too, which is self-explanatory. Largest wooden building in the world.

2.) The people that took the trip with me were all very cool. It was nice to get to know a couple of my non-English-speaking classmates a bit better as it lessens the "gap" between the chugokugo speakers and the eigo speakers.

3.) A crazy, tightrope-walking Japanese magician performing in the "foreigner district" square of Kobe. Now when I say "foreigner district" I mean the OLD foreigner district, where there are Western-style houses and embassies from hundreds of years ago that are now museums.

4.) Pasta in Japan that did not have ketchup on it, was actually tasty, and was Western-style.

5.) Rest stops in Japan are awesome and have better food than most sit-down places in the States. No I'm not kidding. They have just about everything you can think of, and it tastes really good.

6.) Talking to the locals in a pub in Himeji.

7.) Deducing enough from an all-kanji menu to order food and help other people order food gave me a huge high.

Lowlights:

1.) Making a wrong turn in Himeji when looking for somewhere to eat at night and ending up on what one person in the group called "Rape Road"...basically a seedy, dirty, grimy alleyway which seemed to have a lot of Gentlemen's Clubs and other businesses of questionable ethic...and sadly also the only place in the general area with any sort of restaurants at all. Both myself and the other American who went on the trip had a really bad feeling about the places we were walking, but the girls couldn't decide on a place to eat and chivalry dictates we stay with them until they do and just try to ignore the possible yakuza giving us the stink-eye from across the street.

2.) Getting poked and prodded in places by the locals in the pub in Himeji who were trying to compare sizes of hands, shoes, and yes, other stuff too. Once they reached into my personal space, I called it quits for the night and went back to the hotel. Apparently I was the only one that had this issue. They didn't bug Colin or Will. Just me. Grr.

3.) The hills of Kobe make your feet hurt. But at least it's good exercise.

4.) No matter how good the company, being stuck in a Japanese-designed minivan for 4-5 hours at a time is not comfortable.


After returning last night, I went to class today and had what was the single most intense Japanese lesson I have ever had. Most of it was review...actually the sensei pulled me aside after class to ask if I had seen the stuff before. Yes, actually everything covered in "Minna no Nihongo II", I most certainly have studied, and been tested on, before. The bigger problem is that because I haven't studied the language officially (just on my own time) for the past 5 years, my conversation is weak. Reading and comprehending is fine. The issue is with speaking. Fortunately, this program is specially designed to remedy that problem. I suppose it's nice that I don't have to worry about new grammar points, but the way they use joshi (particles) and continually test/attempt to trick you over and over again is going to drill the fundamentals into me. In a lot of ways it's going to make my Japanese much less sloppy.

The bad part about being in SC class though is that I don't get access to the chukyu stuff, like the "Nihongo Cafe" where you can interact with local residents. One of my biggest balks with this program is that although you're forced into using Japanese with other gaijin, there really isn't much ability to interact with native speakers other than class and at stores ... you know, buying stuff. You can only order food in so many different ways before you realize you're getting zero practice.

That's not to say the classes are bad or not worthwhile. I'm on the hunt for some programs that will allow me face time with some locals without sounding forced. I was really, really upset earlier today when I heard Nihongo Cafe wasn't open to SC, and I'm not here long enough to where testing into chukyu would matter (if I do all the modules, the test will happen right before I leave to return to Minnesota)... 無理. Hence my little outburst earlier.

I feel better now though. I do wish I would have retained more, but I am learning quite a bit. Doing the math, each day of classes here is equivalent to about a week of Japanese at college and that doesn't include the time speaking it outside of class or the fact that I'm going to be on a homestay in less than two weeks. This place truly is Japanese Boot Camp.

絶対に強くなれる！

Interlude 2: The Big Leagues

As I mentioned in my last note, I am currently in the city of Okazaki, Aichi preparing for my placement exams tomorrow. The first day at Yamasa has been a whirlwind - I've met a lot of people, moved into a dorm room, shown the general area, and relaxed at an izakaya. And then I woke up at 5AM this morning.

Today I spent a few hours studying, which I need to get back to shortly.

