In my first summer as a college student, I met a group of Campus Crusade for Christ people. While I did find them interesting for many reasons, one of the things that struck me was how close they were. These kids were picked from different parts of the country, and had really known each other for a few months before I met them, and yet, they were inseperable, and acted as if they had known each other for years. If Facebook is to be belived, they are still quite close. Maybe not as much as they were when I met them, but they do not treat each other as you would a mere aquaintance. At the time, I assumed this was due to them being Christians. In my experience, many Christians are friendly and open. For us non-religious people, I thought, it takes much longer than a few months to develop such a bond. I think I will be proven wrong on this assumption.
To be honest, I was very pessimistic about making friends here. My biggest fear was actually the other Americans. I was terrified that they would be weaboos, or people who are only interested in the most basic of things Japanese. They're the people that think that by watching hours of anime and clearing Japanese 101 they've become an expert on Japan. To be quite honest, I find these people unbearable, and if the Americans were going to be like that, then I wanted to have nothing to do with them. I was planning to have a bleak and rather lonely year in Japan.
You can imagine my surprise, then, when I made friends here. The Americans are not at all what I thought they would be. True, they have an interest in Japanese pop culture, and possibly pursue hobbies which the average 日本人 would never think about. But their interest has far more depth than anything frivolous. Although a lot of it goes over my head (KPop, JRock, host clubs), it is quite clear that this is not just a passing fancy. And I was also relieved at how they interacted with Japanese culture, something that they may or may not have experienced first hand. What really surprised me was when confronted with foods they had never eaten before, only rarely did they pass on it, or declare that it was inedible. Indeed, with only a few exceptions, they have been most enthusiastic about trying new foods. And it is also worth mentioning that at the ゆかた祭り, they embraced it quite openly. They bought yukata that I felt were worth the money that was spent on them, and had patterns that were very attractive. And none of them fought me when I made it obvious that I did not want to see them wearing shoes, or have their hair down, or something else that would make my ancestors cringe in their graves.
Nine months ago, I can promise you I would not have believed you if you told me how important these people would become to me. How, I would ask, is it possible to become so attached to people you've only known for a few months? How could they become important to you, seeing as they're so unlike you? Why would they be so important to you; you will soon become seperated from them, and in some cases, may never see them ever again? I definitely think that all of us having an interest in Japan has a big thing to do with it. That is one of the common interests we all have. If it wasnt for that, I would have never met these people. And below that, there are the less common, but not less important, similarities, whether it be music, food, or people.
But what really ties us all together is that we've all been there together. We've had to stick together to deal with all the crisises that come with living in unexplored territory. We've cried over relationship problems, and we've laughed at the craziness that comes with mistranslations. We've taken the same ridiculous classes, and also shared countless meals. You know the bond that develops between soldiers on the battlefield? It's a bit of a stretch, but we've been soldiers on this battlefield we call 留学, and we are so very close to victory.
I want to stay in touch with all these amazing kids that I've met here. Facebook and tumblr are poor substitutes for meeting in person, but it's better than nothing. I dont know what the future brings, so I wouldnt rule out that we'll move apart, and on in our lives. But I'm going to try my damndest to keep that from happening. These friendships are so precious to me, and that is something I will always treasure. Thank you, my dear, dear friends.
Friday, July 22, 2011
Friday, July 1, 2011
Reintegrate
Today is July 1st. Normally, this would not be too memorable of a day; regular school is usually on break, and summer school wont begin until after the 4th of July. However, this year is unlike previous years because of my study abroad here in Hiroshima. This day marks the beginning of the last full month I will have in Japan. I will only have two weeks in August before I return to Hawaii, and begin a new year at the University of Hawaii at Manoa. As much as I want to go back home, I am filled with fear, not quite unlike when I came here. While I know that I will overcome them, the uncertainty of it all worries me.
First of all, my friends in Hawaii have changed. Not that this is bad, or unwanted; indeed, it would be wrong of me to have expected them to have stayed frozen in a year. But that's just it; a year has passed, in which they've done things, experienced things, and may not be like when I left them. While as far as I can tell, they're all still friends, they may have met people whom they have become closer to, while there are others who have left their life. How will I deal with this? I would not like to offend anyone, but what if I ask them about someone or something that brings up unpleasant memories or feelings? I cant be sure exactly of what kind of changes have happened, because I have only kept in contact with them through facebook, but I would be really surprised if everything were as when I left Hawaii.
But what really bothers me is how much I've changed. And I'm not talking about my Japanese ability (which, to be honest, got only marginally better, imho). For one thing, I've developed a relationship with alcohol. I still maintain that I'm not a hardcore partier, who drinks it every night, and gets drunk all the time, but I would be lying if I said that it had never happened, or that I understand the allure. But how this will integrate with my life in Hawaii is something I do not know. I know that I will not be able to drink as often as I do here, because I will be more concentrated on my schoolwork. But also, how will I drink? I am not inclined to go clubbing, but will my friends want to join me at 居酒屋? We wont have a lake to gather around like we do here, so will someone's dorm or common area be acceptable? Who will join me? I'd rather not have hardcore people there, but will my regular friends join me, drinking what they will, while I have my 梅酒?
Another hard change for me will probably be focusing on school work. While I never slacked off as hard as some people, I didnt try as hard as I could have in school. I mean, I passed alright, but not as amazingly as I could have. And things havent gotten better here in Japan. Because I dont understand everything the teacher says, I've let a lot of things slip by, instead of looking them up, or noting them down. And it doesnt help that Japanese standards are a lot lower than American ones, which means I'm getting by on things that would never fly in America. I guess you could say that my academic abilities have degraded somewhat here in Japan. However, when I go back to Hawaii, that must change. I'll be entering my senior year, which means I'll be taking more upper division classes. Those are going to be more challenging than anything I've taken before (hopefully), so it is unlikely that I'll be able to just slide along. And also, because they're upper division, they'll be more important to my majors, Japanese and (soon) political science. So it is imperative that I learn what I need to learn from them. But most importantly, since I want to apply to grad school, I'll need to be in top form. I'll need to maintain a high grade point average, and get good grades. I'll also need to get friendly with teachers so that they can write me really good letters of recommendation, or give me advice about the future (class discussions, grad school, jobs). I've said it often, but I really do need to get rid of my bad study habits and kick it into high gear. Japan has encouraged me to slack off; how quickly can I get rid of that kind of mentality?
When I came to Japan, I was worried about getting along with my fellow 留学生 and making new friends. Unexpectedly, I'm having the same worries about going back to Hawaii. Will I still click with my old friends? Can I get out of my Japanese college student mindset and back into an American one? Unfortunately, I will not find out, until I actually get there.
First of all, my friends in Hawaii have changed. Not that this is bad, or unwanted; indeed, it would be wrong of me to have expected them to have stayed frozen in a year. But that's just it; a year has passed, in which they've done things, experienced things, and may not be like when I left them. While as far as I can tell, they're all still friends, they may have met people whom they have become closer to, while there are others who have left their life. How will I deal with this? I would not like to offend anyone, but what if I ask them about someone or something that brings up unpleasant memories or feelings? I cant be sure exactly of what kind of changes have happened, because I have only kept in contact with them through facebook, but I would be really surprised if everything were as when I left Hawaii.
But what really bothers me is how much I've changed. And I'm not talking about my Japanese ability (which, to be honest, got only marginally better, imho). For one thing, I've developed a relationship with alcohol. I still maintain that I'm not a hardcore partier, who drinks it every night, and gets drunk all the time, but I would be lying if I said that it had never happened, or that I understand the allure. But how this will integrate with my life in Hawaii is something I do not know. I know that I will not be able to drink as often as I do here, because I will be more concentrated on my schoolwork. But also, how will I drink? I am not inclined to go clubbing, but will my friends want to join me at 居酒屋? We wont have a lake to gather around like we do here, so will someone's dorm or common area be acceptable? Who will join me? I'd rather not have hardcore people there, but will my regular friends join me, drinking what they will, while I have my 梅酒?
Another hard change for me will probably be focusing on school work. While I never slacked off as hard as some people, I didnt try as hard as I could have in school. I mean, I passed alright, but not as amazingly as I could have. And things havent gotten better here in Japan. Because I dont understand everything the teacher says, I've let a lot of things slip by, instead of looking them up, or noting them down. And it doesnt help that Japanese standards are a lot lower than American ones, which means I'm getting by on things that would never fly in America. I guess you could say that my academic abilities have degraded somewhat here in Japan. However, when I go back to Hawaii, that must change. I'll be entering my senior year, which means I'll be taking more upper division classes. Those are going to be more challenging than anything I've taken before (hopefully), so it is unlikely that I'll be able to just slide along. And also, because they're upper division, they'll be more important to my majors, Japanese and (soon) political science. So it is imperative that I learn what I need to learn from them. But most importantly, since I want to apply to grad school, I'll need to be in top form. I'll need to maintain a high grade point average, and get good grades. I'll also need to get friendly with teachers so that they can write me really good letters of recommendation, or give me advice about the future (class discussions, grad school, jobs). I've said it often, but I really do need to get rid of my bad study habits and kick it into high gear. Japan has encouraged me to slack off; how quickly can I get rid of that kind of mentality?
When I came to Japan, I was worried about getting along with my fellow 留学生 and making new friends. Unexpectedly, I'm having the same worries about going back to Hawaii. Will I still click with my old friends? Can I get out of my Japanese college student mindset and back into an American one? Unfortunately, I will not find out, until I actually get there.
Monday, June 20, 2011
とうかさん Part II
Now for the second part of とうかさん. I meant to write this a long time ago, but procrastination and other things intervened, and I'm writing this long after the fact. But I suppose if you're reading this, this doesnt bother you so much.
The main reason I wanted to go to this festival was because there was going to be a 盆踊り大会 or bon dance every night at the festival. I've been to a few dances in Hawaii, but never one in Japan. What kind of dances would they perform? Which songs would be played? There were many questions I had, and I was excited to finally experience a real Japan bon dance.
Surprisingly, there was enough of an overlap between Japan and Hawaii that I wasnt completely lost. Of the songs they played, I knew 花火音頭, 昭和音頭, and ドンパン節 to name a few. But as to be expected, the かた that they used to dance here in Japan are very different from the ones in Hawaii. ドンパン節 was the closest to what we do in Hawaii; I had almost no problems with that one. But 昭和 and 花火 were quite different. They clapped when we didnt, or used different poses than what we used. It was a bit difficult to get used to; once you get so used to dancing a certain way, it's hard to break that frame of mind, you know? But you'll forgive me if I say that I quickly picked it up. Naturally though, there were songs that we dont do in Hawaii. A few, like まりと殿様 and 日本チャチャチャ I am vaguely familiar with because I've seen this video before (not quite the same, but similar かた), but there were others that I've never heard before. But it was fun! What struck me was the difference in structure in the dance. I'm not talking about which かた are used where; but how the かた are structured, or which ones are used. (This might get technical, so I wont be mad if you skip the remainder of this paragraph.) The biggest difference was that in Hawaii, we use the moon かた and あけかざし a lot. You very rarely dance very long without it. But that was not the case here. There was a lot of that hand-holding かた and the open かた (similar to moon, but not round). Another difference that struck me was that they did not respect symmetry in the dance. In Hawaii, if you do something on the right, you do it on the left. And if you repeat, you repeat once on the right, and once on the left. Or when it comes to walking, if a multi-step かた takes you to the right, you repeat towards the left. But here, they did not do that. In Hawaii, there is a かた in which you use your right hand to present and turn around. I automatically assumed that when you switch to your left hand, you go back the way you came; not so in Japan. It was difficult, but after a while, I noticed that they would switch to the left hand, but complete the circle. That was such a curveball. Of course, there were others, but since I dont know the proper names, explaining it is a bit difficult. But trust me, my mind was open to ideas that I have never thought possible in the world of bon dance.
During one of the many breaks, I happened to sit next to an older woman. This was partly coinicidence, but from what she said, I imagine it would have happened anyway. This woman was one of the ladies in the center, which I rightly assumed meant that she was a leader. She mentioned that she had seen me dancing, and was curious as to why I was so good (a lie), and where I was from. I mangled up my response, but she got the gist of what I tried to say: that I was from Hawaii, where we have bon dance too, which is where I learned it. Surprised, she called over a bunch of the other ladies and told them my story. Unfortunately, they didnt introduce themselves, so I have no idea what their names are, but I learned that they're the 日本民謡研究会 or the Society for Research on Japanese Folk Music (lofty, arent we?). They're based out of Nagoya, but there was a branch in Hiroshima. The leader of which, I was amused, looked a bit like the leader of my dance group in Hilo. I would like to join their group, or at least go to a few practices, if only to learn dances that I dont already know, but unfortunately, I did not grab any contact information for them. Googling did give me a hit, but according to the map, it looks like it's a bit out of the ways. Furthermore, I only have a little over a month left. ugh, more decisions to make!
After the dance, I meant to talk to the ladies again, but the following happened. As I was walking towards the ladies, I was approached by several people. Basically, it was the same stuff as usual; Where are you from (ハワイ？！), why can you dance so good, blah blah blah. But one guy was a little...more forceful. He put his hand on my shoulder and said, 「ちょっと話聞かせてくれない？」 or "Can I ask you something?" I put a little more faith in ちょっと because his 話 was anything but ちょっと. After the usual stuff, he asked me directly if I would like to go to some island in the Inland Sea for a real country bon dance. Since it was so far away, I was invited to stay at his wife's parents house. Now, I dont know if it's an American thing, or if it's a Hawaii thing, or what, but generally speaking, I dont stay in the homes of people I'VE NEVER EVEN MET. Dont get me wrong, that was awful nice of him, but really? I had never met the guy before, and I was not about to go to some island in the sea with him. He tried to get me to agree, saying that the bon dances there were unlike any I had ever seen (盆踊りは趣味じゃないですか), and that it would be a great thing to experience. After I said I'd think about it for the millionth time, he gave me his business card, and took my phone number. I must admit, he did have a point; any bon dance in Japan would be different from any I have actually been to, a country one even more so. But to be quite honest, it sounded a little too "Burning Man" or something. I dont want to be murdered or something! I still havent contacted him, but I am thinking that I will have to send him something saying I must decline his invitation. Perhaps if I knew him more, I would go, but a complete stranger is something quite different.
My bon dance experience in Japan was both good and bad. It was good in that I was dancing songs I never would dance in Hawaii. And even the songs we do in Hawaii, we do differently. And dont tell anyone, but it was nice to be complimented by Japanese people. And I was invited to a country bon dance, where I'd probably be doing dances not done anywhere else in Japan. The bad was not getting contact information and being invited by strangers. But that's life, isnt it?
This concludes my blogging regarding とうかさん 2011. Back to our regular programming.
The main reason I wanted to go to this festival was because there was going to be a 盆踊り大会 or bon dance every night at the festival. I've been to a few dances in Hawaii, but never one in Japan. What kind of dances would they perform? Which songs would be played? There were many questions I had, and I was excited to finally experience a real Japan bon dance.
Surprisingly, there was enough of an overlap between Japan and Hawaii that I wasnt completely lost. Of the songs they played, I knew 花火音頭, 昭和音頭, and ドンパン節 to name a few. But as to be expected, the かた that they used to dance here in Japan are very different from the ones in Hawaii. ドンパン節 was the closest to what we do in Hawaii; I had almost no problems with that one. But 昭和 and 花火 were quite different. They clapped when we didnt, or used different poses than what we used. It was a bit difficult to get used to; once you get so used to dancing a certain way, it's hard to break that frame of mind, you know? But you'll forgive me if I say that I quickly picked it up. Naturally though, there were songs that we dont do in Hawaii. A few, like まりと殿様 and 日本チャチャチャ I am vaguely familiar with because I've seen this video before (not quite the same, but similar かた), but there were others that I've never heard before. But it was fun! What struck me was the difference in structure in the dance. I'm not talking about which かた are used where; but how the かた are structured, or which ones are used. (This might get technical, so I wont be mad if you skip the remainder of this paragraph.) The biggest difference was that in Hawaii, we use the moon かた and あけかざし a lot. You very rarely dance very long without it. But that was not the case here. There was a lot of that hand-holding かた and the open かた (similar to moon, but not round). Another difference that struck me was that they did not respect symmetry in the dance. In Hawaii, if you do something on the right, you do it on the left. And if you repeat, you repeat once on the right, and once on the left. Or when it comes to walking, if a multi-step かた takes you to the right, you repeat towards the left. But here, they did not do that. In Hawaii, there is a かた in which you use your right hand to present and turn around. I automatically assumed that when you switch to your left hand, you go back the way you came; not so in Japan. It was difficult, but after a while, I noticed that they would switch to the left hand, but complete the circle. That was such a curveball. Of course, there were others, but since I dont know the proper names, explaining it is a bit difficult. But trust me, my mind was open to ideas that I have never thought possible in the world of bon dance.
