Saturday, May 30, 2009

The last post in Japan

Well folks its been fun but my time is up and I'm heading back home to the good old US of A. On one hand I feel like I just got here yesterday and on the other it feels like I've been here so long I don't quite remember what the states are like. I've cleaned my room and got my luggage just barely under the weight limit. There isn't anything particularly fragile but its so backed I hope it makes it home in one piece.

I've said my goodbyes to everyone for so long I dunno I'm ready. Like I do love Japan and being here has been the biggest adventure of my life but I'm feeling ok about leaving.

For my last day I went to Himeji again and in addition to the castle I went to shosha mountain where there were several temples including some used in the last samurai. It was kind of funny because I was not caring about the fact that these temples were built 1000 years ago, I just wanted to see something that was in the movie! there were some steep hills there on top of the mountain and the heat/humidity was really hitting me today.

I thought I would have more to say for my last post but I really don't. Its been a lot of fun, I did some crazy stuff, hung out with some crazy people and now looking forward to seeing all my crazy people back home.

Thursday, May 28, 2009

I will not miss my host family.

I had to fight back the urge to vomit while eating breakfast this morning. Inside my salad (which I don't like eating for breakfast) was two bugs! I'm not a germaphobe but I can not stand bugs in my food, like I don't think that is an unreasonable line to draw. And as I tried to tell myself it was just the salad not the rest I see all of these bugs running around the counter. What the heck! why doesn't my host mom freaking do anything to stop the bugs from running around where they make food.

And its not just the kitchen there are bugs all over the bathroom, crawling around the sink, on the toothpaste (which they always leave open!) and probably over their toothbrushes. I always leave mine in a sealed plastic bag but I would be freaking out if I had even the slightest thought that a bug was crawling on something that would go in my mouth.

And the other day a HUGE spider appeared in my room, like much bigger then I've ever seen in Arizona. It ran into my closet and I shut the door on him but I was left not knowing if it was still in there waiting to jump out next time I needed to get in.

There is nothing in this house that separates it from the outside. Windows are left open without a screen all day long, everyday regardless of outside temperature. There are big spaces between doors to the outside and no sealing between the wall and the floor.

I really hate how my host mom asks me a question but doesn't wait for a reply just makes some statement how I love gundams or something stupid like that. I totally sense that you have to respect your elders kind of mindset with the way she talks down to me. And she is really full of herself. She'll say stuff like other Japanese people are racist but okaasan (mom) isn't. I dont think she has ever referred to herself as anything but okaasan. And my dad pretty much only talks in sound effects. Like he will be saying he walked from one place to another and to say it was far he just goes "BAAAAAAAAAAA"

Aside from a few things I don't care for the cooking either. Usually I don't have to worry about bugs in my food (although there have been other cases) but I'm just bored by the food and I just eat it because its there, like I would never order it at a restaurant.

I really hate this room too, its so freaking tiny. Tatami mats are stupid now a days. They really are, they don't do anything for the temperature, they are crazy hard to clean if you spill anything, you can easily drop something down the cracks between them, and they break really easily. I've spent so much time in this little room I just can't stand it anymore.

I hate to be so negative about my last few days in Japan but this aspect of the experience took away from the overall enjoyment rather then added to it. Everything else about being here was great, lots of fun with friends, Japanese language class was very effective in the end, and all of the stuff I've seen has been incredible. I just wish I lived in a dorm instead.

Wednesday, May 27, 2009

Just a few days left

Well its almost over, a few more days and I'll be back in America. I've had a lot of fun in Japan but ever since the farewell party I've dealt with the fact that this wonderful adventure is over. Because of that I feel ready to get back to my regular life, friends, family, U of A, walmart, Tucson, all of that stuff. I thought I would be really sad and they would need to drag me to the airport but I feel ok. I am going to be separated from the friends that I are remaining here with me come Sunday but I think I got through all of that emotional stuff already.