Apparently the school's definition of "intermediate" studies is between JLPT level 3 and 2 - basically where I want to be. Because of this, however, there is a chance that depending on the content of the placement test I may be finishing up beginner lessons. There are two sections of the test that worry me - first is keigo (a.k.a. polite and humble speech) and the second deals with the use of the Japanese passive voice, which is a bit in-depth to discuss here. I've reviewed both today and though I feel fairly confident I have no idea what to expect. I passed JLPT 3 with flying colors back in December, and I have no idea how many questions I need to answer correctly to pass this test. I do know that the format is similar to the JLPT which is a good thing as it means I've been studying the correct material.

Other than that, I spent the day exploring and wandering a bit, trying to figure out where things are. As such, I had a lot of time to myself today to think. Admittedly I used to complain about the hustle and bustle of Tokyo, but this place is altogether different and at this point I'm undecided on whether I like it more or less. Everything is spread out - requiring much more walking - and relying on English in a pinch is no longer an option. As far as trial-by-fire language experience is concerned, I'm in the big leagues now.

I suppose I am starting to feel a little homesick. I miss my girlfriend, and my cat. I've been in Japan for almost a full week now, and tomorrow classes begin. I'm meeting a lot of people but I'm still not sure who my "friends" will be, so the next few days are going to be very interesting. There is a certain "camaraderie" among the students here in that we all have a common interest though we may not even be able to converse outside of the Japanese language. I've met people from all over the world already, and I'd say about half of them don't speak a word of English. It makes this school very unique, though I will say you can only experience as much as you allow yourself to.

The other Americans I've met, save one, are a perfect example of the species as far as the rest of the world is concerned. These guys are boisterous and nonchalant. They don't even bother trying communicating with the other students in Japanese outside of class, and aren't really interested in learning anything at all. Considering how much I'm paying to be here and how much I'm trying to experience in a short time, every time one of these guys opens his mouth it makes me cringe. My guess? College kids, and their parents are most likely footing the bill for them to come here to "study".

But I'm not them, so I don't let it get to me. Tomorrow, it begins.

Epic 2: 外人クエスト

Apologies for the delay in writing the next entry, but I've been pushed and pulled from event to event and really haven't had a lot of time to think about anything. I am sitting here writing this entry IN OKAZAKI, having made the trip successfully from Tokyo. I am rather exhausted after three+ hours of train rides, too, and I have a tip that there's going to be a rather nasty honorific/humble conjugation portion of the placement exam on Thursday, so I really need to start reviewing that soon.

In the meantime, here's a recap of what happened over the last few days.

On Saturday, I met with my uncle's associates and they took me to Senso-ji temple in the Asakusa ward of Tokyo. It was amazingly huge - as in larger than anything I've ever seen - including all the temples and shrines we visited in Kamakura. I also got to enjoy a plate of the best tonkatsu I have EVER had. After touring Senso-ji, they wanted to take me to Akihabara, too, but I declined - simply because I did not want to shop when hauling around two grown Japanese men that I could tell really didn't want to be there in the first place. Finishing my outing with them early opened up a couple of options for the afternoon - unfortunately I didn't take either of them. I made the mistake of lying down and ended up passing out at 4PM, causing a rather rude awakening at 5AM the next day. Nothing a little Japanese Home Shopping Network couldn't fix though... after turning that junk on, I was out like a light again within a half hour

Now, Sunday was planned. I took the time out to check into reservations for Luida's Bar: Dragon Quest - the closest thing Square-Enix has to an amusement park in the entire world (or so I thought). Turns out that on Sundays you don't need reservations, you just show up at a particular time (they told me 11:38) and you get in. Fair enough, right? No. Something didn't smell right. In fact, it downright stunk. Gaijin sense activated.