During one of the many breaks, I happened to sit next to an older woman. This was partly coinicidence, but from what she said, I imagine it would have happened anyway. This woman was one of the ladies in the center, which I rightly assumed meant that she was a leader. She mentioned that she had seen me dancing, and was curious as to why I was so good (a lie), and where I was from. I mangled up my response, but she got the gist of what I tried to say: that I was from Hawaii, where we have bon dance too, which is where I learned it. Surprised, she called over a bunch of the other ladies and told them my story. Unfortunately, they didnt introduce themselves, so I have no idea what their names are, but I learned that they're the 日本民謡研究会 or the Society for Research on Japanese Folk Music (lofty, arent we?). They're based out of Nagoya, but there was a branch in Hiroshima. The leader of which, I was amused, looked a bit like the leader of my dance group in Hilo. I would like to join their group, or at least go to a few practices, if only to learn dances that I dont already know, but unfortunately, I did not grab any contact information for them. Googling did give me a hit, but according to the map, it looks like it's a bit out of the ways. Furthermore, I only have a little over a month left. ugh, more decisions to make!
After the dance, I meant to talk to the ladies again, but the following happened. As I was walking towards the ladies, I was approached by several people. Basically, it was the same stuff as usual; Where are you from (ハワイ？！), why can you dance so good, blah blah blah. But one guy was a little...more forceful. He put his hand on my shoulder and said, 「ちょっと話聞かせてくれない？」 or "Can I ask you something?" I put a little more faith in ちょっと because his 話 was anything but ちょっと. After the usual stuff, he asked me directly if I would like to go to some island in the Inland Sea for a real country bon dance. Since it was so far away, I was invited to stay at his wife's parents house. Now, I dont know if it's an American thing, or if it's a Hawaii thing, or what, but generally speaking, I dont stay in the homes of people I'VE NEVER EVEN MET. Dont get me wrong, that was awful nice of him, but really? I had never met the guy before, and I was not about to go to some island in the sea with him. He tried to get me to agree, saying that the bon dances there were unlike any I had ever seen (盆踊りは趣味じゃないですか), and that it would be a great thing to experience. After I said I'd think about it for the millionth time, he gave me his business card, and took my phone number. I must admit, he did have a point; any bon dance in Japan would be different from any I have actually been to, a country one even more so. But to be quite honest, it sounded a little too "Burning Man" or something. I dont want to be murdered or something! I still havent contacted him, but I am thinking that I will have to send him something saying I must decline his invitation. Perhaps if I knew him more, I would go, but a complete stranger is something quite different.
My bon dance experience in Japan was both good and bad. It was good in that I was dancing songs I never would dance in Hawaii. And even the songs we do in Hawaii, we do differently. And dont tell anyone, but it was nice to be complimented by Japanese people. And I was invited to a country bon dance, where I'd probably be doing dances not done anywhere else in Japan. The bad was not getting contact information and being invited by strangers. But that's life, isnt it?
This concludes my blogging regarding とうかさん 2011. Back to our regular programming.
Thursday, June 9, 2011
とうかさん Part I
This week has been a fairly busy week. I had a Japanese language test on Tuesday, and a presentation to do today, so I have been trying to be on task. So this blog is a bit late, but since last weekend was so memorable, I cant very well not blog about it. Although this takes place over three days, I've split it into two parts.
From last week Friday to Sunday, there was a big festival in Hiroshima City. Called とうかさん Tōkasan, it's ostensibly for one of the shrines in the city, and supported by a local business association. There were so many people attending the festival! They crowded the trains, trams, and walkways, and made it impossible to pass easily in some areas. But the pest part of the festival was that most people were walking around in yukata! As a wannabe yukata afficianado, it was impossible not to go. Another added perk was the bon dance that was put on. But that'll be more discussed in part II. All in all, this was the biggest, most active festival I've been to in Japan.
Like I said, I've got a thing for yukata, so I was super excited to find a new yukata. Although there were several I liked, I eventually settled on a rather plain, dark blue one. But make no mistake, I do love it. While it does not have a design, I prefer it that way, as it seems a bit more mature. It's also quite thin, which means it's not as stuffy as one made of a firmer weave. And the obi I bought for it is another gem. It's dark blue, with an interesting pattern. It is reminisent of the daimyo 参勤交代, which you can read more about here. The other Americans here also expressed an interest in buying yukata, which got my interest a little bit. You may or may not be aware of how badly put together 着付け bothers me. I'm not perfect by any means, and I make plenty of mistakes, but people that dress slopily get under my skin like no other. I try to keep it under wraps, but apparently I was so adamant, that one of my friends here was very scared to wear her yukata in front of me. But despite being a beginner, she was able to put on her yukata quite nicely. Her obi was nicely tied, and seemed to stay put all day (which is better than I'm usually able to do). On the other hand, there were some girls wearing yukata in a way that was rather distasteful, in my opinion. Instead of being a few inches below the hairline and covering the sholders, they were halfway down the back. And the bottom seam was above their knees, not near their ankle like normal. One of the Japanese girls we were with remarked that they were dressed like the prostitutes from back in the day. But in my opinion, even they would say, "Girl, you look so slutty." I didnt take any pictures, but it was quite a sight.
While I went alone on Friday night, I was with friends on Saturday. The main part of the festival was centered on えびす通り, which we don't normally walk. It was fun to be in a new area, I suppose. According to the same friend above, that was near the host clubs, and considering we walked past many drinking establishments and a love hotel (!!?), I'm not surprised. It reminded me a bit of the Umeda district in Osaka. Perhaps one night, we'll return there and have an enjoyable night on the town. Anyways, the part I enjoyed the most was the many stalls that opened up. Like most other Japanese festivals, there were booths with the goldfish scooping game, or other games of chance for the children. For food booths, there were the usual French fries and から揚げ, and also ベビーカステラ, which were tiny sweet cakes in the shapes of cartoon characters. I enjoyed them so much! In all, I bought three bags of them, and enjoyed them all. And while it didnt really interest me, there was also a taco stand, which I thought was interesting. If you wanted a drink, there were several to choose from: you could of course pick up soft drinks and bottled water, but if you were an adult, several different alcoholic drinks were available. I didnt patronise all the shops that opened up, but simply walking the streets was enjoyable. The energy of the festival was simply electric; the hordes of people walking up and down, chatting and eating, smiling and laughing, was simply the best.
Now, Friday night was the most...interesting experience I've ever had. When I decided to return to Saijo, it was quite late. I had the choice of taking the earlier train to Shiraichi, which would stop in Saijo. Or I could wait for the Saijo train. Being really tired, I chose the former. Big mistake. Enroute to Saijo, I fell asleep. The driver of the train woke me up in Shiraichi, where he informed me that that was the last train that night. In other words, I overslept and was stranded in a city I've never even heard of. In a panic, I called my friends in Saijo, hoping that they would have some idea of what to do. They tried to find hotels in the area, or think of friend that had cars. But there were no options. Having calmed down, I decided that the only thing I could do was to wait for the first train out of there. At this point, it was about 12:30 AM, so with the first train departing Shiraichi at 5:08 AM, I had about a four hour wait ahead of me. Reassuring them that I would be okay, I hunkered down for the night.
Since Japan is a very safe country, I wasnt worried that I was going to be mugged or murdered in the middle of the night. But that's not to say that I spent a restful night in the station. For one thing, the frieght trains that passed through made such a noise! The first one that passed through startled me, and the next two that passed by made my heart thump in my chest. The second was the utter lonliness of the place. There were no other homeless people lounging about, or even a security guard. Thank goodness the station itself was lighted, because if it was not, I'm sure I would have been more frightened than I have ever been. The third and final thing that scared me was the earthquake. At about two in the morning, there was a small earthquake. I was caught unawares, and had to tell reassure myself that it was only an earthquake, and that I've slept through stronger. "It's just an earthquake, the world's not collapsing onto itself," I told myself. When I finally boarded the train the next morning (surprisingly, there were other people that showed up for that train), I was so relieved. I have no desire to repeat this experience, but everything turned out fine in the end. It certainly makes for an interesting blog post, I think.
With the exception of my stay in Shiraichi, the first two days of the festival were just wonderful. I loved dressing up in my yukata, and seeing other people in yukata as well (both the good and the bad 着付け). The food vendors offered such a wide variety, that I was always quite full. And of course, I got to spend time with my lovely friends. Please be sure to read part two, which will be up soon!
From last week Friday to Sunday, there was a big festival in Hiroshima City. Called とうかさん Tōkasan, it's ostensibly for one of the shrines in the city, and supported by a local business association. There were so many people attending the festival! They crowded the trains, trams, and walkways, and made it impossible to pass easily in some areas. But the pest part of the festival was that most people were walking around in yukata! As a wannabe yukata afficianado, it was impossible not to go. Another added perk was the bon dance that was put on. But that'll be more discussed in part II. All in all, this was the biggest, most active festival I've been to in Japan.
Like I said, I've got a thing for yukata, so I was super excited to find a new yukata. Although there were several I liked, I eventually settled on a rather plain, dark blue one. But make no mistake, I do love it. While it does not have a design, I prefer it that way, as it seems a bit more mature. It's also quite thin, which means it's not as stuffy as one made of a firmer weave. And the obi I bought for it is another gem. It's dark blue, with an interesting pattern. It is reminisent of the daimyo 参勤交代, which you can read more about here. The other Americans here also expressed an interest in buying yukata, which got my interest a little bit. You may or may not be aware of how badly put together 着付け bothers me. I'm not perfect by any means, and I make plenty of mistakes, but people that dress slopily get under my skin like no other. I try to keep it under wraps, but apparently I was so adamant, that one of my friends here was very scared to wear her yukata in front of me. But despite being a beginner, she was able to put on her yukata quite nicely. Her obi was nicely tied, and seemed to stay put all day (which is better than I'm usually able to do). On the other hand, there were some girls wearing yukata in a way that was rather distasteful, in my opinion. Instead of being a few inches below the hairline and covering the sholders, they were halfway down the back. And the bottom seam was above their knees, not near their ankle like normal. One of the Japanese girls we were with remarked that they were dressed like the prostitutes from back in the day. But in my opinion, even they would say, "Girl, you look so slutty." I didnt take any pictures, but it was quite a sight.
While I went alone on Friday night, I was with friends on Saturday. The main part of the festival was centered on えびす通り, which we don't normally walk. It was fun to be in a new area, I suppose. According to the same friend above, that was near the host clubs, and considering we walked past many drinking establishments and a love hotel (!!?), I'm not surprised. It reminded me a bit of the Umeda district in Osaka. Perhaps one night, we'll return there and have an enjoyable night on the town. Anyways, the part I enjoyed the most was the many stalls that opened up. Like most other Japanese festivals, there were booths with the goldfish scooping game, or other games of chance for the children. For food booths, there were the usual French fries and から揚げ, and also ベビーカステラ, which were tiny sweet cakes in the shapes of cartoon characters. I enjoyed them so much! In all, I bought three bags of them, and enjoyed them all. And while it didnt really interest me, there was also a taco stand, which I thought was interesting. If you wanted a drink, there were several to choose from: you could of course pick up soft drinks and bottled water, but if you were an adult, several different alcoholic drinks were available. I didnt patronise all the shops that opened up, but simply walking the streets was enjoyable. The energy of the festival was simply electric; the hordes of people walking up and down, chatting and eating, smiling and laughing, was simply the best.
Now, Friday night was the most...interesting experience I've ever had. When I decided to return to Saijo, it was quite late. I had the choice of taking the earlier train to Shiraichi, which would stop in Saijo. Or I could wait for the Saijo train. Being really tired, I chose the former. Big mistake. Enroute to Saijo, I fell asleep. The driver of the train woke me up in Shiraichi, where he informed me that that was the last train that night. In other words, I overslept and was stranded in a city I've never even heard of. In a panic, I called my friends in Saijo, hoping that they would have some idea of what to do. They tried to find hotels in the area, or think of friend that had cars. But there were no options. Having calmed down, I decided that the only thing I could do was to wait for the first train out of there. At this point, it was about 12:30 AM, so with the first train departing Shiraichi at 5:08 AM, I had about a four hour wait ahead of me. Reassuring them that I would be okay, I hunkered down for the night.
Since Japan is a very safe country, I wasnt worried that I was going to be mugged or murdered in the middle of the night. But that's not to say that I spent a restful night in the station. For one thing, the frieght trains that passed through made such a noise! The first one that passed through startled me, and the next two that passed by made my heart thump in my chest. The second was the utter lonliness of the place. There were no other homeless people lounging about, or even a security guard. Thank goodness the station itself was lighted, because if it was not, I'm sure I would have been more frightened than I have ever been. The third and final thing that scared me was the earthquake. At about two in the morning, there was a small earthquake. I was caught unawares, and had to tell reassure myself that it was only an earthquake, and that I've slept through stronger. "It's just an earthquake, the world's not collapsing onto itself," I told myself. When I finally boarded the train the next morning (surprisingly, there were other people that showed up for that train), I was so relieved. I have no desire to repeat this experience, but everything turned out fine in the end. It certainly makes for an interesting blog post, I think.
With the exception of my stay in Shiraichi, the first two days of the festival were just wonderful. I loved dressing up in my yukata, and seeing other people in yukata as well (both the good and the bad 着付け). The food vendors offered such a wide variety, that I was always quite full. And of course, I got to spend time with my lovely friends. Please be sure to read part two, which will be up soon!
Thursday, June 2, 2011
Making the Best of It
As we enter the month of June, it is with a heavy heart that I begin to look towards the end of the dream. Classes will end in nine weeks, and I will soon have to return home to Hawaii. I honestly cant believe that so much time has passed, and that my time here will be over soon. Dont get me wrong, I want to go home, and I miss Hawaii so much, and yet, this school, this city, the people, it's all become important to me. But since I cant stop from marching on, I need to make the best of the situation. I need to do what I need to do, experience what I still have not, and crystalize these memories into something much more tangible than the electrical wisps that spark in my brain.
It is surprising and unfortunate, but I still have not spent much time in the city in the nine months I've been here. Besides the shopping district of 本通, I havent really been to the 原爆ドーム Atomic Dome, which was something I really feel like I should visit. I also hear that there's a really good art museum in the city, and while I'm not an art buff, it should still be interesting to visit. And finally, there are several big department stores, like Tokyu Hands, which I havent been to yet.
In the prefecture, there are also places I should really visit. Onomichi is in the eastern part of the prefecture, and has a lot of temples. In fact, most of these temples belong to a pilgrimage route, although I'm not sure I'm willing to do that. And according to my friends that have gone there already, there's a really good ramen shop, run by a Japanese guy that lived in Miami for the last ten years. Also in the east is Fukuyama City. My reason for going there is quite personal: the Matsuo family originated there, back when it was called 沼隈郡, in the village of 千年村. While I dont know where exactly that village was, or where I would look for it, I would like to at least visit the area. If I dont, I will feel that I wasted my time here in Hiroshima prefecture.
To say that I've made friends here in Hiroshima would be a bit of an understatement. I wont deny that we've had our differences, and that under different circumstances we would never have been friends. But we've laughed together, cried together, and had amazing adventures together. Because we'll be going to different places (some to different countries), I want some kind of physical reminder of our time here. The easiest would of course be pictures. We all have digi cams, and I plan on trying to carry mine with me as often as possible. Whether they're of unusual occurences, or simply us hanging out, I want to remember these times. I also want プリクラ with as many people as I can, particularly the Japanese people. Basically the same reasons as the photographs, but because プリクラ are made specifically for friends, there is an added nuance to them.
I havent made my plans to leave Japan just yet, so I dont know exactly how much time I have left. But that's no excuse for being lazy about things. I will use what time I have remaining to make my time in Japan memorable. I dont know when I'll be back in Hiroshima, so I need to do all the things I need to do. And especially for Fukuyama, there is a bit of a personal imperative. And finally, I want physical proof of the friendships I've made here. To that end, I want to take lots of pictures with my digicam, as well as tons of プリクラ. I've got a fun two months ahead of me, I think.
It is surprising and unfortunate, but I still have not spent much time in the city in the nine months I've been here. Besides the shopping district of 本通, I havent really been to the 原爆ドーム Atomic Dome, which was something I really feel like I should visit. I also hear that there's a really good art museum in the city, and while I'm not an art buff, it should still be interesting to visit. And finally, there are several big department stores, like Tokyu Hands, which I havent been to yet.
In the prefecture, there are also places I should really visit. Onomichi is in the eastern part of the prefecture, and has a lot of temples. In fact, most of these temples belong to a pilgrimage route, although I'm not sure I'm willing to do that. And according to my friends that have gone there already, there's a really good ramen shop, run by a Japanese guy that lived in Miami for the last ten years. Also in the east is Fukuyama City. My reason for going there is quite personal: the Matsuo family originated there, back when it was called 沼隈郡, in the village of 千年村. While I dont know where exactly that village was, or where I would look for it, I would like to at least visit the area. If I dont, I will feel that I wasted my time here in Hiroshima prefecture.