I don't know there isn't too much to write anymore. I went out with everyone on monday and everyone else was drinking. I had a lot of fun for sure, but under normal situations I wouldn't want to hang out when everyone else is drinking. Like not putting yourself in that kind of situation but since I wont see these people for much longer I feel like my hands were tied.

I got all of my packing done. I have the stuff thats going into my backpack as a carry on and the clothes for the last few days. It was kind of tricky to make the weight and space all work out in the right way but I should be ok. I'm really looking forward to giving everyone their gifts, I got some really good ones for some people. Some people I might have spent a bit more then others but I hope nobody really minds.

Its really cool to start making plans to hang out with people for when I get home, man its really happening. I have such wonderful people in my life and I can't wait to see them all again.

Saturday, May 23, 2009

Recieving the priesthood

Its been a long time coming but I finally received the Melchizedek priesthood today. During sacrament meeting they sustained me and as I stood up and saw everyone's smiling faces I was just filled with an overwhelming emotion of gratitude to these people. After the sacrament was passed I was asked to come up to the mic and say a few words because it was my last day there. I said that I was very grateful for the fellowship and inspiration that all of the members of this tiny little branch gave me. As I was saying it I was fighting back the tears.

Being here in Japan has changed my life, not just from experiencing Japan but being apart of this small ward. I could no longer be passive about church, I couldn't try to just blend in to the crowd I was forced to really talk to people and be active. And as I've gotten closer to people I found myself being more and more inspired by everything they say and everything they do. Before coming to Japan I didn't particularly like going to church, it was just something that I did because I was supposed to. Over the time I have spent attending this ward I have grown spiritually and for that I am eternally grateful for.

When I was ordained I was just overwhelmed by the love of God and for my friends surrounding me. I could not stop the tears from flowing down my face. Even now thinking about it I feel moved. I feel that this is a major turning point in my life and what happened today will change the rest of my life.

Wednesday, May 20, 2009

3 day adventure

So time is really running out here in Japan so I thought I best do as much sightseeing as I can. This week I went on two really big ones and I'll try my best to remember all that I did.

The first was on Monday and I went to Awaji island with brother and sister Wade. They are the retired missionaries and Monday is their P day so they invited me along. I met them at the church around 9 then we headed off on the highway. I had only been on the highway one other time in Japan and that was the way home from the welcome party. So I took a lot of pictures of just the scenery from there and it was pretty nice weather that day so I think they came out pretty nice. Awaji being an island and all has a big suspension bridge connecting it to honshu. I believe it is the highest suspension bridge in the world. One thing I found really interesting about the highway is that almost everywhere has a toll and it is expensive. To cross the bridge and go about 30 mins south cost 5000 yen. Brother Wade missed his exit and he had to go to a toll booth, pay, then turn around and go back in the other way which ended up costing another 1000 yen.

So we stop at the other end of Awaji where the whirlpools (naruto) are supposed to be. We were there about 11ish and there didn't seem to be much of anything going on. Luckily someone told us that the whirlpools really start going at around 1. So we went back drove around and somewhat by luck found the boat tour place. Brother Wade amazes me because he will just go right up to people and talk to them in English. He got lucky and the lady at the boat counter spoke English and she recommend which time to go. Brother Wade will also sometimes just very bluntly say what little Japanese he knows to people. Like as I will explain later, we were looking for some place and he just pulls up to a gas stand shows the person the paper and says “DOKO”. This is an interesting logic brother Wade has because if he has to talk to them in Japanese how is he going to understand their answers? But even as a foreigner it just seems really really rude to me to say that. Like I when I ask for directions I go あのう、すみません。この所に行きたいんですけど、どう行ったらいいですか。 Like “um excuse me. I would like to go to this area but what might be the best way of going?” I can't say to a stranger “あさ、この所はどこの” for it to be Japanese it needs to be unnecessarily long.