So, with my gaijin senses tingling, I boarded a train to Roppongi not one, but TWO hours early...even though it was raining quite hard in Tokyo at the time. I don't know exactly what it was, but something was telling me this was a good idea, even if it meant I would have had to camp somewhere until the place opens. About a half hour after disembarking at Roppongi, I find Luida's Bar. Lo and behold, my gaijin sense was SPOT ON. Not only were there people already waiting, but there were A LOT of people waiting. The line stretched past the place, past the place next to it, and down a flight of stairs underneath the building. Fortunately I was one of the last lucky people to get a spot in line outside of the rain. Every single person in this line as far as I could tell had a DSi XL and a copy of Dragon Quest Monsters: Joker 2 (which doesn't mean much to a lot of you - it is a $70 Dragon Quest spinoff DS game that just came out over here, that is all you need to know), and the ones that noticed me appeared a bit confused by my presence. I think one guy even took a picture of me with his phone but I really have no idea why. Maybe it was my imagination, or maybe he was photographing the line.

In any case, at about 11:38, after approximately another hour of waiting in line and mooching on Square Enix wifi, a server comes out of the restaurant and begins a fluent Japanese barrage from the top of the stairs that I could only hear pieces of. This was partially because he was going so fast, and partially because the volume of the echo was louder than the actual speech from where I was standing. What I was able to catch is this. Basically we've been waiting in line for a SPOT to get into the bar at a specific time, not to get into the bar right now. Apparently the sooner you line up, the better slot you get. So I get to the front of the line and get asked what time I want to come back (the bar was already at capacity for the first session). I asked what the soonest available was, and was told 13:00. It was 11:45 now.

I take my ticket and start scouting around Roppongi for something to kill a couple of hours. Lo and behold, there is a McDonalds right down the street. I go inside and order a large fountain pop, which is actually refreshing since I've spent just about all morning waiting in line for a spot at Luida's. They had lots of seating upstairs so I took a seat, sipped my Coke Zero, and ran Kanji cards/played a few games on my iPhone for an hour. Then it's back to the line. I'm first this time, and out of the rain. The server from before returns to the line and hands out the faux velvet-covered menus. I take a look and choose my order.

Hmm... let's see.

Slime-shaped meat bun (check).
Goddess fruit (check).
Medal pizzas (scary, but they look tasty, check).
Fried monster mix (check).

And for drinks:
Something blue and alcoholic that didn't have a dragon quest name, and
A non alcoholic "elf potion" in an actual potion-shaped bottle.

They eventually let us in. Dragon Quest music is blaring. Two waitresses in DQ outfits are getting everything ready and I get two deer-in-headlights OMG-DON'T-MAKE-ME-SPEAK-ENGLISH expressions as I am guided to my table. The bar is standing-room-only quite literally, as there is no room for chairs. It turns out they only let 25 people in at a time and then close the bar, let 25 more in, etc. In this way only 150 or so customers can visit them each day, and they manage to fill every time due to the artificial demand (and the fact that it's Dragon Quest, which over here is like a religion).

I give my order and go to the register to pay, as that's how it's done here - and then return to my table to find one of the waitresses waiting for me. She asks me if I like DQ, to which I reply that most of the current games aren't out yet. My Japanese is still fairly broken at this time - I'm just now getting it back now a few days later - but of course I get comments about how good it is. DQVIII is my favorite game in the series, and only one of three I've actually played. Another waitress gets on a microphone and revs the crowd into a frenzy about Dragon Quest Monsters: Joker 2 and asks them to trade items with each other if they brought their DSes. She also mentioned it was okay to take pictures anywhere in the restaurant, which was really nice as most themed places don't let you do it.

So the food comes. Most of it is fairly decent but not worth the price of admission. I had a couple of good conversations with the waitresses, one of which is trying to get on a study abroad program to the US, but otherwise, it was fairly uneventful. I'm glad I went though, if for no other reason than to be able to say I went. I then had a very nice dinner yesterday with my blue-op team and found out a few interesting things about them too. I won't go into details except to say it makes me feel a little more sane to know that other people think the same way as Lisa and I do.

Interlude 1: Katsuobushi

Ahh, bonito. Or in Japanese, katsuobushi.

These fish flakes are responsible for seasoning 99% of Japanese cuisine. Deliciously subtle when prepared right, disgustingly fishy for Western palates when prepared wrong or in too great of quantities. If you don't like fish and you plan on coming to Japan, unfortunately you will have to live with it. However, if you are unaware of the fact that most dishes are seasoned with fish stock, you will most likely not be able to deduce this fact.