To say that I've made friends here in Hiroshima would be a bit of an understatement. I wont deny that we've had our differences, and that under different circumstances we would never have been friends. But we've laughed together, cried together, and had amazing adventures together. Because we'll be going to different places (some to different countries), I want some kind of physical reminder of our time here. The easiest would of course be pictures. We all have digi cams, and I plan on trying to carry mine with me as often as possible. Whether they're of unusual occurences, or simply us hanging out, I want to remember these times. I also want プリクラ with as many people as I can, particularly the Japanese people. Basically the same reasons as the photographs, but because プリクラ are made specifically for friends, there is an added nuance to them.
I havent made my plans to leave Japan just yet, so I dont know exactly how much time I have left. But that's no excuse for being lazy about things. I will use what time I have remaining to make my time in Japan memorable. I dont know when I'll be back in Hiroshima, so I need to do all the things I need to do. And especially for Fukuyama, there is a bit of a personal imperative. And finally, I want physical proof of the friendships I've made here. To that end, I want to take lots of pictures with my digicam, as well as tons of プリクラ. I've got a fun two months ahead of me, I think.
Wednesday, May 18, 2011
Teachers Should Teach
I have already discussed my feelings on Japanese education before, but here's another post on it. I thought the worst of it would be last semester, but it appears that I was a bit optimistic. This semester, it is not detrimental to my education, but I do think the way that my literature teacher runs his class is inefficient and not useful. Perhaps it is due to my American upbringing, but I could not be a teacher in the Japanese education system.
Even being in Hawaii, I've had a lot of great teachers. They've taught (or tried to teach) me all kinds of subjects, from mathematics and chemistry, to Japanese language and Hawaiian political issues. All of these teachers have one thing in common: They all taught their subjects. That is, with their knowledge and training, they tried to impart information about a subject to me, someone who knows little or nothing about it. And I think that's the way it should be. Teachers arent just picked up off the street, given a textbook with directions that say, "SAY THIS". Rather, they are chosen to teach because they are able to show they have mastery in a subject, and fully understand the material.
Unfortunately, my literature teacher would disagree with my beliefs. He has only lectured twice, and one of them was simply about the class structure, like how the semester would proceed. The actual "teaching" of the class is left to us students, who have been divided into groups and need to translate an old text written in an archaic script, and present it to the class. As a result, we are responsible for teaching the class what's going on in the story, what the important points are, etc etc. Interpretation differs from person to person, so I suppose it's not a bad thing that we're made to do that. But what really grinds my gears is that he gave no instructions or lessons on how to read the text. The script is called Man'yogana, and it has the most cursive character shapes you will ever see. It differs from modern Japanese in many ways, most importantly in that the same sound is represented with different characters. However, professor has not taught us how to read the text, how to determine its sound, nothing. It would have been nice to have short passages to use as practice. The only "help" he has given us is assigned two textbooks that catalogue every manyogana. Although difficult to use, it is my only lifeline.
Each group is required to present on its section, and this is where I have problems again. The presentations are the most boring presentations I've ever had to sit through. All they do is simply read off the handout which they distribute before class. That's it. There's no Powerpoint, no slides, not even a chart with pictures on it. This compounds the problem that I dont understand a word they say. The old Japanese is impossible for me sometimes. The modern Japanese is a bit better, assuming they enunciate and speak at a moderate pace, at a reasonable volume. However, they dont always do that, so I spent last class sitting in the back thinking very angry thoughts. Way back in elementary school, when I did my first presentation, we were told to be entertaining, using slides (whether plastic or digital), and speaking clearly so everyone in the room could understand you.
I honestly dont know why I should stay for the entire class. First of all, the actual professor doesnt say a word about the class subject, so it's not like I'm missing lecture, or the thoughts of a wise scholar. Secondly, since I have to read the handout to understand anything, I dont need to stay for the presentation, which is just the audio version. I could just stay for attendence, pick up a handout, and leave, because that's exactly what my mind is doing. I'm all for self-study, and I have really got to step up my game, but Japanese education is ineffective, to me. To this lazy American, it's the blind leading the blind, which benefits no one.
Even being in Hawaii, I've had a lot of great teachers. They've taught (or tried to teach) me all kinds of subjects, from mathematics and chemistry, to Japanese language and Hawaiian political issues. All of these teachers have one thing in common: They all taught their subjects. That is, with their knowledge and training, they tried to impart information about a subject to me, someone who knows little or nothing about it. And I think that's the way it should be. Teachers arent just picked up off the street, given a textbook with directions that say, "SAY THIS". Rather, they are chosen to teach because they are able to show they have mastery in a subject, and fully understand the material.
Unfortunately, my literature teacher would disagree with my beliefs. He has only lectured twice, and one of them was simply about the class structure, like how the semester would proceed. The actual "teaching" of the class is left to us students, who have been divided into groups and need to translate an old text written in an archaic script, and present it to the class. As a result, we are responsible for teaching the class what's going on in the story, what the important points are, etc etc. Interpretation differs from person to person, so I suppose it's not a bad thing that we're made to do that. But what really grinds my gears is that he gave no instructions or lessons on how to read the text. The script is called Man'yogana, and it has the most cursive character shapes you will ever see. It differs from modern Japanese in many ways, most importantly in that the same sound is represented with different characters. However, professor has not taught us how to read the text, how to determine its sound, nothing. It would have been nice to have short passages to use as practice. The only "help" he has given us is assigned two textbooks that catalogue every manyogana. Although difficult to use, it is my only lifeline.
Each group is required to present on its section, and this is where I have problems again. The presentations are the most boring presentations I've ever had to sit through. All they do is simply read off the handout which they distribute before class. That's it. There's no Powerpoint, no slides, not even a chart with pictures on it. This compounds the problem that I dont understand a word they say. The old Japanese is impossible for me sometimes. The modern Japanese is a bit better, assuming they enunciate and speak at a moderate pace, at a reasonable volume. However, they dont always do that, so I spent last class sitting in the back thinking very angry thoughts. Way back in elementary school, when I did my first presentation, we were told to be entertaining, using slides (whether plastic or digital), and speaking clearly so everyone in the room could understand you.
I honestly dont know why I should stay for the entire class. First of all, the actual professor doesnt say a word about the class subject, so it's not like I'm missing lecture, or the thoughts of a wise scholar. Secondly, since I have to read the handout to understand anything, I dont need to stay for the presentation, which is just the audio version. I could just stay for attendence, pick up a handout, and leave, because that's exactly what my mind is doing. I'm all for self-study, and I have really got to step up my game, but Japanese education is ineffective, to me. To this lazy American, it's the blind leading the blind, which benefits no one.
Friday, May 6, 2011
SNAFU
I wanted to go to Kyoto again to find some omiyage for people back in Hiroshima as well as in Hawaii. I originally planned to spend the first part of the day there, and the remainder back in Osaka. Unfortunately, this plan didnt really happen. Mostly because I have forgotten the layout of the main shopping area in Kyoto since my last visit, and also because I didnt realise how far away Kyoto is from Osaka. However, I bought the things I needed, and have enjoyed my last day in the Kansai area. I just finished packing, and even though I'm yawning like crazy, I want to write my last blog post for this trip before going to bed.
The Teramachi area of Kyoto is simply a wonderful place to find omiyage. Whether you need a distinctly Japanese item, or if you're looking for things on the cheap, I suggest you check there first. In addition to omiyage, I wanted to check Chicago, a used clothing store for some kimono things. I'm sure there are places like this in Osaka, but I dont know them, and I like Kyoto, so after leaving my hotel, I headed to the Hankyu Umeda Station. I was not expecting the train ride to be as long as it was. The way people talk, it sounds like getting through the Keihanshin area is fast and easy. However, I should have realised that the opposite is true, considering it took about forty five minutes to get to Kobe, from Osaka. To get to Kyoto, it took me about an hour. And when I got there, I promptly got lost. I thought I had remembered the area around Shijo, but I think that was wishful thinking. It took me about another hour to figure out which exit to take, and from there, which direction to get to Teramachi. Even more frustrating was the fact that I later discovered the exit that leads from the station directly to the beginning of the market.
In any case, shopping in the Teramachi/Nishiki Market area was just as wonderful as it was the last time I was there. One of the men in Tsukikage asked me to buy him a turquoise obi for him, and since Chicago is the only used kimono store I know of, I made it a top priority. When I got there, they indeed had a turqoise obi, but I ended up not buying it. Compared to the other obi, it was a bit skinny, and that made me wonder if it was appropriate for an adult man to wear it. And because it was a bit expensive (about thirty dollars, ten dollars more expensive than the others), I didnt want to buy a mistake. I didnt know who I could ask for help, so I regretfully left it behind. I will have to ask around about that, but if it was indeed useable, I feel bad.
A store nearby Chicago was Octopus Army, and it specializes in mens clothes. I was enticed by the mannequin outside of the shop. What caught my eye was its shoes, a pair of beautiful black boots, with blue laces. Boots are very common here in Japan, and I have come to admire them. I really wanted to buy them, but it was about a hundred and fifty dollars, which is way more than I ever plan to spend for shoes. I eventually succumbed in buying from the store. I bought one of the polo shirts they were selling. It is rather plain, with the main body simply being black with a small writing on the left chest area. But the collar is an interesting black and grey check pattern, and I really like it. When they let me try it on, with my white long sleeve underneath, it looked really good. However, it was fifty dollars, which would make it the most expensive shirt I've ever bought. I really agonized about it, and I probably drove the store clerks crazy with my hesitation. What didnt help was it had competition. The shirt I bought beat out a t-shirt with a panda that said "Money doesnt buy happiness" (IRONIC RIGHT), and a white and blue polo. Also, it came only in medium, that actually fit me, but was also a bit tight. It looks fine when I was standing up, but I worry for what it looks like when I sit down. In any case, I bought it, and rationalized that it is my Boy's Day gift to me (a day late). Since it was so expensive, I need to wear it on days that I need to look amazing on. Watch for it, ね!
By the time I finished everything that I needed to do in Kyoto, I headed back to Osaka. By this time, it was about five, and not only had I spent a fair amount of money, but my legs were very sore (yup, still not fully recovered). At this time, I realised that even though I came to Osaka, I spent more time and money in Kobe and Kyoto. Isnt that a bit ironic? After thinking it over, I decided to walk around the Umeda area, and try to support Osaka businesses. With that in mind, I headed to the HEP Five building thing, which I heard was a big shopping mall. And it certainly was! There were ten floors, and so many shops. Naturally, there were a lot of clothes stores, with some really nice stuff for sale, but it was way too expensive for me. There was a piercing shop that caught my eye, but unfortunately, the ones I liked were too big for my holes. I did enjoy the music store in there, and picked up a mixed CD. It's certainly different from most of the other music I listen to, but if I ever need a party mix, I found it.
This concludes my trip to Kansai for Golden Week. Tomorrow morning, I have to wake up early to check out of the hotel and catch my shinkansen back to Hiroshima. It has been a lesson in wasting time and making mistakes. I missed the MBLAQ fan meet on Wednesday, and today I got lost in Kyoto. There are so many things I would change if I could turn back the clock. But you know what? Even though I cant replace lost time, or undo my mistakes, this trip has not been a complete failure. I got a lot of great presents for my nephews for Boy's Day, my mom for Mother's Day, and my father for his retirement. And also I got a lot of omiyage for my friends. Even though things went wrong, I guess I should keep my success at the forefront of my mind. With that, I bid you good night.
The Teramachi area of Kyoto is simply a wonderful place to find omiyage. Whether you need a distinctly Japanese item, or if you're looking for things on the cheap, I suggest you check there first. In addition to omiyage, I wanted to check Chicago, a used clothing store for some kimono things. I'm sure there are places like this in Osaka, but I dont know them, and I like Kyoto, so after leaving my hotel, I headed to the Hankyu Umeda Station. I was not expecting the train ride to be as long as it was. The way people talk, it sounds like getting through the Keihanshin area is fast and easy. However, I should have realised that the opposite is true, considering it took about forty five minutes to get to Kobe, from Osaka. To get to Kyoto, it took me about an hour. And when I got there, I promptly got lost. I thought I had remembered the area around Shijo, but I think that was wishful thinking. It took me about another hour to figure out which exit to take, and from there, which direction to get to Teramachi. Even more frustrating was the fact that I later discovered the exit that leads from the station directly to the beginning of the market.
In any case, shopping in the Teramachi/Nishiki Market area was just as wonderful as it was the last time I was there. One of the men in Tsukikage asked me to buy him a turquoise obi for him, and since Chicago is the only used kimono store I know of, I made it a top priority. When I got there, they indeed had a turqoise obi, but I ended up not buying it. Compared to the other obi, it was a bit skinny, and that made me wonder if it was appropriate for an adult man to wear it. And because it was a bit expensive (about thirty dollars, ten dollars more expensive than the others), I didnt want to buy a mistake. I didnt know who I could ask for help, so I regretfully left it behind. I will have to ask around about that, but if it was indeed useable, I feel bad.
A store nearby Chicago was Octopus Army, and it specializes in mens clothes. I was enticed by the mannequin outside of the shop. What caught my eye was its shoes, a pair of beautiful black boots, with blue laces. Boots are very common here in Japan, and I have come to admire them. I really wanted to buy them, but it was about a hundred and fifty dollars, which is way more than I ever plan to spend for shoes. I eventually succumbed in buying from the store. I bought one of the polo shirts they were selling. It is rather plain, with the main body simply being black with a small writing on the left chest area. But the collar is an interesting black and grey check pattern, and I really like it. When they let me try it on, with my white long sleeve underneath, it looked really good. However, it was fifty dollars, which would make it the most expensive shirt I've ever bought. I really agonized about it, and I probably drove the store clerks crazy with my hesitation. What didnt help was it had competition. The shirt I bought beat out a t-shirt with a panda that said "Money doesnt buy happiness" (IRONIC RIGHT), and a white and blue polo. Also, it came only in medium, that actually fit me, but was also a bit tight. It looks fine when I was standing up, but I worry for what it looks like when I sit down. In any case, I bought it, and rationalized that it is my Boy's Day gift to me (a day late). Since it was so expensive, I need to wear it on days that I need to look amazing on. Watch for it, ね!
By the time I finished everything that I needed to do in Kyoto, I headed back to Osaka. By this time, it was about five, and not only had I spent a fair amount of money, but my legs were very sore (yup, still not fully recovered). At this time, I realised that even though I came to Osaka, I spent more time and money in Kobe and Kyoto. Isnt that a bit ironic? After thinking it over, I decided to walk around the Umeda area, and try to support Osaka businesses. With that in mind, I headed to the HEP Five building thing, which I heard was a big shopping mall. And it certainly was! There were ten floors, and so many shops. Naturally, there were a lot of clothes stores, with some really nice stuff for sale, but it was way too expensive for me. There was a piercing shop that caught my eye, but unfortunately, the ones I liked were too big for my holes. I did enjoy the music store in there, and picked up a mixed CD. It's certainly different from most of the other music I listen to, but if I ever need a party mix, I found it.
This concludes my trip to Kansai for Golden Week. Tomorrow morning, I have to wake up early to check out of the hotel and catch my shinkansen back to Hiroshima. It has been a lesson in wasting time and making mistakes. I missed the MBLAQ fan meet on Wednesday, and today I got lost in Kyoto. There are so many things I would change if I could turn back the clock. But you know what? Even though I cant replace lost time, or undo my mistakes, this trip has not been a complete failure. I got a lot of great presents for my nephews for Boy's Day, my mom for Mother's Day, and my father for his retirement. And also I got a lot of omiyage for my friends. Even though things went wrong, I guess I should keep my success at the forefront of my mind. With that, I bid you good night.
Thursday, May 5, 2011
Thinking of Honolulu
When I was thinking of what I wanted to do while in Kansai, going to Kobe was not on the list. I knew it was close enough to visit, but I didnt know what else to do there. But the other night, I was talking to a friend that had spent the year at the SAC program in Kobe. She suggested that the shopping in Sannomiya would be a worthwhile trip. Further, my other friend that participated in the same program told me that the port Kobe was nearby. Since one of the other HUSA's visited Yokohama where her grandmother left Japan, I decided to see the port where my great grandfather left Japan. All in all, today was a pretty good day.
When I got to Sannomiya, there were no shops open, so I headed towards the pier. Even though I didnt have any idea of the area, there were maps all over the place, so I figured out how to get there. The station was a few blocks away, so I had to walk through a few blocks of the street. なんとか, the streets I passed by reminded me a lot of Honolulu, particularly the Downtown, business district. Like in Honolulu, the sidewalk is wide enough to give people plenty of space, but not as wide as the street. The buildings were very tall, and undoubtably held offices of business firms and other important type things. But it wasnt completely urban; there were trees and hedges lining the streets, but they were rather large. Like some parts of downtown Honolulu, there was a good mix of concrete and greenery.
Do you think it looks like Downtown Honolulu?