Ok so anyways we are on the boat and it is a breathtaking view all the way up to the bridge area and then you really get to see some nice stuff. Now I was thinking that it was one giant whirlpool but in reality its tons of small ones. It looks like this one spot of water out of the big ocean is going crazy. It didn't feel like the ship was in danger or anything but it was really cool and I think I might have goten some of my best pictures of this year there.

So afterwards we wanted to find the Japanese puppet theater. We got a map and it had a picture of the puppet on it and said ningyou on it. We were trying to find it and were going all over the place, and we were in some really rural places. For a while we were really confused why something like this would be all the way out here. We stopped for directions a few times and I got thrown in there trying to make sense of what they were saying. We eventually got ones that made since because we were heading towards the factory where they make them not the theater so thats why we got lost.

The theater was on like the top of the mountain and I wonder how it manages to stay in business. Anyways the Japanese puppet theater has a long history and like anime, was not made specifically for children but rather adults. The puppets are controlled by three people wearing a black costume and a black mask. The idea is that you are supposed to forget that they are there. I heard that modern tokusatsu shows are derived from this theater and after seeing it I agree. The idea that something is fake but if you just pretend that it is real then it really comes alive. The monsters in tokusatsu always look like a guy in a suit but like this theater it doesn't get in the way. The play itself is obviously several hundred years old as the script is read by one person off to the side who doesn't change their voice at all for different characters and talks in that crazy samurai style. I can not make any sense out of it. All I hear is NANINANI DE GO ZA RU!

So on the way back we stopped at a giant Buddha. Like this thing is HUGE, at least 7 stories tall. Almost Godzilla size. In fact I think these might be Japan's real defense against Godzilla. On the way back they dropped me off at Shinkaichi, I killed some time there then went home and planned for the next day, a trip to Nagoya.

So for Nagoya I woke up early, ate breakfast then headed off to Shinkobe station. I got a window seat for most of the ride and I spent a lot of time just admiring the scenery of middle of no where Japan. Like it was the kind of area that if JET sent me there I would find some way of quiting, nothing there. Before I knew it I was at Nagoya station. I got my bearings on a map and headed off to this bike rental store I found online. Using my PSP's GPS gizmo I walked and walked a good mile and a half until I got to the spot where the store was supposed to be. But it wasn't there, in fact the whole area was nothing but houses. I was really banking on the idea of having a bike to use but instead I had to make do on foot. So I walked all the way back to the station before heading off to my first actual destination, Nagoya science museum and park.

I didn't go to the museum just enjoyed the park and then headed off to the next park that was about a mile away. On the way I checked my PSP to see how far away it was and I found out that their was a Manadarake store pretty close to where I was, I decided to go there first. The store was located in the Osu shopping area, specifically on Akamon street. This Mandarake was done way differently then the one in Umeda. This one had a lot of old super sentai stuf. Like they had the super final form robot set from the series before zyuranger (mighty morphin PR) and all sorts of ones way older that I knew nothing at all about. I was hoping to find a good price on a figma figure but nothing that warranted buying another toy for myself.

So I headed back to the long park and went up it. This park is a mile plus long but only maybe 100 feet wide. It had traffic lanes on both sides of it. Towards the north was the TV tower that looks exactly like Tokyo tower except it was all gray. Once I got to the top I aimed for Nagoya castle, but first ate some curry for lunch. Nagoya castle is a reconstruction but it still was really nice. The area is huge, well maintained, lots of Japanese style garden stuff. I went inside one of the corner towers which may or may not have been an original but looked real. The castle itself is a museum but a cool one at that. One thing that really impressed me was an old style rifle that was like 6 feet long. I read the Japanese and it said that it was used for defending a castle. I'm surprised I haven't seen an anime character in a samurai era series walking around with a giant gun like that. The view from the top was pretty nice too. Oh also apparently it was a big deal for this town when they put the gold fish things on the very top of the castle so they are the cities mascot.

My next location was the Tokugawa park. At this point I came to a brilliant realization, Nagoya has subways! Rather then killing myself walking all of this way I should freaking use a subway! So I figured out how the lines work there and was off. The station was a little bit away from the park but there were signs as you exit the station so it was ok. The park was really nice, Japanese gardens have a certain something about them that I just cant explain.