Those familiar with Japanese cuisine may know what I'm talking about, but let me explain for the rest of us. These flakes are either on everything, or in everything, to some degree. Ramen? Yep. Sukiyaki broth? You betcha. Inari? Yep, sorry. Gyuudon (or any donburi for that matter?) There too. Many other dishes are also topped with them - such as yakisoba noodles and okonomiyaki. These flakes were singlehandedly responsible (along with a douche waitress) for making sure Lisa and I would never return to the only (real) sushi restaurant in Rochester. I will spare the details here but needless to say that when these flakes aren't balanced, they can really destroy a decent bowl of noodles.

Needless to say, when Satoshi and Haji took me out for Okonomiyaki on Friday night and I noticed that everything we were being served was piled high with the stuff...oozing and shrinking into the hot food... I was a little doubtful of what I was going to do. I requested the pieces with the least amount of katsuobushi and came to a shocking discovery. That in moderation, and if they're fresh, katsuobushi can be a nice addition to a dish. Sadly, Japanese still love piling the stuff three layers high, which is more than my meat-centric palate can take. I was pleasantly surprised at how non-fishy fresh katsuobushi can actually be.

And I use the term "fresh" with caution here, because the darn things are made by drying fish out for weeks and smoking it...so I really don't know if the term "fresh" can really apply to katsuobushi in the first place.

And my mind is done wandering.

Epic 1: 冒険が始まる

It finally begins.

So I'm going to begin this by saying that until I was finally able to sleep last night, I was up for over 30 hours - due to both the long flight to Japan itself along with the trip to Minneapolis and the layover in Chicago. It was next to impossible to sleep on the shuttle to the Cities or on the plane itself because...of course... the person in front of me reclined into my knees on all 3 legs of the journey - INCLUDING THE SHUTTLE TO MINNEAPOLIS. I'm starting to really wish I was about 5'6" instead of 6'3"

The flight to Japan was nice for a change, because I flew ANA and got to travel in a very, VERY spiffed up Boeing 737. It even had "new plane smell", which up until this point I believed was a myth. Going from the plane that flies the nonstop route to Tokyo from Minneapolis (with broken seats, discolored/cracked projectors with no choice in programming, dirty cabin, etc...) to this brand new plane with individual TV displays (with remote control and on-demand programming), decent food, and comfortable seats* was completely worth the two-hour layover in Chicago. When I booked the flight, the only seat left was in the middle of a row, and I was seriously dreading that flight because as I've learned from experience, tall people and middle seats DO NOT MIX.

*when not being reclined against your legs


It would have been painful, too, if not for the person in the checkin line ahead of me who - for some reason unknown to me - wanted to move her aisle seat to a middle seat closer to the front of the plane. I moved my seat to that aisle seat, so I was able to be at least a little more comfortable. The plane was completely full, so there weren't any opportunities to upgrade to Economy Plus or whatever ANA's equivalent was. Looking at the seats, though, they didn't look much larger than the ones in regular Economy and I'd still have the reclining problem. I'm still a bit sore from the plane 24 hours later, which tells you how cramped it really was. The new planes are slightly more ergonomically designed, but their main purpose is still to cram as many seats as possible into as little space as possible. The only way I could be even REMOTELY comfortable is in first class. Anyone have any frequent flier program suggestions? I'm on Delta's but I'm not taking that Greyhound-in-the-sky for 5 more trips just to earn enough points to attempt - ATTEMPT - acquiring an exit row seat and even then I would only get it if someone else with a higher frequent-flier ranking doesn't come in and pull it out from under me.