When I got to the port, I didnt know what to make of it. I mean, it looked like any port you would come across. There were ships in dock, and there was the ocean. A hundred years or so have passed between my great grandfather's time and now, so I have no idea where exactly he departed from Japan. At this time, I must admit, I thought that coming to the port was a mistake. With that thought, I walked to the area by the Kobe Port Tower. When I went up the tower, it was still fairly early in the morning, so I couldnt see very far. But even with the clouds, it was still a nice view of the city. After I descended, I decided to check out the small open market that was starting to open. There were a lot of food stalls, one of which was karaage, which of course I bought from. The other stalls were selling used clothes, kid toys, and a few that had accesories like necklaces and bracelets. I wanted to support the vendors, but the only vendor I bought from was this sweet old lady that was selling things she had sewn. I wanted a bag to hold my shamisen stuff, and I found it today. It's made with a blue, Super Mario pattern. It is supposed to be for little kids to hold their shoes or something, but I think it's the right size for my shamisen stuff. I'm very happy with it.
What really made my visit to the port worthwhile, though, was the Kobe Maritime Museum. It is a museum devoted to the history of Kobe Port, and starts from its beginnings in the Heian Era, to its current condition. I was very surprised to see a small entry that talked about its role in the immigration period, near the turn of the last century. The English translation was very short, and the original Japanese wasnt much longer, but still, just that little mention was way more than any Japanese person I've met knows. The panel explained that the first immigrants to leave were the Gannenmono, in 1868. About thirty years later, the government contract period began, which is when my great grandfather left. Also in the early part of the last century, immigration to Brazi and Peru began, and would continue until the 1970's. I feel that the Japan Japanese these days dont know nearly enough about their brethren abroad. They always express amazement at the amount of Japanese people in Hawaii, and seem surprised when they hear about us doing Japanese things, like お正月 and お盆. Seeing a Japanese exhibit on Japanese immigration was gratifying, and it seemed to reaffirm my belief that while the Japanese abroad are not like the Japanese in Japan, we are still more a part of them than they would like to believe.
A statue for the Japanese immigrants that left through Kobe Port.
After that, I decided to check out the shopping district. Like Hiroshima, part of the shopping area in Sannomiya is called 本道 Hondori, and like Hiroshima city, there are about a million little shops that line the area. I dont know exactly how far I was walking, but it was a lot. My legs were so sore! But I found a lot of interesting shops. There were quite a few kimono shops which I checked out. I want to buy yukata for bon dance, but as one of the ladies explained, it's still too early. Maybe later this month they'll be getting more yukata, and that'll bring down the price. Even though I'll probably never be back, I received a lot of 名刺. I didnt know how to turn down those sweet ばちゃんs！ At any rate, I picked up a cheap white obi. The woman that sold it to me said that I could use it with the black yukata that I picked up the last time I was in Japan.
After the two streets that comprised that shopping area, I started walking around the Ikuta area. This area was even more crowded than the hondori area! Not necessarily because there were more people, but the walking area itself was so small! Maybe only three people could walk together at the same time, it was so narrow. But the shops here were definitely a class apart from any other shopping area I've been to in Japan. There were two shops that were selling earrings and other piercing related stuff. Not like Claire's, but more like Hot Topic hardcore. The first one I went to was run by girls that had brightly dyed hair (blonde and pink, in case you wanted to know), and the girl that helped me had multiple cartlidge piercings, nose piercings, and a few on her lips. They had a fair selection of cartlidge piercings (products, not them), but unfortunately, they only had plain bars for my industrial (in Japanese, インダス←新しい単語). The other shop I think is a branch store of the store I patronized when I was in Kyoto. There were a lot of rings and necklaces, which didnt really appeal to me, but their selection of earrings was pretty big. The pair I decided on buying was a pair of skulls in silver. The sales clerk here, like his counterpart in Kyoto, really knew how to butter me up. When he saw what I had in, he said "星はかわいいですよね。Those stars are really cute, arent they?" and when he asked where I was from, he complemented me on my Japanese. "留学生と言われても、信じられないんですよ。Even though you say that you're a foreign exchange student, I cant believe it!" Having said all of that, I couldnt very well not buy from him, now could I?
At this point, it was about three in the afternoon, but I was in pain from yesterday's running. However, I felt that I shouldnt leave Sannomiya without visiting a few of the nearby department stores, so I steeled myself for more walking. Like other department stores in Japan, the majority of the products for sale were quite expensive, so I didnt do much more than look at them. I saw a lot of things I wanted, but seeing how much money was left in my wallet, I decided not to buy anything. I did really nice smelling body wash, which I decided to get for my mother. And I also picked up some candy to give to my other nephew.
Getting back to the hotel was another adventure. I got really mixed up today, because "Sannomiya Station" is the English name for three different places. There is the Japan Railways station, the Hanshin Densha station, and the Hankyu Line station. It took me a while to remember that I came on the Hankyu line, but even after figuring that out, I had to figure out which building with 「三宮駅」 on it was the right one. After getting on the right train, I fell asleep, and when I woke up, I got off at the wrong station. Luckily, I noticed that only a few seconds after getting of the train, so I didnt have to wait for a new train, but still. After hobbling back to my hotel (my legs were so tired, you dont even know), I bought a bento at a newrby convenience store and have been resting in my room since then.
Although I didnt really plan for it, I enjoyed my trip to Kobe today. Going to Kobe Port and seeing a legitimate discussion of Japanese immigration reaffirmed my Japanese identity. And the open market in the area was filled with a lot of fun sights and things to buy. The Sannomiya shopping was also spectacular, and allowed me to cross off some things on my omiyage list. It's late, and I need to get some sleep. Tomorrow I'm heading to Kyoto, to visit a few stores that I enjoyed the last time I was here. I'm hoping that it'll be a 楽 kind of day. But, who really knows what tomorrow will bring?
When I got to Sannomiya, there were no shops open, so I headed towards the pier. Even though I didnt have any idea of the area, there were maps all over the place, so I figured out how to get there. The station was a few blocks away, so I had to walk through a few blocks of the street. なんとか, the streets I passed by reminded me a lot of Honolulu, particularly the Downtown, business district. Like in Honolulu, the sidewalk is wide enough to give people plenty of space, but not as wide as the street. The buildings were very tall, and undoubtably held offices of business firms and other important type things. But it wasnt completely urban; there were trees and hedges lining the streets, but they were rather large. Like some parts of downtown Honolulu, there was a good mix of concrete and greenery.
When I got to the port, I didnt know what to make of it. I mean, it looked like any port you would come across. There were ships in dock, and there was the ocean. A hundred years or so have passed between my great grandfather's time and now, so I have no idea where exactly he departed from Japan. At this time, I must admit, I thought that coming to the port was a mistake. With that thought, I walked to the area by the Kobe Port Tower. When I went up the tower, it was still fairly early in the morning, so I couldnt see very far. But even with the clouds, it was still a nice view of the city. After I descended, I decided to check out the small open market that was starting to open. There were a lot of food stalls, one of which was karaage, which of course I bought from. The other stalls were selling used clothes, kid toys, and a few that had accesories like necklaces and bracelets. I wanted to support the vendors, but the only vendor I bought from was this sweet old lady that was selling things she had sewn. I wanted a bag to hold my shamisen stuff, and I found it today. It's made with a blue, Super Mario pattern. It is supposed to be for little kids to hold their shoes or something, but I think it's the right size for my shamisen stuff. I'm very happy with it.
What really made my visit to the port worthwhile, though, was the Kobe Maritime Museum. It is a museum devoted to the history of Kobe Port, and starts from its beginnings in the Heian Era, to its current condition. I was very surprised to see a small entry that talked about its role in the immigration period, near the turn of the last century. The English translation was very short, and the original Japanese wasnt much longer, but still, just that little mention was way more than any Japanese person I've met knows. The panel explained that the first immigrants to leave were the Gannenmono, in 1868. About thirty years later, the government contract period began, which is when my great grandfather left. Also in the early part of the last century, immigration to Brazi and Peru began, and would continue until the 1970's. I feel that the Japan Japanese these days dont know nearly enough about their brethren abroad. They always express amazement at the amount of Japanese people in Hawaii, and seem surprised when they hear about us doing Japanese things, like お正月 and お盆. Seeing a Japanese exhibit on Japanese immigration was gratifying, and it seemed to reaffirm my belief that while the Japanese abroad are not like the Japanese in Japan, we are still more a part of them than they would like to believe.
After that, I decided to check out the shopping district. Like Hiroshima, part of the shopping area in Sannomiya is called 本道 Hondori, and like Hiroshima city, there are about a million little shops that line the area. I dont know exactly how far I was walking, but it was a lot. My legs were so sore! But I found a lot of interesting shops. There were quite a few kimono shops which I checked out. I want to buy yukata for bon dance, but as one of the ladies explained, it's still too early. Maybe later this month they'll be getting more yukata, and that'll bring down the price. Even though I'll probably never be back, I received a lot of 名刺. I didnt know how to turn down those sweet ばちゃんs！ At any rate, I picked up a cheap white obi. The woman that sold it to me said that I could use it with the black yukata that I picked up the last time I was in Japan.
After the two streets that comprised that shopping area, I started walking around the Ikuta area. This area was even more crowded than the hondori area! Not necessarily because there were more people, but the walking area itself was so small! Maybe only three people could walk together at the same time, it was so narrow. But the shops here were definitely a class apart from any other shopping area I've been to in Japan. There were two shops that were selling earrings and other piercing related stuff. Not like Claire's, but more like Hot Topic hardcore. The first one I went to was run by girls that had brightly dyed hair (blonde and pink, in case you wanted to know), and the girl that helped me had multiple cartlidge piercings, nose piercings, and a few on her lips. They had a fair selection of cartlidge piercings (products, not them), but unfortunately, they only had plain bars for my industrial (in Japanese, インダス←新しい単語). The other shop I think is a branch store of the store I patronized when I was in Kyoto. There were a lot of rings and necklaces, which didnt really appeal to me, but their selection of earrings was pretty big. The pair I decided on buying was a pair of skulls in silver. The sales clerk here, like his counterpart in Kyoto, really knew how to butter me up. When he saw what I had in, he said "星はかわいいですよね。Those stars are really cute, arent they?" and when he asked where I was from, he complemented me on my Japanese. "留学生と言われても、信じられないんですよ。Even though you say that you're a foreign exchange student, I cant believe it!" Having said all of that, I couldnt very well not buy from him, now could I?
At this point, it was about three in the afternoon, but I was in pain from yesterday's running. However, I felt that I shouldnt leave Sannomiya without visiting a few of the nearby department stores, so I steeled myself for more walking. Like other department stores in Japan, the majority of the products for sale were quite expensive, so I didnt do much more than look at them. I saw a lot of things I wanted, but seeing how much money was left in my wallet, I decided not to buy anything. I did really nice smelling body wash, which I decided to get for my mother. And I also picked up some candy to give to my other nephew.
Getting back to the hotel was another adventure. I got really mixed up today, because "Sannomiya Station" is the English name for three different places. There is the Japan Railways station, the Hanshin Densha station, and the Hankyu Line station. It took me a while to remember that I came on the Hankyu line, but even after figuring that out, I had to figure out which building with 「三宮駅」 on it was the right one. After getting on the right train, I fell asleep, and when I woke up, I got off at the wrong station. Luckily, I noticed that only a few seconds after getting of the train, so I didnt have to wait for a new train, but still. After hobbling back to my hotel (my legs were so tired, you dont even know), I bought a bento at a newrby convenience store and have been resting in my room since then.
Although I didnt really plan for it, I enjoyed my trip to Kobe today. Going to Kobe Port and seeing a legitimate discussion of Japanese immigration reaffirmed my Japanese identity. And the open market in the area was filled with a lot of fun sights and things to buy. The Sannomiya shopping was also spectacular, and allowed me to cross off some things on my omiyage list. It's late, and I need to get some sleep. Tomorrow I'm heading to Kyoto, to visit a few stores that I enjoyed the last time I was here. I'm hoping that it'll be a 楽 kind of day. But, who really knows what tomorrow will bring?
Wednesday, May 4, 2011
大失敗
"Daishippai" translated means "Big Failure", and that's what today was. Long story short, I missed the whole reason why I came to Osaka. The money for the shinkansen, the hotel room, all of it has come to naught.
失敗第一 First Failure: Golden Week
I knew that Golden Week was serious business for the Japanese, but I made two mistakes. The first is that Japan's population is the tenth largest in the world; even if half of the nation had decided not to travel, there would still be a lot of people milling about. The second thing is that there are two popuation centers in Japan, one of which is the Kyoto-Osaka-Kobe area (the other being the Tokyo Capital Area). There are simply so many people everywhere you look. They crowd the trains, fill up the sidewalks, and are just unescapable. When I got lost and began to rush, there were times when I simply could not move faster because there was simply no space.
失敗第二 Second Failure: Double Checking
First of all, I should have checked the area surrounding the event location for cd sellers where I could have reserved my cd. There was a Tsutaya a block away, and I should have reserved my cd there. In Saijo, we normally go there for the used products, so I didnt think about it. A quick look at their website would have set me straight. The store I did reserve at, Tower Records, has two stores near each other, and that's what threw me off. When I checked Google Maps, it didnt mention that there were two stores, so when I passed by one yesterday, I assumed that it was the one I wanted. It wasnt, so I wasted time going to that store, and because I didnt plan on going to the other store, I got lost heading there. Furthermore, when trying to head to the event location, I got lost again, so I ended up being an hour and a half late.
失敗第三 Third Failure: Picking this Event
Today's fan meet event for MBLAQ's Japanese debut is one of five events. It is the first, being held on the day their album became available for sale. For these reasons, I shouldnt have picked this event. Tower Records, where I reserved my album, opened at 11:00 AM; the 受付 ended at 11:30 AM. Even if I hadnt gotten lost and all, I would have had only half an hour to go to Tower Records, pick up and buy the cd, and then get to the place. That thirty minutes made little space for error, which (LOL) happened. While Sapporo and Tokyo are far away and would have cost more money (transportation and lodging), Fukuoka is not as far away. And while I would have sacrificed a Monday and/or Tuesday, I wouldnt have been in such a rush. I would have made the ハイタッチ会 and maybe even the 超限定ライブ.
After being turned away, I am a bit proud to admit that I didnt lose my shit in the middle of the street. I did hang out a bit, just to watch what kinds of people would show up. Because there were only three ladies ahead of me at the (wrong) Tower Records and the fact that it was the day the album was released, I was really surprised to see how many people had shown up. There were people all over the street, and it was a very long street. Another thing that surprised me was the age of the people. I'd say the majority of people were in their late teens or twenties, which is pretty normal, I think. But there were a few girls who were definitely in middle school, and accompanied by their mothers. But I was amazed that there were a few older women too. Not grandmas, to be sure, but I'd put their age at late fifties or sixties. Definitely the kind that are known to watch KDramas. However, no matter their age, they all acted the same. The sighing, the laughing, the "Ohmygod they're so amazing!1!11!". Maybe it's just as well that I didnt get in. I would have been so conspicuous and nervous.
I thought about waiting for the whole thing to finish, and then maybe seeing if I could watch them walk out the building. But my legs were tired (I literally ran today), and I was feeling shitty, so I decided to leave. While lost, I had walked by 大丸 Daimaru, which is a department store, as well as the ポケモンセンター Pokemon Center. I headed in that direction. For a bit, I got pulled off track by a game center, and I played some games, but eventually, I made it to the 大丸ビル.
Like I mentioned above, there are so many people here in Osaka, and the area I was walking through is a major shopping and transit center, so it took me a while. To get to the Poke Center, I had to head up to the thirteenth floor, which is no small feat. The elevator would have been packed and stop on every floor, but the escalator was not that much better. It too was full of people, and took forever and a day. But I finally made it to the Poke Center. Predictably, the majority of people there were either children or with children, so it felt a little strange to be by myself and looking at things. Since I dont have any of the Pokemon games with me, I didnt stop to watch people aquire special, new pokemon, and I also ignored the kiddy games where you could win Pokemon prizes. A friend of mine asked me to buy him some things if I happened to stop there, so I started looking for his stuff. I picked out two file folders, which I think he'll use. But also for sale were a multitude of things. There were pencils and pens, scissors and erasers, and bento boxes and much more. There were shirts too, but they looked the size of a child, so I didnt look too hard. There was also candy and other snacks imprinted with Pokemon characters. I did look through the Pokemon Card section, but they were all the new cards, which I have no interest in. After taking about ten minutes to wait through line, I made it out of there.
Tomorrow is Boy's Day, so even though it'll be late, I wanted to buy something for my nephews. I suppose that's one good thing for having three nephews; it's easy to find their Boy's Day gifts. 東急ハンズ Tokyu Hands, a department store I like, took up the three floors beneath the Poke Center, so I checked it out next. Predictably, there were quite an assortment of things on sale. I particularly enjoyed looking through the cookware section. In the housewares section, there was an apron you use when hanging out clothes. I really wanted to buy it, because it looks somewhat useful. It works like a kangaroo pouch: the front part has a pocket in which to place clothes in, to hold while to hang it out. 結局、買わんかったけど。 I'll think about it, and maybe I'll go back for it. But it's doubtful, because I imagine that it'll be very crowded in there. I dont do well with crowds.