After that I wanted to hit a few temples that according to my map looked not that far away and kind of in a row. After going a bit in the wrong direction I decided it was time to call it quits for the day because it was already 6 and I was dead tired. So I played around with my PSP found the nearest station and got to kanayama where my capsule hotel was. I made reservations to check in at 9 so I didn't want to go too early. I walked around the area for a bit but there isn't too much there, I ate dinner at McDonalds and around 8 went to the hotel.

The hotel is actually only two floors of this building which kind of surprised me. I got to the counter and checked in no problem but I don't think they even checked to see if I had a reservation I just filled the paper out. They gave me a wrist band with the key attached to it, I took my shoes off then went to the lockers. Since the hotel was all men I just changed into my Pjs there and checked out the capsule. They are all in rows and stacked two high. Inside is actually not bad. I had enough room to toss and turn just fine as I do in my sleep and it had a TV which I was able to watch some random anime where I think the people are in some sort of computer and a rerun of tsubasa. The only problem with the hotel was the pillow they gave me. Japanese pillows suck, a lot. They are all filled with something that feels like a very thick straw (drinking) cut into tiny bits. It feels like sleeping on a gravel.

So in the morning woke up, ate McDonalds for breakfast, finally found a map of the city at a tourist guide place in the station, and headed off to atsuya jingu. I took the subway so it didn't take too much time. It was a nice park but the main buildings were under construction. There was a national treasures museum there that I got lured into going by a giant katana. On the hiroshima trip I saw a giant sword but I think this is bigger. Like its longer then my body, its massive. Apparently it was used for horse mounted combat and by the looks of it, it would take out the rider and the horse in one swing. The rest of the stuff was cool, there were various swords and old clothes but I wasn't going to bother to try and read the Japanese on all of that stuff.

Afterwards I went back to the station and went to the station closest to nittaji temple. The walk from the station to this one was far and the heat was really getting to me, I drank like 5 bottles of Japan's gatorade like stuff that day. Nittaji was cool, very big, very wide open. I headed towards the next temple but according to the map there were all sorts of smaller temples along the way. So I headed down a path that kind of went through a neighborhood and I stumbled across some interesting temples here and there. There was a little bit of a nice nature trail in there too which was nice. My next goal was a bit off but I walked it. I walked through a much more business kind of area that reminded me a lot of Kobe. When I got to this temple what really stood out was the giant Buddha they had. This one was smaller then the one in Awaji but it was sitting down and still freaking big. I would say it was a bit more bigger then king kong. It had a hand seperate so you could see the size and it could grab you like a toy. Anyways it was cool.

So after that I headed towards a big park on the map. When I got there I found out it was all part of the zoo and I didn't feel like paying the admission and seeing a zoo by myself. I saw there was supposed to be another park up and to the left a bit so I went towards that but after getting a dead end, being tired, and the heat beating down on me I decided enough was enough and I should start heading back. I grabbed the nearest station and took it to a station a bit below where I the shinkansen station was. I figured I would walk up this last bit, hitting the temples along the way and that should put me right on time. I called my host mom but she didn't pick up her phone so I left a message. I checked my phone about an hour later and saw my host mom tried to call me 30 mins ago. So in my brain I automatically assumed my host mom got the message and was just saying “don't worry you can eat at home”, so I didn't call back.

I hit up the temples along the way and they were pretty cool, even though they are all pretty much the same I still like seeing them. At the last one there was an entrance to that Osu shopping center so I thought I would check that out. It wasn't too bad, the area as a whole is pretty big. Its like take shinsaibashi, mix in den den town, shrink it down to a little bit more then kobe's biggest shopping areas and you have Osu.