On this flight I met a very nice group of Christian missionaries who were flying over to tour Japan and talk to people about their church and programs. When I asked whether they were doing volunteer work, they wanted to say yes but I could tell from their reaction that they weren't going to do much of that and explained they were coming mostly to talk to people and support the efforts of expat missionaries living here in Japan. I explained to them a little bit about the Japanese religious philosophy because they mentioned that the Japanese are one of the most difficult groups to "talk seriously to about God". As an agnostic I am chuckling on the inside - but I would understand exactly why they would feel that way. Japanese people are less religious and more superstitious. Some of their rituals come from Shinto - their creation myths and legends (think Greek/Roman mythology sorts of tales), while other rituals come directly from Buddhism or Zen-Buddhism. Most people have ample exposure to both, but live their own lives without focusing much on a god. When they need guidance in a particular area of their lives, they go pray to the Shinto god/goddess related to their problem at a shrine for luck. They also incorporate some of the Buddhist style teachings into other areas of their lives. Of course, there are exceptions to every rule and there are plenty of Buddhist monks and Shinto shrine maidens (miko) here as well who live very strictly to the tenets of their religion. Their relationship with their religion is very different in general than the average Christian. I explained all of this to the missionaries and they seemed very interested in what I had to say.

One of the people in that missionary group has a daughter on the trip who says she wants to live in Japan (though has never been there) and wants to major in game design. Sounds familiar, ne?

Well, I said that I used to be the exact same way until I came here, and I ended up telling this mother the same thing my parents told me - in that it's OK to want to work on games or in gaming - but when getting a degree you should definitely pursue one of the base programs (such as 3D modeling, computer science, etc.) and work on the game stuff through electives or on your own time - as opposed to getting a dedicated degree in game design. A lot of well-known developers have gone on record to say that they are more likely to hire someone who has a stronger diverse educational background from a known university than a recent graduate of Westwood College. "My mom told me I wouldn't get anywhere with these games!"

In any case, they were a very nice group though there were a couple periods of awkwardness when I asked about what they were doing in Japan. I finished up talking with them by giving a quick "Yen 101" course since I had some Japanese money with me already, and showed them what $1, $5, $10, and $50 equivalents will look like, and how to quickly do the Yen/$ conversion. I also told them that they made the right decision to not exchange their money in the States and to wait until landing at Narita...because most US airports have a really, really nasty markup on foreign currency. I gave the leader of the group my business card and let them know they could contact me if they ran into language or culture issues. They seemed very surprised my work would allow me to do a trip like this. I'm continually reminded how lucky I really am.


A few more interesting notes on flying ANA when compared to Delta/Northwest:

1.) The dinner meal was actually decent and didn't make anyone sick as far as I could tell. They had a choice between katsu curry and steamed salmon, both of which were served with a variety of side dishes. The katsu was actually decent for airline food. They also had a "premium" menu (using the term loosely) where you could pay 700 yen (~$7.80) for what amounts to a bowl of higher-quality instant ramen. The meal they served right before we landed, however, looks like it was taken right from the bowels of American Airlines test kitchens. A burrito. BURRITO - With something resembling cheese, beans, and some sort of mystery meat. It tasted like the instant burritos you can get in most gas stations or at Sam's Club... except with less flavor. I only took a couple bites of that one because I was fairly sure it would make me sick. Fortunately they served this Mexican reject-concoction with a cup of yogurt and a fruit bowl, so I went ahead and ate those. A note to people used to the American melting pot of delicious international cuisine: Japanese-Italian food is scary. Japanese-Mexican food is scarier... ESPECIALLY ON AIRPLANES.

2.) ANA flight experience was wonderful overall. However - it's definitely 1950's over here. They didn't have a single attendant working the flight that looked over 30 years old, all of them were female, and none of them ever stopped smiling. Really different than what we're used to. It was nice being served by people who at least appeared to not hate every second of their job. Whether or not they were actually happy is a whole different issue (tatemae vs. honne which I will not be discussing now). Older and/or male attendants only worked the gate and passport check, and did not serve people on the flight. Interesting.

3.) The flight attendants don't think gaijin can speak Japanese.


I managed to get a little bit of sleep on the plane, but not much...and upon landing I quickly got through customs, exchanged my money, and made it on the just-departing Narita express to be carried into downtown Tokyo which is roughly an hour trip. In my severely jet-lagged brain I had a decision to make. The Narita Express drops off at Shinjuku station, which is quite a walk to my hotel. It's also rush hour. So the question becomes how do I avoid playing Japanese-person bowling with my oversized luggage on the packed trains.