簡単というと、今日は大失敗だったのよ。 The whole reason why I decided to come to Osaka during Golden Week was to go to MBLAQ's Japan debut and I completely missed it. Thankfully I didnt start crying in the streets, but I am bummed that せっかく大阪来たのに会えんかったんじゃ。 But there is a small part of me that hopes that this isnt the end. They're going to open their Japanese fan club soon, and I plan on joining it. Secondly, I've bought their last two albums, and isnt that the best thing a fan can do, support the artist? I heard that their album debuted at number two on the Oricon chart, so maybe if their sales are good and fan club support strong, maybe they'll come back to Japan. They already made another fan meet even in Shibuya 突発的に, so it's not impossible. Hey, I can hope, cant I?
In any case, this day is over, and I should start planning what I'm going to do tomorrow. I'm thinking of heading into the Denden Town, which my friend said is kinda like Akiba. If not, I want to go to Kyoto again, for some things I missed the last time. In any case, I must make the next few days worthwhile, if only to offset my failure today. この休みを失敗しないように頑張るよ！！
失敗第一 First Failure: Golden Week
I knew that Golden Week was serious business for the Japanese, but I made two mistakes. The first is that Japan's population is the tenth largest in the world; even if half of the nation had decided not to travel, there would still be a lot of people milling about. The second thing is that there are two popuation centers in Japan, one of which is the Kyoto-Osaka-Kobe area (the other being the Tokyo Capital Area). There are simply so many people everywhere you look. They crowd the trains, fill up the sidewalks, and are just unescapable. When I got lost and began to rush, there were times when I simply could not move faster because there was simply no space.
失敗第二 Second Failure: Double Checking
First of all, I should have checked the area surrounding the event location for cd sellers where I could have reserved my cd. There was a Tsutaya a block away, and I should have reserved my cd there. In Saijo, we normally go there for the used products, so I didnt think about it. A quick look at their website would have set me straight. The store I did reserve at, Tower Records, has two stores near each other, and that's what threw me off. When I checked Google Maps, it didnt mention that there were two stores, so when I passed by one yesterday, I assumed that it was the one I wanted. It wasnt, so I wasted time going to that store, and because I didnt plan on going to the other store, I got lost heading there. Furthermore, when trying to head to the event location, I got lost again, so I ended up being an hour and a half late.
失敗第三 Third Failure: Picking this Event
Today's fan meet event for MBLAQ's Japanese debut is one of five events. It is the first, being held on the day their album became available for sale. For these reasons, I shouldnt have picked this event. Tower Records, where I reserved my album, opened at 11:00 AM; the 受付 ended at 11:30 AM. Even if I hadnt gotten lost and all, I would have had only half an hour to go to Tower Records, pick up and buy the cd, and then get to the place. That thirty minutes made little space for error, which (LOL) happened. While Sapporo and Tokyo are far away and would have cost more money (transportation and lodging), Fukuoka is not as far away. And while I would have sacrificed a Monday and/or Tuesday, I wouldnt have been in such a rush. I would have made the ハイタッチ会 and maybe even the 超限定ライブ.
After being turned away, I am a bit proud to admit that I didnt lose my shit in the middle of the street. I did hang out a bit, just to watch what kinds of people would show up. Because there were only three ladies ahead of me at the (wrong) Tower Records and the fact that it was the day the album was released, I was really surprised to see how many people had shown up. There were people all over the street, and it was a very long street. Another thing that surprised me was the age of the people. I'd say the majority of people were in their late teens or twenties, which is pretty normal, I think. But there were a few girls who were definitely in middle school, and accompanied by their mothers. But I was amazed that there were a few older women too. Not grandmas, to be sure, but I'd put their age at late fifties or sixties. Definitely the kind that are known to watch KDramas. However, no matter their age, they all acted the same. The sighing, the laughing, the "Ohmygod they're so amazing!1!11!". Maybe it's just as well that I didnt get in. I would have been so conspicuous and nervous.
I thought about waiting for the whole thing to finish, and then maybe seeing if I could watch them walk out the building. But my legs were tired (I literally ran today), and I was feeling shitty, so I decided to leave. While lost, I had walked by 大丸 Daimaru, which is a department store, as well as the ポケモンセンター Pokemon Center. I headed in that direction. For a bit, I got pulled off track by a game center, and I played some games, but eventually, I made it to the 大丸ビル.
Like I mentioned above, there are so many people here in Osaka, and the area I was walking through is a major shopping and transit center, so it took me a while. To get to the Poke Center, I had to head up to the thirteenth floor, which is no small feat. The elevator would have been packed and stop on every floor, but the escalator was not that much better. It too was full of people, and took forever and a day. But I finally made it to the Poke Center. Predictably, the majority of people there were either children or with children, so it felt a little strange to be by myself and looking at things. Since I dont have any of the Pokemon games with me, I didnt stop to watch people aquire special, new pokemon, and I also ignored the kiddy games where you could win Pokemon prizes. A friend of mine asked me to buy him some things if I happened to stop there, so I started looking for his stuff. I picked out two file folders, which I think he'll use. But also for sale were a multitude of things. There were pencils and pens, scissors and erasers, and bento boxes and much more. There were shirts too, but they looked the size of a child, so I didnt look too hard. There was also candy and other snacks imprinted with Pokemon characters. I did look through the Pokemon Card section, but they were all the new cards, which I have no interest in. After taking about ten minutes to wait through line, I made it out of there.
Tomorrow is Boy's Day, so even though it'll be late, I wanted to buy something for my nephews. I suppose that's one good thing for having three nephews; it's easy to find their Boy's Day gifts. 東急ハンズ Tokyu Hands, a department store I like, took up the three floors beneath the Poke Center, so I checked it out next. Predictably, there were quite an assortment of things on sale. I particularly enjoyed looking through the cookware section. In the housewares section, there was an apron you use when hanging out clothes. I really wanted to buy it, because it looks somewhat useful. It works like a kangaroo pouch: the front part has a pocket in which to place clothes in, to hold while to hang it out. 結局、買わんかったけど。 I'll think about it, and maybe I'll go back for it. But it's doubtful, because I imagine that it'll be very crowded in there. I dont do well with crowds.
簡単というと、今日は大失敗だったのよ。 The whole reason why I decided to come to Osaka during Golden Week was to go to MBLAQ's Japan debut and I completely missed it. Thankfully I didnt start crying in the streets, but I am bummed that せっかく大阪来たのに会えんかったんじゃ。 But there is a small part of me that hopes that this isnt the end. They're going to open their Japanese fan club soon, and I plan on joining it. Secondly, I've bought their last two albums, and isnt that the best thing a fan can do, support the artist? I heard that their album debuted at number two on the Oricon chart, so maybe if their sales are good and fan club support strong, maybe they'll come back to Japan. They already made another fan meet even in Shibuya 突発的に, so it's not impossible. Hey, I can hope, cant I?
In any case, this day is over, and I should start planning what I'm going to do tomorrow. I'm thinking of heading into the Denden Town, which my friend said is kinda like Akiba. If not, I want to go to Kyoto again, for some things I missed the last time. In any case, I must make the next few days worthwhile, if only to offset my failure today. この休みを失敗しないように頑張るよ！！
Saturday, April 30, 2011
Vacation Again
So after two weeks of school, I'm going to be back on vacation. While there is school on Monday, that is the last time I'll have class until the following week. You see, it's Golden Week right now, a week in which many Japanese holidays fall. For a full list of holidays, you should check the Wikipedia article on it. A lot of people are going on short trips around Japan, and I so am I.
I mentioned a while back that I started getting into a new Korean band, MBLAQ. On May 4th, their Japanese debut album is going to be on sale, and they'll be promoting it with a set of live appearances. Their first one, on the fourth, is going to be in Osaka. I wanted to buy their album, and because of Golden Week, I had the time. Furthermore, Osaka is not as far from Hiroshima as Tokyo or Sapporo is, so it seemed like a good idea to go. I managed to find a really cheap hotel room, which is going to offset some of the cost of transportation, seeing as I have to take the bullet train to get there on time. It's been a long time since I've been to Osaka, so I'm really excited to go! I leave Hiroshima on Tuesday afternoon, and leave Osaka on Saturday. Technically, Friday will be a regular day, but because I have no class that day, I decided to take it easy and stay there a little longer. I'm not really sure what I'm going to do in Osaka, though. I'm looking up places to go, and things to see, but I havent really compiled a list or something. I asked a friend of mine, who studied in Kobe, which is real close, what he thinks I should do, so I have a vague idea. And also, I know someone who is currently in Osaka right now, but I havent spoken to her in years. Perhaps I should contact her.
I hate to be a Debbie Downer, but I do have my reservations about going. For one thing, getting to the place where the live is going to be is a bit problematic. I made it so that my hotel room is close to the store where I have to buy my cd (which has my ticket), which is close to the club where they will be performing at. However, I havent walked around Osaka before; the streets are completely foreign to me. I have looked at it on Google Maps (both the regular maps and Street View), but my time limit is very short. Tower Records, where I have my CD on reserve, opens at 11:00 AM. The 受付 for the event starts at 9:00 and runs to 11:30 AM. Of course, I'm not going to get to Tower Record at eleven - I'm going to get there a bit early, in the even that I can get in there faster. But still. I cant help but wonder if the staff thought about time and all that. But in any case, I will have to move my ass as fast as I can in a city I dont even know. Assuming I get to the club on time, I have a feeling that not only will I be the only American, but I will probably be the only boy there too. Most idol groups have girl fans, and MBLAQ is no different. I have a feeling I will be judged hardcore by people there. And finally, the actual live performance is not open to everyone who will be there. I didnt realise it until today, but there's going to be some kind of raffle or lottery to determine who will get to see it. And even assuming I get in, it's planned to only be half an hour long. To be quite honest, if I had known all of this three weeks ago, I would have just given up and decided not to go. But I've got all the tickets paid, and reservations put in, so I suppose I have no choice but to go. I need to keep a positive attitude that everything will work out, and that I'll have fun and be happy. C'mon good, positive karma!
I get in on Tuesday, and MBLAQ will take up my Wednesday. I dont leave until Saturday morning. This means I have to plan for Thursday and Friday. While I am taking suggestions and thinking about it, I have yet to make concrete plans for those two days. According to Wikipedia, there's a Poke Center near the Osaka Station, so I want to go there. And I am thinking of going to Kyoto again, if only to shop at some stores I really liked there. My friend has suggested Denden Town, which is like Akihabara. And like I said, it wouldnt be a bad idea to see my friend I havent talked to in ages. I still have time to plan (and I should probably start packing...), so I guess I can wait a bit. While definitely worried about all the bad things that can happen, I am trying to look forward to my Osaka vacation. It'll be the last time for me to relax before I get stuck with school, school, and more school.
I mentioned a while back that I started getting into a new Korean band, MBLAQ. On May 4th, their Japanese debut album is going to be on sale, and they'll be promoting it with a set of live appearances. Their first one, on the fourth, is going to be in Osaka. I wanted to buy their album, and because of Golden Week, I had the time. Furthermore, Osaka is not as far from Hiroshima as Tokyo or Sapporo is, so it seemed like a good idea to go. I managed to find a really cheap hotel room, which is going to offset some of the cost of transportation, seeing as I have to take the bullet train to get there on time. It's been a long time since I've been to Osaka, so I'm really excited to go! I leave Hiroshima on Tuesday afternoon, and leave Osaka on Saturday. Technically, Friday will be a regular day, but because I have no class that day, I decided to take it easy and stay there a little longer. I'm not really sure what I'm going to do in Osaka, though. I'm looking up places to go, and things to see, but I havent really compiled a list or something. I asked a friend of mine, who studied in Kobe, which is real close, what he thinks I should do, so I have a vague idea. And also, I know someone who is currently in Osaka right now, but I havent spoken to her in years. Perhaps I should contact her.
I hate to be a Debbie Downer, but I do have my reservations about going. For one thing, getting to the place where the live is going to be is a bit problematic. I made it so that my hotel room is close to the store where I have to buy my cd (which has my ticket), which is close to the club where they will be performing at. However, I havent walked around Osaka before; the streets are completely foreign to me. I have looked at it on Google Maps (both the regular maps and Street View), but my time limit is very short. Tower Records, where I have my CD on reserve, opens at 11:00 AM. The 受付 for the event starts at 9:00 and runs to 11:30 AM. Of course, I'm not going to get to Tower Record at eleven - I'm going to get there a bit early, in the even that I can get in there faster. But still. I cant help but wonder if the staff thought about time and all that. But in any case, I will have to move my ass as fast as I can in a city I dont even know. Assuming I get to the club on time, I have a feeling that not only will I be the only American, but I will probably be the only boy there too. Most idol groups have girl fans, and MBLAQ is no different. I have a feeling I will be judged hardcore by people there. And finally, the actual live performance is not open to everyone who will be there. I didnt realise it until today, but there's going to be some kind of raffle or lottery to determine who will get to see it. And even assuming I get in, it's planned to only be half an hour long. To be quite honest, if I had known all of this three weeks ago, I would have just given up and decided not to go. But I've got all the tickets paid, and reservations put in, so I suppose I have no choice but to go. I need to keep a positive attitude that everything will work out, and that I'll have fun and be happy. C'mon good, positive karma!
I get in on Tuesday, and MBLAQ will take up my Wednesday. I dont leave until Saturday morning. This means I have to plan for Thursday and Friday. While I am taking suggestions and thinking about it, I have yet to make concrete plans for those two days. According to Wikipedia, there's a Poke Center near the Osaka Station, so I want to go there. And I am thinking of going to Kyoto again, if only to shop at some stores I really liked there. My friend has suggested Denden Town, which is like Akihabara. And like I said, it wouldnt be a bad idea to see my friend I havent talked to in ages. I still have time to plan (and I should probably start packing...), so I guess I can wait a bit. While definitely worried about all the bad things that can happen, I am trying to look forward to my Osaka vacation. It'll be the last time for me to relax before I get stuck with school, school, and more school.
Thursday, April 21, 2011
Round Two!
Today, I finished the second week of school for the Spring Term here at Hiroshima University. Although break was a fun time, being put back to work hasnt been a completely bad experience. It's good to have structure in life. However, I already know which classes I'm going to get burned from, even though we've only had two days of instruction. I can only hope that my enjoyable classes stay that way, and keep me from going crazy.
現代史, or "Contemporary History" is on Tuesday afternoons, and is a rather terrible way to end the day. I saw it in the syllabus database, but I decided to take it only after I learned that one of my Japanese friends was going to take it. Its content is basically post-war German history; not exactly my cup of tea, but hardly offensive. However, after the first class, I began to have doubts about it, mostly because the teacher rambles on and on and on. It's worse than most teachers because I dont think he realises how boring he is. I would drop it, but stupid me didnt believe my friend when he said he was thinking of dropping the class. After I got the professor's signature and turned in my registration form, I learned that my friend had indeed dropped the class. This past week's lesson wasnt better than the first. We discussed the German constitution, and I have no idea what was going on because the constitution is written (well, translated) into very formal (read: Verbose) Japanese. Even if I had been able to read the fifty million kanji that were on the screen, I still wouldnt have been able to understand the slides, because I have rarely seen (if ever) any of the grammar structures. For the moment, I havent withdrawn from the class because I havent actually registered for it, but because the grade for the course is completely dependent on the final, there is a chance I could pass it. However, the textbook is written in Formal Japanese, which means I get stuck every other character. Since I can withdraw at any time, I suppose there is no rush to drop it, but I am seriously worried about that class.
The other class that worries me is my 古典中世文学演習 class, which is on classical Japanese literature. To get credits at UHM, I need to take two classes here to equal on UHM class, so I decided on this one. I learned of this class from my literature professor from last semester, but the reason I really need to pass this class is because it'll give me credit for EALL 371 (Traditional Japanese Literature), and possibly JPN 466 (Readings in Classical Japanese). The other Japanese literature class that was recommended to me would only have gotten me EALL 271 (Traditional Japanese Literature in Translation), but I'd rather take that class at UHM next semester, as it will get me a writing intensive credit (which I really need). But from the first class, I had a bad feeling. For one thing, the professor speaks really fast, in my opinion, so I can barely process what he says, much less understand. The course content doesnt help either. We're reading a text called 八重葎 Yaemugura, and I've only been able to find snippets about it on the internet. But that's not the problematic part. We have to translate the original text from 変体仮名 to 現代仮名遣い, and then into Modern Japanese. What is 変体仮名 you may ask. It is an older form of ひらがな, and is less standardized and more calligraphic. In other words, it's like reading cursive, from back in the day, when people would write everything in size eight font, with E's after the TH, and having more OU's than you need. And to top it all off, the professor isnt exactly happy to have a foreign student in his class. When I asked him to sign my registration paper, I asked him straight up, Is it okay for me to take this class? He never answered my question. He didnt say, "This will be a wonderful class for you!", or "It's going to be difficult, but try your best!", or even "No, this is too hard for you". Thankfully, I have a few friends here who can help me translate, but I'm not really sure what section I've been assigned to translate, or who is in my group. Of all my classes, this is the one that I'm very sure I will screw up in, and everyone in the class will think I'm such a dunce.
Having said all of that, there are a few classes that I am excited to take. With the exception of Level 4 Japanese (it's going to be the same as last semester -_-;), My Level 5 Japanese class, Japanese poetry class, Politics and Foreign Relations of Japan class, and Cross Cultural Studies on Education class all look to be very fun and interesting, as well as useful.
My Level Five class is the 分析 class, or Analytics. Its goal is to better our writing, by comparing natural Japanese with the Japanese of people who are learning it. Although we do have to write an essay every week, the essays are hardly long (half a page typed), and (so far) the topics are really basic (eg 自己紹介 Self introduction). I think this class will be the most important of all my Japanese classes here, if only because it will encourage me to practice the grammar and vocabulary I am learning, as well as make me think like 日本人. Although I doubt I will ever become native level fluent, I think this'll help me get as close to that as I can. The teacher of the class is a bit spacey, and I dont always understand him, but the gist of the class is fascinating. Even though I may write or speak in Japanese, sentence formation is always in English. That is, I determine what I want to say in English, translate it to Japanese, and then display it (in the form of conversation or writing). However, this means there are transcription errors, because some English forms cant exist in Japanese, or vice versa. By looking at sentence formation from a Japanese perspective, perhaps my Japanese (or way of thinking) can become more "natural".
The Politics class I'm taking looks interesting, although because of the literature class just before it, I've always been in a foul mood (really need to work on that). The two professors that teach it have such bubbly personalities, and seem to have a relationship akin to Lucy and Ethel (DONT JUDGE), I feel bad that I dont enjoy their class more. Ostensibly, the course is to teach us how the Japanese government works, and how it interacts with other countries on the international level. Seeing as I would like to work on that international level (although probably on the American side [sorry Japan]), taking this class was a given from the start. Like I said, I have yet to go to the class happy, so I cant really say much about how I think it'll be going. We are given the chance to do a presentation on a topic related to Japanese poltics or foreign relations, and to be quite honest, I'm happy for that. In my application to the program here, I said that one of the things I'd like to accomplish is telling people about the Japanese in Hawaii. For better or worse, the Japanese in Japan have forgotten their brethren in Hawaii, despite the strong ties that once existed (and actually, still do). I have to tell the profs when I would like to present, but I already know my topic. (I imagine if the lit class didnt bring me down so much, I'd be much more excited for this class. Fuck Japanese lit.)
My Japanese poetry class is taught by the teacher I had last semester in Japanese literature. He's such a funny teacher, and even though I'm not going to get credit for it, I decided to take his class anyway. The poems were written by various poets during the Taisho and Early Showa period, and so feature some archaic Japanese. But it's mostly in the form of ゐ, which is modern い, or maybe some 旧字体 kanji. But nothing diffuclt (LIKE SOME OTHER LIT CLASSES). Although I dont understand the explanations completely, the short ones are sufficiently simple enough for me to not only understand them, but also enjoy them. Finally, the other plus of this course is that I actually know people in it! One of the Chinese girls I knew from last semester's class is back again, with a friend of hers, and I also convinced one of the American girls to take it with me. Two of the Korean girls are taking it too, so we finally have a noticable group of HUSAs to combat those hostile Japanese kids. (<----That may be the paranoia talking, I dont know.)
To be completely honest, I signed up for the education class for one reason: I WANT FIELD TRIPS. I had heard through the grapevine that the education class offeres field trips to local schools, and I knew that I wanted this class. But the professor that teaches is it so friendly, and it actually does sound somewhat interesting. Last class we discussed what culture is, and it was insightful, inasmuch as it confirmed what I have been notice: Culture is a fluid property, and can be used to group people together, as well as drive them apart. Although I planned for this class for silly reasons, I am glad I'm taking it. If only I was going to get credit for it...
Today is Thursday, so I had my Level 4, Japanese lit, Politics, and Level 5 classes today. While three out of the four were good classes, Japanese lit brought me down a lot, and I'm still bitter about my 現代史 class on Tuesday. And on top of that, I've had some personal issues that I need to deal with. Despite all that, I need to focus on the good things that are happening. This semester, I have Wednesday and Friday off, so I'm hoping that I will use the extra time for good use; namely, working hard for the difficult classes I have. And more long term, I need to realize that I need to push myself to become the best that I can be. This semester will be difficult, and there is a really good chance I will fail some classes (sorry Grandma, I'm not my sister). But you know what? Even if there is shame from an F on my report card, I need to try my best to make that a high F. British Ben ended his last blog post with "頑張っている". That is a mindset I should adopt. 頑張って、わたし！
現代史, or "Contemporary History" is on Tuesday afternoons, and is a rather terrible way to end the day. I saw it in the syllabus database, but I decided to take it only after I learned that one of my Japanese friends was going to take it. Its content is basically post-war German history; not exactly my cup of tea, but hardly offensive. However, after the first class, I began to have doubts about it, mostly because the teacher rambles on and on and on. It's worse than most teachers because I dont think he realises how boring he is. I would drop it, but stupid me didnt believe my friend when he said he was thinking of dropping the class. After I got the professor's signature and turned in my registration form, I learned that my friend had indeed dropped the class. This past week's lesson wasnt better than the first. We discussed the German constitution, and I have no idea what was going on because the constitution is written (well, translated) into very formal (read: Verbose) Japanese. Even if I had been able to read the fifty million kanji that were on the screen, I still wouldnt have been able to understand the slides, because I have rarely seen (if ever) any of the grammar structures. For the moment, I havent withdrawn from the class because I havent actually registered for it, but because the grade for the course is completely dependent on the final, there is a chance I could pass it. However, the textbook is written in Formal Japanese, which means I get stuck every other character. Since I can withdraw at any time, I suppose there is no rush to drop it, but I am seriously worried about that class.
The other class that worries me is my 古典中世文学演習 class, which is on classical Japanese literature. To get credits at UHM, I need to take two classes here to equal on UHM class, so I decided on this one. I learned of this class from my literature professor from last semester, but the reason I really need to pass this class is because it'll give me credit for EALL 371 (Traditional Japanese Literature), and possibly JPN 466 (Readings in Classical Japanese). The other Japanese literature class that was recommended to me would only have gotten me EALL 271 (Traditional Japanese Literature in Translation), but I'd rather take that class at UHM next semester, as it will get me a writing intensive credit (which I really need). But from the first class, I had a bad feeling. For one thing, the professor speaks really fast, in my opinion, so I can barely process what he says, much less understand. The course content doesnt help either. We're reading a text called 八重葎 Yaemugura, and I've only been able to find snippets about it on the internet. But that's not the problematic part. We have to translate the original text from 変体仮名 to 現代仮名遣い, and then into Modern Japanese. What is 変体仮名 you may ask. It is an older form of ひらがな, and is less standardized and more calligraphic. In other words, it's like reading cursive, from back in the day, when people would write everything in size eight font, with E's after the TH, and having more OU's than you need. And to top it all off, the professor isnt exactly happy to have a foreign student in his class. When I asked him to sign my registration paper, I asked him straight up, Is it okay for me to take this class? He never answered my question. He didnt say, "This will be a wonderful class for you!", or "It's going to be difficult, but try your best!", or even "No, this is too hard for you". Thankfully, I have a few friends here who can help me translate, but I'm not really sure what section I've been assigned to translate, or who is in my group. Of all my classes, this is the one that I'm very sure I will screw up in, and everyone in the class will think I'm such a dunce.
Having said all of that, there are a few classes that I am excited to take. With the exception of Level 4 Japanese (it's going to be the same as last semester -_-;), My Level 5 Japanese class, Japanese poetry class, Politics and Foreign Relations of Japan class, and Cross Cultural Studies on Education class all look to be very fun and interesting, as well as useful.
My Level Five class is the 分析 class, or Analytics. Its goal is to better our writing, by comparing natural Japanese with the Japanese of people who are learning it. Although we do have to write an essay every week, the essays are hardly long (half a page typed), and (so far) the topics are really basic (eg 自己紹介 Self introduction). I think this class will be the most important of all my Japanese classes here, if only because it will encourage me to practice the grammar and vocabulary I am learning, as well as make me think like 日本人. Although I doubt I will ever become native level fluent, I think this'll help me get as close to that as I can. The teacher of the class is a bit spacey, and I dont always understand him, but the gist of the class is fascinating. Even though I may write or speak in Japanese, sentence formation is always in English. That is, I determine what I want to say in English, translate it to Japanese, and then display it (in the form of conversation or writing). However, this means there are transcription errors, because some English forms cant exist in Japanese, or vice versa. By looking at sentence formation from a Japanese perspective, perhaps my Japanese (or way of thinking) can become more "natural".
The Politics class I'm taking looks interesting, although because of the literature class just before it, I've always been in a foul mood (really need to work on that). The two professors that teach it have such bubbly personalities, and seem to have a relationship akin to Lucy and Ethel (DONT JUDGE), I feel bad that I dont enjoy their class more. Ostensibly, the course is to teach us how the Japanese government works, and how it interacts with other countries on the international level. Seeing as I would like to work on that international level (although probably on the American side [sorry Japan]), taking this class was a given from the start. Like I said, I have yet to go to the class happy, so I cant really say much about how I think it'll be going. We are given the chance to do a presentation on a topic related to Japanese poltics or foreign relations, and to be quite honest, I'm happy for that. In my application to the program here, I said that one of the things I'd like to accomplish is telling people about the Japanese in Hawaii. For better or worse, the Japanese in Japan have forgotten their brethren in Hawaii, despite the strong ties that once existed (and actually, still do). I have to tell the profs when I would like to present, but I already know my topic. (I imagine if the lit class didnt bring me down so much, I'd be much more excited for this class. Fuck Japanese lit.)
My Japanese poetry class is taught by the teacher I had last semester in Japanese literature. He's such a funny teacher, and even though I'm not going to get credit for it, I decided to take his class anyway. The poems were written by various poets during the Taisho and Early Showa period, and so feature some archaic Japanese. But it's mostly in the form of ゐ, which is modern い, or maybe some 旧字体 kanji. But nothing diffuclt (LIKE SOME OTHER LIT CLASSES). Although I dont understand the explanations completely, the short ones are sufficiently simple enough for me to not only understand them, but also enjoy them. Finally, the other plus of this course is that I actually know people in it! One of the Chinese girls I knew from last semester's class is back again, with a friend of hers, and I also convinced one of the American girls to take it with me. Two of the Korean girls are taking it too, so we finally have a noticable group of HUSAs to combat those hostile Japanese kids. (<----That may be the paranoia talking, I dont know.)
To be completely honest, I signed up for the education class for one reason: I WANT FIELD TRIPS. I had heard through the grapevine that the education class offeres field trips to local schools, and I knew that I wanted this class. But the professor that teaches is it so friendly, and it actually does sound somewhat interesting. Last class we discussed what culture is, and it was insightful, inasmuch as it confirmed what I have been notice: Culture is a fluid property, and can be used to group people together, as well as drive them apart. Although I planned for this class for silly reasons, I am glad I'm taking it. If only I was going to get credit for it...
Today is Thursday, so I had my Level 4, Japanese lit, Politics, and Level 5 classes today. While three out of the four were good classes, Japanese lit brought me down a lot, and I'm still bitter about my 現代史 class on Tuesday. And on top of that, I've had some personal issues that I need to deal with. Despite all that, I need to focus on the good things that are happening. This semester, I have Wednesday and Friday off, so I'm hoping that I will use the extra time for good use; namely, working hard for the difficult classes I have. And more long term, I need to realize that I need to push myself to become the best that I can be. This semester will be difficult, and there is a really good chance I will fail some classes (sorry Grandma, I'm not my sister). But you know what? Even if there is shame from an F on my report card, I need to try my best to make that a high F. British Ben ended his last blog post with "頑張っている". That is a mindset I should adopt. 頑張って、わたし！
Saturday, March 26, 2011
Haircut
The other day, I went to study at the local coffee shop, and decided to get my hair cut this weekend. Every time I would look down at my notebook, my hair would fall in front of my eyes, blocking my view. No matter how I tried to push it back, it would fall right into place. I grew so frustrated that I used my left hand to hold it out of my eyes.
As I was getting dressed this morning, I must admit that I was a bit nervous of getting my hair cut. Growing up, my Father would cut my hair for me. He trimmed my mother's hair, and had cut my brothers' hair too. When I needed to get my hair cut on Oahu, I would visit a barber shop in Chinatown, but even then, that was very rare. I have never felt comfortable with anyone besides my father cutting my hair. I tense up, and get a tingly sensation in my head when they cut my hair. So not only was I nervous about what I would like after my hair cut, but I was also nervous about going to a stranger for it.
The place I decided to go to was Defrag, which opened up not far from the university. Like I said in my last post, the reason I decided on that place was because they're new and dont have many customers. I also figured that since I have nothing to compare them to, if it was a bad place, I would never know. It also was a good place, because one of the other Americans thinks the guy that works there is cute. So after meeting up, we set off to Defrag. I didnt think I needed to make a reservation, because they're almost always busy, but as it turned out, I should have done so. There are two workers there, a guy and a girl. For them, one customer means they're busy. And today just so happened to be the day they had one customer. Politely, they asked if we would come back in four hours. With nothing else to do, we said yes. Somehow, we spread four hours doing nothing between Youme Town, 味しん (lunch), and Cafe Ecran. After the time had passed, we headed back to Defrag.
I couldnt decide which of the two hairstyles I wanted at first, but after hearing my friends' opinions and thinking a bit more, I decided on the first hair style. It was really simple, and not too different from my usual hairstyle. I printed off the page and brought it with me to show the guy what I wanted.
The guy who cut my hair was really cool. He was fairly young, but I got the feeling that he was experienced and knew what he was doing. And as most Japanese in the service sector are, he was very attentive to how I was feeling, asking if he was pulling too hard on my hair and stuff. Since he put me in front of a huge mirror, I was able to watch him cut my hair. He combed my hair straight down to see how long it was (結構伸びてますね。), and misted it with water. Here and there, he began to cut my hair, starting on the one side, to the other. It was actually rather interesting to watch him cut it. I could literally feel my head becoming lighter, as more and more hair got cut off. I didnt get a picture of it, but it was a lot. And that was just the sides! As he cut the back and the top, I got my usual uncomfortable feeling, but I somehow got myself to relax. When he finally started to cut my bangs, I really got happy. The black curtain was slowly lifted away from my face, and I could see the light again! Actually, seeing my lobes was more exciting. With my hair much shorter, you can see my star earrings when you look at me head on, and I could feel the tip of my ear in the air.
After cutting my hair, the girl worker came over to wash my hair. Having your hair washed professionally was the most interesting experience I've ever had. After wrapping a towel around my neck, she lowered my head into a sink. It felt weird to have my hair be washed by two hands that werent mine. And naturally, when it came time to wash the top part of my head, I felt chills all down my spine. I dont know what kind of shampoo it was, but it was an awful pretty smell. Rinising out the shampoo and toweling it dry, it was back to Mr. Man to get it blow dried.
After drying it, I saw him grab a long, metal object. At first, I thought it was a straightener, which I thought was strange. I'm Asian; I have pretty straight hair to begin with. But upon closer inspection, it was a flat iron, and he used it to curl my hair on the top of my head, to achieve the permed look in the original. A bit of hair wax to set the curls, and to set the back of my head, the look was achieved! Although I didnt take a picture at the place (so this isnt exactly what I looked like), I did take a picture when I got back to my room. What do you think?
Since I dont have a flat iron (and I'm doubtful I should buy one), I will have to make the curls by myself when I wax my hair in the morning. And also, I needed to buy wax, which was challenging as well, because there's about a million different types of Gatsby to choose from (couldnt find whatever brand he was using). I hope this yellow Gatsby will work.
My friend that came with me said that she really liked my hair, and the British girl we ran into at Youme Town said it looked good, so I guess I'm satisfied with my hair. Dont get me wrong, I dont hate my hair, or wish that I had picked a different hairstyle. But I am very resistant to change, and miss my old hair. But you know what? Hair grows back, and right now is the time in the my life where I need to チャレンジ multiple things. It'll take some getting used to, but I am sure it will happen. I hope that everyone I meet will agree and like my hairstyle.
Wednesday, March 23, 2011
歌詞の翻訳 I
Way back in high school, before I understood a lot of Japanese, I would spend recesses in the Japanese classroom, looking up kanji. Although I was listening to Japanese music since about age eight, I had never known what they were about. But in high school, I was taught how to use a kanji dictionary, so finally, I was able to get at least a fuzzy understanding of what I was singing along to. However, my Japanese teacher was less than enthusiastic about my endeavours. She told me that translating song lyrics was actually really hard, and that it would be better to stick to texts.