The options were:

A.) Get off at Shinjuku station and walk to the hotel - not happening when carrying that much luggage. It's a good 30-40 minute walk and that would be painful.

B.) Ride the subway - two problems: first I'd have to remember where the entrance is. Second, I'd have to go up/down four flights of stairs with no escalator to enter/exit the subway station.

C.) Ride the train one stop from Shinjuku and walk 10 minutes to the hotel - this is the one I chose and the route we took last time as well. Since I know where I'm going this time, it was a lot less painful. The walk was still tough because I had to bring a lot of stuff, but it was manageable.

On the way to the hotel I spotted no fewer than 10 "vanity" umbrellas carried by women to keep their faces out of the sun (apparently pale skin is "in"). I also spotted a guy walking two dogs, one of which was dressed in a full ballerina costume, tutu and all. Yep, I'm definitely back in Japan...

I was able to rest for a while once reaching the hotel, and then ventured out again to meet two people from the Japanese branch of work - Haji and Satoshi. On the way I tried a little experiment. You see, rumor is that on Japanese trains, you can spread out because of something known on the Internet as the "Gaijin Barrier". It works as follows: on the crowded trains of Japan, people will generally do everything they can to find an empty seat as they usually fill up quickly. But if a foreigner sits in a seat, the seats to the immediate left and right of that foreigner remain empty. People don't want to sit next to us, so the joke/theory is we have a sort of "barrier effect" on keeping the natives at bay. The myth was proven false for the second time today, as upon sitting down on the Chuo-line train bound for Tokyo station, it only took two stops before there was a middle-aged Japanese woman to the immediate left of me, and an elderly Japanese man on the right even though there were other single empty seats in the row. I was rather taken aback by this because the only time I've ever noticed the "Gaijin Barrier" failing before was when I was dressed up in a suit for my presentation at IBM Japan. Apparently if you dress like a tourist people are put off, but not if you're dressed like you belong there. But I was dressed touristy (nice, but touristy) on the Chuo-line and people didn't mind sitting next to me. Weird.

I've gone on for long enough for today. Stay tuned tomorrow for today's events and a side note on one of the biggest love-hate foods of Japan: the katsuobushi, or bonito fish flake.

Two more days...

I don't have a lot of time to write because I have a lot to do before I take off. I'm making this blog public this afternoon and letting my friends and coworkers know where to find me. :-)

The plan is as follows:

Meeting up in Tokyo with Haji (who works at the Japanese branch of the company I work for) on Friday, Iwama and Kawai (associates of my uncle) on Saturday, and Jean Francois and his team (who also works for the Japan branch of the company I work for, and lead my side-project) on Monday. Lots of networking and probably lots of good food!

Then take the bullet train to Okazaki on Tuesday and begin classes. I won't have a lot of time to explore new areas of Tokyo this time around; I will not have much downtime before classes begin and the little I do have I'd like to devote to making sure I can do well enough on the exam for 中級 (intermediate level) placement. It will be fun to study my Japanese grammar and kanji books at a noodle shop in Akihabara. There's just something uniquely satisfying about that.

Close Call

I had to make a quick, unplanned, extended trip to Chicago last week as my grandmother suffered a major heart attack. After a roller-coaster ride for several days, she was able to undergo quintuple-bypass surgery and is now recovering well.

Goes to show that life is too short to not chase your dreams...

Intro

So I don't have a lot of time here, but I created this blog to document my upcoming journey to Japan for an intensive language acquisition program. Although I minored in Japanese and have JLPT 3 certification, it is exceptionally difficult to find opportunities to hone language skills in a traditional manner when living in southeastern Minnesota. Thankfully, I have been blessed with permission to take a leave of absence from my job as a Software Engineer at a major company to hone my language skills at Yamasa Institute in Okazaki, Japan. It has been a dream of mine to take a journey like this for many, many years and I plan to share it with all of you.

This is my story.

これは、僕の物語だ。。。