I have never forgotten this piece of advice, and actually, I agree with it. The way songs are structured (particularly Japanese songs), sentences can be fragmented into pieces, with one sentence in two different lines, or two sentences in one line. Also, Japanese lyrics tend to mix different speech styles (mostly polite words with casual ones), which can make translation difficult. But most importantly, I'm not fluent in Japanese, so any translation I produce is bound to have errors or oddly worded structures. Knowing all of this, I still every now and then engage in a bit of translation. Because I have a strong interest in what I'm listening to (I like to know if it's a happy song or a sad song), I try just a little bit harder in understanding the words. And if I want to sing it at karaoke, I can go ahead and read the kanji onscreen, instead of reading the furigana. With all this in mind, I translated one of the songs I am just in love with right now, "近づきたくて with YU-A" from the album "K.J. with...". I've already blogged about why I loved this song, so I'm not going to go over that in depth right here. It'll probably find its way into the translation notes anyway. Just so you know, this is probably going to be long post, so I hope you dont have something to do right now.
Let's begin with the translated lyrics. I didnt try to make them fit the meter of the song, so dont take my lyrics with you to karaoke and expect them to fit. I tried to produce English as close to the original Japanese as much as possible, so some sentences are awkwardly long. Finally, I'm going to make two assumptions right now.
1. You have no interest in the music I like/listen to, so you don't need the Japanese lyrics/pronunciation guide.
2. If you are interested in the Japanese lyrics, you can read Japanese, or find a way to read Japanese. それなら、このリンクをクリックしてください。
では、let's begin! YU-A is the girl singer, and she's in pink. KJ is the guy, and in blue.
I Want to Get Closer to You with YU-A
*I want to get closer to, but I cant get closer to you
I just want to hear those two characters, [Love]
Hey, what do you think of me?
I'm, I'm
I'm still waiting now*
From your point of view, am I even now your boyfriend?
Am I a nice, older sempai? Am I a convenient conversation partner?
Even though you're just a girl friend, whenever we would meet,
Gradually, I started to care for you, and then I became someone that liked you
Without knowing I had those kinds of feelings, you would confide in me,
"Lately my boyfriend is like this, and if this keeps up, it looks like we'll break up"
And I would lend an ear, with a messed up state of mind,
I needed to confess to you, but I couldnt say it, not in front of you, with your head down
*repeat
It's the weekend, you're definitely out with your boyfriend
That day, I couldnt get the sight of your pre-breakup face out of my head
It was Saturday night, and the town was as festive as ever, but I was looking at the TV, not paying attention to what was on
By myself, worrying endlessly, at that time, I got your text
"Hey, can you meet me now?" I responded quickly, and flew from my house
Our meeting place was that family restaurant, I could see you sitting in a window seat
All tonight, I wanted to tell you my feelings, clearly and exactly
If not, let's end this relationship, I cant stand it, just being friends
*repeat
Someday, I wonder if we'll be able to share our feelings?
Even though I want to know you more, are we just friends?
I want to hear it
What are you to me? And more importantly, what am I to you?
What the hell
Is it the same as before, that we're just really good friends?
I won't run away
Say it clearly, even if it breaks the friendship we've had until now
I want to get over this
Any more than this, I cant hold back my feelings
Fine I'll just say it now, one word, "Love"...
*repeat
*repeat
Translation notes:
The sentence in the first verse, the one about the confession, was the hardest one for me to translate. In the original Japanese, it says: 切り出せずにいる告白のタイミング ただうつむいてる君の前に It comes out as gibberish if I translate it literally (naturally), so I had to improvise. My interpretation of this part is that the girl tells the guy that she's going to break up with her boyfriend. If the girl you liked said that, wouldnt you want to tell her that you like her? But the guy cant say it, because she told him that with her head down. When the target is feeling like poo, you should probably not make your move.
The second verse (and in parts of the bridge-y part) have the words ハッキリ (hakkiri) and ちゃんと (chanto) in them. Depending on how they're used, they can be hard to translate. ハッキリ means "Clearly", as in "Say it clearly" ハッキリ言おう (which is the original lyrics), so that's easy enough. But ちゃんと is a bit harder. Jisho.org defines it as "Perfectly, properly, exactly". But basically, what he's saying is that he needs to express his feelings for the girl, plain and simple. No misunderstandings.
I learned a few interesting words from translating this song. For example, 耳を傾ける means literally, "To incline one's ear", but figuratively means to lend an ear, similar to English. Also, 別れ際 (wakaregiwa), which means "On the verge of breaking up". This is kind of a grammar lesson, because according to my kanji dictionary (need to double check with the grammar one later), Verb + 際 means "on the verge of verb". I'll have to remember that for later use. Also 悶悶 (monmon), which means "Endlessly worrying". With 際, before I take a test, I can say 落ち際じゃけん、悶悶してるよ！ I'm about to fail, so I'm worrying like crazy!
I already knew this one, but I don't know how to use it like a Japanese person. The verb for "to see" and "to hear" are usually written 「見る miru」 and 「聞く kiku」. However, there are two other characters that mean the same in English, and also are read the same way: 「観る」 and 「聴く」. How do they differ? My understanding is, the latter two have a little more oomph in them. That is, when you hear your graduation song, perhaps, or your grandmother's favorite tune, you 聴く them. When you're looking at something real closely, taking note of every inch of it, you're ‘観るing it. If you use 聞く or 見る, you're just listening, or looking, nothing serious involved. How correct my explanation is, I don't know for sure. 聴く was explained to me by a Japanese teacher, but even then, she wasnt very specific (like is it only used in a literary sense, or is it okay to use in a text message?), and I'm extrapolating for 観る. In any case, this is one of the advantages of kanji: To visually indicate the emotiveness of a word. Isnt the Latin alphabet boring that way?
The number of songs I dont understand is still pretty huge, and the so is the number of songs with awesome lyrics. I have no problem finding another song to translate. And since I need to study for the Japanese placement exam for next term, there is a high possibilty that I will do this again. I have also been thinking of translating an English song I like into Japanese. I recently received the Japanese translation for a Korean song I like, and it got me thinking. I have never tried that before, so maybe it is time to start.
I have never forgotten this piece of advice, and actually, I agree with it. The way songs are structured (particularly Japanese songs), sentences can be fragmented into pieces, with one sentence in two different lines, or two sentences in one line. Also, Japanese lyrics tend to mix different speech styles (mostly polite words with casual ones), which can make translation difficult. But most importantly, I'm not fluent in Japanese, so any translation I produce is bound to have errors or oddly worded structures. Knowing all of this, I still every now and then engage in a bit of translation. Because I have a strong interest in what I'm listening to (I like to know if it's a happy song or a sad song), I try just a little bit harder in understanding the words. And if I want to sing it at karaoke, I can go ahead and read the kanji onscreen, instead of reading the furigana. With all this in mind, I translated one of the songs I am just in love with right now, "近づきたくて with YU-A" from the album "K.J. with...". I've already blogged about why I loved this song, so I'm not going to go over that in depth right here. It'll probably find its way into the translation notes anyway. Just so you know, this is probably going to be long post, so I hope you dont have something to do right now.
Let's begin with the translated lyrics. I didnt try to make them fit the meter of the song, so dont take my lyrics with you to karaoke and expect them to fit. I tried to produce English as close to the original Japanese as much as possible, so some sentences are awkwardly long. Finally, I'm going to make two assumptions right now.
1. You have no interest in the music I like/listen to, so you don't need the Japanese lyrics/pronunciation guide.
2. If you are interested in the Japanese lyrics, you can read Japanese, or find a way to read Japanese. それなら、このリンクをクリックしてください。
では、let's begin! YU-A is the girl singer, and she's in pink. KJ is the guy, and in blue.
I Want to Get Closer to You with YU-A
*I want to get closer to, but I cant get closer to you
I just want to hear those two characters, [Love]
Hey, what do you think of me?
I'm, I'm
I'm still waiting now*
From your point of view, am I even now your boyfriend?
Am I a nice, older sempai? Am I a convenient conversation partner?
Even though you're just a girl friend, whenever we would meet,
Gradually, I started to care for you, and then I became someone that liked you
Without knowing I had those kinds of feelings, you would confide in me,
"Lately my boyfriend is like this, and if this keeps up, it looks like we'll break up"
And I would lend an ear, with a messed up state of mind,
I needed to confess to you, but I couldnt say it, not in front of you, with your head down
*repeat
It's the weekend, you're definitely out with your boyfriend
That day, I couldnt get the sight of your pre-breakup face out of my head
It was Saturday night, and the town was as festive as ever, but I was looking at the TV, not paying attention to what was on
By myself, worrying endlessly, at that time, I got your text
"Hey, can you meet me now?" I responded quickly, and flew from my house
Our meeting place was that family restaurant, I could see you sitting in a window seat
All tonight, I wanted to tell you my feelings, clearly and exactly
If not, let's end this relationship, I cant stand it, just being friends
*repeat
Someday, I wonder if we'll be able to share our feelings?
Even though I want to know you more, are we just friends?
I want to hear it
What are you to me? And more importantly, what am I to you?
What the hell
Is it the same as before, that we're just really good friends?
I won't run away
Say it clearly, even if it breaks the friendship we've had until now
I want to get over this
Any more than this, I cant hold back my feelings
Fine I'll just say it now, one word, "Love"...
*repeat
*repeat
Translation notes:
The sentence in the first verse, the one about the confession, was the hardest one for me to translate. In the original Japanese, it says: 切り出せずにいる告白のタイミング ただうつむいてる君の前に It comes out as gibberish if I translate it literally (naturally), so I had to improvise. My interpretation of this part is that the girl tells the guy that she's going to break up with her boyfriend. If the girl you liked said that, wouldnt you want to tell her that you like her? But the guy cant say it, because she told him that with her head down. When the target is feeling like poo, you should probably not make your move.
The second verse (and in parts of the bridge-y part) have the words ハッキリ (hakkiri) and ちゃんと (chanto) in them. Depending on how they're used, they can be hard to translate. ハッキリ means "Clearly", as in "Say it clearly" ハッキリ言おう (which is the original lyrics), so that's easy enough. But ちゃんと is a bit harder. Jisho.org defines it as "Perfectly, properly, exactly". But basically, what he's saying is that he needs to express his feelings for the girl, plain and simple. No misunderstandings.
I learned a few interesting words from translating this song. For example, 耳を傾ける means literally, "To incline one's ear", but figuratively means to lend an ear, similar to English. Also, 別れ際 (wakaregiwa), which means "On the verge of breaking up". This is kind of a grammar lesson, because according to my kanji dictionary (need to double check with the grammar one later), Verb + 際 means "on the verge of verb". I'll have to remember that for later use. Also 悶悶 (monmon), which means "Endlessly worrying". With 際, before I take a test, I can say 落ち際じゃけん、悶悶してるよ！ I'm about to fail, so I'm worrying like crazy!
I already knew this one, but I don't know how to use it like a Japanese person. The verb for "to see" and "to hear" are usually written 「見る miru」 and 「聞く kiku」. However, there are two other characters that mean the same in English, and also are read the same way: 「観る」 and 「聴く」. How do they differ? My understanding is, the latter two have a little more oomph in them. That is, when you hear your graduation song, perhaps, or your grandmother's favorite tune, you 聴く them. When you're looking at something real closely, taking note of every inch of it, you're ‘観るing it. If you use 聞く or 見る, you're just listening, or looking, nothing serious involved. How correct my explanation is, I don't know for sure. 聴く was explained to me by a Japanese teacher, but even then, she wasnt very specific (like is it only used in a literary sense, or is it okay to use in a text message?), and I'm extrapolating for 観る. In any case, this is one of the advantages of kanji: To visually indicate the emotiveness of a word. Isnt the Latin alphabet boring that way?
The number of songs I dont understand is still pretty huge, and the so is the number of songs with awesome lyrics. I have no problem finding another song to translate. And since I need to study for the Japanese placement exam for next term, there is a high possibilty that I will do this again. I have also been thinking of translating an English song I like into Japanese. I recently received the Japanese translation for a Korean song I like, and it got me thinking. I have never tried that before, so maybe it is time to start.
Wednesday, March 16, 2011
日本髪
While here in Japan, my hair has not stopped growing. Normally, I usually get my hair cut every three months, because that's when I go back to Hilo and my usual barber (my father). But it is far to expensive to go to back to Hilo, so my hair hasnt been cut at all. My last haircut was sometime in September; it is now March. Quite possibly, this is the longest my hair has ever been. The most obvious place to see how much my hair has grown is my bangs. Normally, they're somewhere up by my eyebrows; right now, they brush the upper part of my mouth. Many people have already commented that I really need a haircut. I couldnt agree more. In windy weather, my vision is obscured by a mass of black, and it takes about two hours for my hair to dry completely (no, I dont have a hair dryer). I dont even know why I bother trying to arrange my hair these days, because it is simply shapeless and gross. However, the reason why I havent cut my hair yet is because I havent picked a hairstyle yet.
Because my father cuts my hair, I've never gotten a real "hairstyle". It's only been trimmed to stay short. Unlike guys here in Japan (and some people on the mainland), I've never colored it, had it permed, or used any type of product to style it in the mornings. Since this the first time I've been in Japan for a whole year, and thinking that I should make it somewhat memorable, I've decided that I want to get an "Asian hairstyle". I asked my good friend Google for help, and I found a website with all sorts of different hairstyles, for both men and women. After looking at about three hundred and sixty images, I found two hairstyles I really like. I know I cant rock the crazy Asian hairstyle, the one with daily straightening and liberal amounts of wax, so I stuck to very simple styles.
There are images from different angles here and here respectively.
As to where I'm going to get it done, and the cost, I have absolutely no idea. For whatever reason, there is no shortage of hair salons near the university. There's a simple barber across the street from the univeristy, the one with the sexy stylists by 味しん (I dont think so, but the girls do), and one near 7-11. But the one that I have a small inkling of desire to go to is Defrag, which is on the way to the supermarket. It's a new establishment, that only opened up sometime this month, and I imagine because it's new, it is always very empty (though I suppose it could also be simply because it has so much competition). I feel sorry for the owner (whoever that is), and thus feel like I should give them my business. However, because it's new, I cant ask around to see if there is a better shop. They may charge too much, or maybe they will make a mistake. Then again, I suppose taking a risk is the whole point of this excercise.
Since my Japanese isnt precise enough to describe what kind of hairstyle I want, after I choose a hairstyle, I'm going to print up the page with all the information on it. The multiple pictures can probably describe the hairstyle better than I ever could, and there are short notes on the left side of the page about the style. To cover my bases, I'm hoping I can get/drag a Japanese person with me, so that I wont look like a complete idiot, and I imagine some of the remaining Americans will tag along to offer moral support. I could act like a crazy person and just go by myself, but I have no 根性 (cojones), so that's highly unlikely. If you have any advice or opinions on this whole thing, I'd appreciate it so much.
Because my father cuts my hair, I've never gotten a real "hairstyle". It's only been trimmed to stay short. Unlike guys here in Japan (and some people on the mainland), I've never colored it, had it permed, or used any type of product to style it in the mornings. Since this the first time I've been in Japan for a whole year, and thinking that I should make it somewhat memorable, I've decided that I want to get an "Asian hairstyle". I asked my good friend Google for help, and I found a website with all sorts of different hairstyles, for both men and women. After looking at about three hundred and sixty images, I found two hairstyles I really like. I know I cant rock the crazy Asian hairstyle, the one with daily straightening and liberal amounts of wax, so I stuck to very simple styles.
As to where I'm going to get it done, and the cost, I have absolutely no idea. For whatever reason, there is no shortage of hair salons near the university. There's a simple barber across the street from the univeristy, the one with the sexy stylists by 味しん (I dont think so, but the girls do), and one near 7-11. But the one that I have a small inkling of desire to go to is Defrag, which is on the way to the supermarket. It's a new establishment, that only opened up sometime this month, and I imagine because it's new, it is always very empty (though I suppose it could also be simply because it has so much competition). I feel sorry for the owner (whoever that is), and thus feel like I should give them my business. However, because it's new, I cant ask around to see if there is a better shop. They may charge too much, or maybe they will make a mistake. Then again, I suppose taking a risk is the whole point of this excercise.
Since my Japanese isnt precise enough to describe what kind of hairstyle I want, after I choose a hairstyle, I'm going to print up the page with all the information on it. The multiple pictures can probably describe the hairstyle better than I ever could, and there are short notes on the left side of the page about the style. To cover my bases, I'm hoping I can get/drag a Japanese person with me, so that I wont look like a complete idiot, and I imagine some of the remaining Americans will tag along to offer moral support. I could act like a crazy person and just go by myself, but I have no 根性 (cojones), so that's highly unlikely. If you have any advice or opinions on this whole thing, I'd appreciate it so much.
Monday, March 14, 2011
あそぼう
Today I went to a local preschool to play with the kids there. A former HUSA staffer was looking for volunteers to help sing English games, and since I had nothing else planned, I told her I'd go. I dont really care for children; the only experience I have with them is teaching them to swim, and even that I'm usually on edge. Although I was worn out from playing with the kids, I had a lot of fun, and wouldnt mind going again.
There were us four Americans, one Frenchman, and the guy from Indonesia. When we arrived at the preschool, I was amazed. It was the most ornate preschool I've ever been to. My preschool (Kaumana Baptist Keikiland in case you were wondering) was a very small one by comparison. There were maybe three classrooms, a kitchen, and a playground. Because it was run by a church, there was also a sanctuary, but we hardly played there. It was a tiny little place, and a bit on the old side. On the other hand, the preschool we went to (I dont remember its name) was a huge building, with two floors. After entering the genkan like area, there were a few rooms that I could see, as well as the staircase to get to the second floor. The second floor had multiple classrooms as well, and also a reading pit, where I suppose you could gather the children for a presentation of some sort. I've never gone on a preschool viewing trip, but the preschools I know are hardly comparable.
The structured part of the visit was rather short. We were told to introduce ourselves, saying our name, country of origin, and how to say "こんにちは konnichiwa" in that language. As Americans, it was easy, because most everyone speaks English these days. But I think French and Indonesian really threw them for a loop. After that, we sang some songs. One was about animals, and the different sounds they make. In case you didnt know, animals make different sounds, depending on what language you speak. For example, English speaking dogs say "bow wow" or "woof", but a Japanese dog will say "wan wan". Then we sang "Head, Shoulders, Knees, and Toes", which was fun. I dont know if any of the kids learned any English from it, but it was good to move around, I suppose. Finally, we ended with "London Bridge is Falling Down", which I havent done in a long time. And when I say "I havent done it", it's because we were eventually included in the game. It was a bit uncomfortable, having to squat down to pass through the arms of the little children, but at least I only had five feet and four inches to deal with. One of the Americans is a lot closer to six feet than I am, and I have no idea how he managed to get down there.
After all that, the American I mentioned above read Momotaro to the kids. Because only one person was needed to read, the rest of us sat amongst the kids. This was the beginning of the hardest part, for me. I can read, sing, and even make crafts with kids with relatively little problems. But I dont play well with kids. I dont want to accidentaly drop a kid, so I dont pick them up, and in my old age, I just dont know what to do with kids. While we were sitting down, one of the boys decided I looked like a comfortable chair, and just sat on me. He wasnt heavy or anything, but with adults, you cant just sit on someone. And when you sit on them, you surely cant lean back into them, and force them into a reclining position. And yet, that's what the kid did to me. One of the Americans next to me mentioned that I looked terrified, and that was a pretty good description of what I was feeling. It's a good thing I know how that whole story goes, because I didnt hear a word of it. I was too busy trying not to scream about the kid sitting in my lap.
That concluded the structured part of our visit. For the next half hour or so, we were allowed to play in the playground with the kids. Although we all went willingly, we were more or less dragged there, with maybe two kids on each arm, and a couple more on various parts of our clothes. It was here that I learned an important lesson: Children are very difficult to understand if they speak a language you dont know. We later found out they wanted to play tag with us, but while they were trying to explain the game to us, none of us could understand what they were saying. As one of the other Americans pointed out, it didnt help that they didnt try to rephrase what we didnt understand, so it was the same jumble of sounds every time. I got a little frustrated because of this. Not angry, of course, but c'mon, these are kids, these arent exactly verbose soliloquies. I managed to get away from these group of kids because I was dragged to the jungle gym type thing. I watched them climb here and there, my heart skipping a beat every time one of them jumped down. I was so afraid that they would jump down and break a bone or something, but they really did enjoy themselves. While we were playing, they asked me all sorts of questions, like how old I was, or if of us were friends. A couple asked about my earrings, and were in awe of my industrial. I havent been a kid in such a long time, it was refreshing to spend some time with these children. Alas, the time came for us to leave, and we sadly did depart. As we put on our shoes, the kids asked us, "Will you be back again?", or "Please dont go!". I left a lot more reluctantly than I thought I would.
To answer their question, I dont think I will ever go back to the preschool. The staffer that organized this short little trip will soon be moving away from this part of Hiroshima, so she wont be going back. And the preschool itself is quite a bit aways from the university. I am told that my predecessor here enjoyed these trips so much he eventually became a volunteer there, but I dont think that will happen to me. While not an unpleasant experience, because it isnt so easy to get there, I dont think I can commit to making the trip very often. But I am happy that I took a chance and went along this one time. I had a lot more fun than I was expecting, and I'd like to think that I made some new, if tiny friends, at the school.
There were us four Americans, one Frenchman, and the guy from Indonesia. When we arrived at the preschool, I was amazed. It was the most ornate preschool I've ever been to. My preschool (Kaumana Baptist Keikiland in case you were wondering) was a very small one by comparison. There were maybe three classrooms, a kitchen, and a playground. Because it was run by a church, there was also a sanctuary, but we hardly played there. It was a tiny little place, and a bit on the old side. On the other hand, the preschool we went to (I dont remember its name) was a huge building, with two floors. After entering the genkan like area, there were a few rooms that I could see, as well as the staircase to get to the second floor. The second floor had multiple classrooms as well, and also a reading pit, where I suppose you could gather the children for a presentation of some sort. I've never gone on a preschool viewing trip, but the preschools I know are hardly comparable.
The structured part of the visit was rather short. We were told to introduce ourselves, saying our name, country of origin, and how to say "こんにちは konnichiwa" in that language. As Americans, it was easy, because most everyone speaks English these days. But I think French and Indonesian really threw them for a loop. After that, we sang some songs. One was about animals, and the different sounds they make. In case you didnt know, animals make different sounds, depending on what language you speak. For example, English speaking dogs say "bow wow" or "woof", but a Japanese dog will say "wan wan". Then we sang "Head, Shoulders, Knees, and Toes", which was fun. I dont know if any of the kids learned any English from it, but it was good to move around, I suppose. Finally, we ended with "London Bridge is Falling Down", which I havent done in a long time. And when I say "I havent done it", it's because we were eventually included in the game. It was a bit uncomfortable, having to squat down to pass through the arms of the little children, but at least I only had five feet and four inches to deal with. One of the Americans is a lot closer to six feet than I am, and I have no idea how he managed to get down there.
After all that, the American I mentioned above read Momotaro to the kids. Because only one person was needed to read, the rest of us sat amongst the kids. This was the beginning of the hardest part, for me. I can read, sing, and even make crafts with kids with relatively little problems. But I dont play well with kids. I dont want to accidentaly drop a kid, so I dont pick them up, and in my old age, I just dont know what to do with kids. While we were sitting down, one of the boys decided I looked like a comfortable chair, and just sat on me. He wasnt heavy or anything, but with adults, you cant just sit on someone. And when you sit on them, you surely cant lean back into them, and force them into a reclining position. And yet, that's what the kid did to me. One of the Americans next to me mentioned that I looked terrified, and that was a pretty good description of what I was feeling. It's a good thing I know how that whole story goes, because I didnt hear a word of it. I was too busy trying not to scream about the kid sitting in my lap.
That concluded the structured part of our visit. For the next half hour or so, we were allowed to play in the playground with the kids. Although we all went willingly, we were more or less dragged there, with maybe two kids on each arm, and a couple more on various parts of our clothes. It was here that I learned an important lesson: Children are very difficult to understand if they speak a language you dont know. We later found out they wanted to play tag with us, but while they were trying to explain the game to us, none of us could understand what they were saying. As one of the other Americans pointed out, it didnt help that they didnt try to rephrase what we didnt understand, so it was the same jumble of sounds every time. I got a little frustrated because of this. Not angry, of course, but c'mon, these are kids, these arent exactly verbose soliloquies. I managed to get away from these group of kids because I was dragged to the jungle gym type thing. I watched them climb here and there, my heart skipping a beat every time one of them jumped down. I was so afraid that they would jump down and break a bone or something, but they really did enjoy themselves. While we were playing, they asked me all sorts of questions, like how old I was, or if of us were friends. A couple asked about my earrings, and were in awe of my industrial. I havent been a kid in such a long time, it was refreshing to spend some time with these children. Alas, the time came for us to leave, and we sadly did depart. As we put on our shoes, the kids asked us, "Will you be back again?", or "Please dont go!". I left a lot more reluctantly than I thought I would.
To answer their question, I dont think I will ever go back to the preschool. The staffer that organized this short little trip will soon be moving away from this part of Hiroshima, so she wont be going back. And the preschool itself is quite a bit aways from the university. I am told that my predecessor here enjoyed these trips so much he eventually became a volunteer there, but I dont think that will happen to me. While not an unpleasant experience, because it isnt so easy to get there, I dont think I can commit to making the trip very often. But I am happy that I took a chance and went along this one time. I had a lot more fun than I was expecting, and I'd like to think that I made some new, if tiny friends, at the school.
Thursday, March 10, 2011
Earthquake
Yesterday, while taking a break from reading Cracked.com, I got a message from someone on facebook. They hoped that I was alright, and to message them back when I could. At first, I thought it was because I had just changed my privacy settings to super high, and that they thought I was feeling down. At the same time, I decided to check twitter, where I read that there had been a massive earthquake in the Tohoku region of Japan.
At around quarter to three in the afternoon yesterday, there was an earthquake off the coast of Sendai, Miyagi prefecture. Initial estimates of its magnitude were around 7 according to the United States Geological Survey, but it was later revised several times, to its current magnitude of 9. On the Japanese Meteorlogical Agency's scale, it is magnitude 7, which is the highest on the scale. It is the strongest earthquake to have hit Japan since records have been kept, and it ranks as the fifth largest earthquake in the world. Because of the earthquake, there have been multiple tsunami located in the Tohoku area. Looking at pictures of the affected areas, it is frightening. Waves crawling up land and totally demolishing houses, boats, and roadways, tossing cars aside as if they were toys. The entire Sendai Airport is submerged, complicating connecting flights to Narita and Haneda Airport. Although the epicenter of the earthquake was located off the coast of Sendai, not only the Tohoku Region, but also the Kanto Area, has been affected. In Chiba Prefecture, there was an oil refinery that ignited and blazed out of control. Of all the pictures I have seen, that scene is the most frightening I have seen. A huge red fireball burns, with black smoke billowing away. Fire fighters were unable to control the blaze for a long time, because it was simply too hot to approach.
The oil refinery in Chiba on fire.
According to NHK, the death toll is (as of 4:27 PM 12 March) around a thousand people dead, with hundreds more missing. Most casualties are because of the tsunami which have been repeatedly pouding the coastline. But there have been reports of people dying because they fell or had things fall on them during the shaking. Hundreds of people have been driven from their homes, and many are without power and running water.
Actually being in Japan while this is all going on, makes it a whole lot scarier for me, than it would be if I was in Hawaii. I mean, I'd still feel bad, but right now, I have friends in Tohoku and Tokyo. Thankfully, they are safe, but to be honest, I dont know how I would have handled it if they were hurt (or worse). From what they've posted on facebook, they're without power and inconvenienced, but alive and unhurt. Since I learned of this whole thing, I've been watching the live stream from NHK World's website. Also, I've been opening Twitter a lot more often, to see what the BBC or NYT is reporting, as well as translating NHK's tweets. Although it's not really anything, I somehow feel that this is my small part in helping. I would like to donate money to the Red Cross, by texting that 90999 number, but it doesnt work in Japan.
I am thankful to report that here in Hiroshima, we have not been affected at all by this terrible disaster. But I cannot help but feel sad at the pain the people of Tohoku are feeling. So many people are dead, and those who are alive have lost so much. But humans are resiliant, none more so than the Japanese. They are strong, and will survive this tradgedy.
At around quarter to three in the afternoon yesterday, there was an earthquake off the coast of Sendai, Miyagi prefecture. Initial estimates of its magnitude were around 7 according to the United States Geological Survey, but it was later revised several times, to its current magnitude of 9. On the Japanese Meteorlogical Agency's scale, it is magnitude 7, which is the highest on the scale. It is the strongest earthquake to have hit Japan since records have been kept, and it ranks as the fifth largest earthquake in the world. Because of the earthquake, there have been multiple tsunami located in the Tohoku area. Looking at pictures of the affected areas, it is frightening. Waves crawling up land and totally demolishing houses, boats, and roadways, tossing cars aside as if they were toys. The entire Sendai Airport is submerged, complicating connecting flights to Narita and Haneda Airport. Although the epicenter of the earthquake was located off the coast of Sendai, not only the Tohoku Region, but also the Kanto Area, has been affected. In Chiba Prefecture, there was an oil refinery that ignited and blazed out of control. Of all the pictures I have seen, that scene is the most frightening I have seen. A huge red fireball burns, with black smoke billowing away. Fire fighters were unable to control the blaze for a long time, because it was simply too hot to approach.
The oil refinery in Chiba on fire.
According to NHK, the death toll is (as of 4:27 PM 12 March) around a thousand people dead, with hundreds more missing. Most casualties are because of the tsunami which have been repeatedly pouding the coastline. But there have been reports of people dying because they fell or had things fall on them during the shaking. Hundreds of people have been driven from their homes, and many are without power and running water.
Actually being in Japan while this is all going on, makes it a whole lot scarier for me, than it would be if I was in Hawaii. I mean, I'd still feel bad, but right now, I have friends in Tohoku and Tokyo. Thankfully, they are safe, but to be honest, I dont know how I would have handled it if they were hurt (or worse). From what they've posted on facebook, they're without power and inconvenienced, but alive and unhurt. Since I learned of this whole thing, I've been watching the live stream from NHK World's website. Also, I've been opening Twitter a lot more often, to see what the BBC or NYT is reporting, as well as translating NHK's tweets. Although it's not really anything, I somehow feel that this is my small part in helping. I would like to donate money to the Red Cross, by texting that 90999 number, but it doesnt work in Japan.
I am thankful to report that here in Hiroshima, we have not been affected at all by this terrible disaster. But I cannot help but feel sad at the pain the people of Tohoku are feeling. So many people are dead, and those who are alive have lost so much. But humans are resiliant, none more so than the Japanese. They are strong, and will survive this tradgedy.
Friday, March 4, 2011
Music Review
Most of my friends back in Hawaii dont listen to the same music that I do. And that's the way it's always been, so I've just gotten used to not talking about what I like to listen to. But in the HUSA program, I'm lucky to have found people with similar interests. One of my friends here has posted several music reviews on her blog (which you can read here and here), and I think I'll join her on this bandwagon. Also, I very much believe that these two albums are among the best I've ever heard (as one friend would say, they are "eargasms").
The first album we'll discuss is MBLAQ's "BLAQ Style" album. MBLAQ is a five member KPop group, and I started listening to them by chance, when I saw one of their performances on Youtube. I'll be honest, at first I was like, "Okay, standard KPop fare"; but after listening to more of their songs, and watching their other videos on youtube, I was much more keener on them. When I heard that they were going to release an album this year, I was very excited. Although I was two months late, I finally managed to pick up my copy last month, during my trip to Kyoto.
MBLAQ - Cry
Quite honestly, this is the best KPop album I have ever bought. My favorite song is "Cry", which is the video above. I dont really care for the whole eye makeup thing going on, but as a song, I really do love it. I still have to go look up the lyrics, but from what I gather, it's one of those "Dont break up with me" songs. I have a couple of other songs that I really like on this album, but they're all in Korean, so I have no idea how they're pronounced, so I cant very well tell you them. But that's besides the point. Whenever I play this album, my mood is instantly brightened, and all is better. According to Wikipedia, they're scheduled to make their Japan debut in May, with concerts in Sapporo, Fukuoka, and Osaka, among other places. Am I debating the pros and cons of seeing them in person? ...Maybe.
:D
The second album I'm nuts about is "KJ With...", and as you can imagine, all of the tracks are collarborations between this artist KJ (Kohei Japan) and various other singers. I learned about this album after I subscribed to Pony Canyon's youtube channel. Of all the record labels in Japan, Pony Canyon is pretty small, and I'm not a big fan of a lot of their singers, but I sure am glad I'm subscribed to their channel! From what I gather, Kohei Japan is a rapper, and most of his discography is just that - rap. I'm not into rap. But I really do think I'll change my opinion on that, at least for this album.
近づきたくて with YU-A - KJ feat. YU-A
The video above is the music video for "近づきたくて with YU-A", and is actually the second track I heard from this album. However, it is definitely my favoite track because of its lyrics. The song title translates to something like "I want to get closer to you", and the rest of the song is basically about that. I'm sure we've all been in that position: You're really good friends with this person, and you cant help but think about how happy you would be together. And yet, you're not sure about how they feel about you, and it's driving you crazy. In the song the KJ finally tells the girl, "If we're just going to be friends, let's just end it right now". And I'm not going to lie, that kind of feeling is what I really enjoy. Maybe it's the masochist in me, but as much as I hate it, I also enjoy longing and wanting someone. Is that why I love this song so much? Because it's basically me?
Like I said in the beginning, it's always been the case with me that my friends havent been interested in the same music as me. And it's not wrong to disagree with me as to what constitutes wonderful music. But these two albums are definitely on the list of the top ten best albums I have ever bought. Money well spent, I would say.
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