The way back to the station felt like it was taking forever. I don't know why but it seemed so far. I finally worked my way through the maze and the crowds to the shinkansen station, got on the train and was heading home. When I was at shinkaichi I called my host mom to tell her I would be a little after 7 for dinner and apparently she hadn't checked her voice mail, I don't think she knows how, so I felt really bad that I just out of the blue asked for dinner after saying originally I didn't need it. I don't know if was because of me or what but she was just starting dinner when I got there and host dad wasn't home until I was done eating.

It cost me about $120 for the round trip ticket and $2800 for the capsule hotel. It was really interesting to see that part of Japan and I am glad that there is now another part of Japan that I know of as a real place. But because I went by myself it wasn't that much fun, even though if I went with someone else I wouldn't have been able to do half the things I did. Nagoya is a decent city. It has all that you need without being so overbearing like Osaka and Tokyo can be. I think if I do JET I'll say that I wouldn't mind going to Nagoya, not my first choice but I'd be happy with it.

Saturday, May 16, 2009

A review of the Konan University Year in Japan program

I hope that this blog will come up in some google search for someone who is thinking about choosing this program. Obviously they can read any of the other 50+ posts I made during the year but I wanted to write a review of the program as a whole for them.

This program has some strong points and some weak points but it all really depends on what you want out of a study abroad experience that will determine if this is the right one for you.

The amount you pay and receive will vary from year to year but I paid $20,000 for 9 months and 2 semesters worth of credits in Japan. That included my host family, breakfast and dinner every day, 3 big field trips, several smaller field trips, and transportation. I also recieved that Jasso scholarship which gave me a reimbursement of my plane ticket's cost and $800 a month.

Now $20,000 may sound like a lot but think how much tuition and living on a drom would cost at your university. For me when I thought about it that way it didn't seem too expensive for what I was getting. So for the price of the program itself, I think its pretty good (the cost of living abroad is another thing all together)

Konan University is located in Kobe. I really enjoyed Kobe. Most of the people who live here are pretty well off and it is Japan's 8th biggest city so it has a sort of nice clean feeling to most of the areas. Kobe itself doesn't have too many attractions or sightseeing spots but it is under an hour away from Osaka and some where under 90 mins to Kyoto so I feel like you avoid the congestion of those areas but still can go to them any time you want. The weather doesn't get too hot or too cold (Japan in general is worse then you would expect but compared to other parts of Japan I can't complain). Most foreign exchange students want to go to Tokyo, and Tokyo is cool, but living in Tokyo can be kind of hard. As far as location I recommend it.

Now Konan University is a private university so its pretty small. Something like 10,000 students at max. There are only about 6 buildings that are part of the main campus. The school itself is fine but for me it was too small. There weren't any clubs that interested me and just too few students would come into the international room. But the school itself is fine if you are ok with a smaller school.

One of the big things about Konan is the fact that you have to have a host family (unless they get too many people and you get placed in a dorm). With a host family you are living with a complete stranger for 9 months. Some people LOVED their host family experience and really bonded with their host family and they were thought of as a member of their family, and of course their Japanese skyrocketed. Some people got into fights with their host family and got kicked out or had to try and sneak out. We had several cases my year about people changing host families. And then you have people like me who spend 9 months living with someone and never actually completely feel comfortable living there. I really wanted a great host family and instead I got one that is just nice and they give me good food and do my laundry but there is no bond there. I try but I never get a conversation going with them and little things like the way they talk about me really gets on my nerves sometimes. I honestly feel like I got ripped off or cheated by being placed with the family I got. All I can think is how great it would have been if I got a really good match. I guess living a dorm has its own list of complaints so maybe Im blowing the problems of a home stay out of proportions but I really feel that it can be the best thing in the world, the worst thing, or anything in between. And its all by chance too. So as far as home stay is concerned I don't know what exactly to say.

The classes. Here is something that I was not told about during my own orientation for this program, the classes by and large are not good. You have Japanese class mon-fri 2-3 hours then elective classes such as japanese history, japanese cinema, japanese art history, japanese literature, etc... For the Japanese language classes all of the students are divided into 5 levels (A-E) and you have classes with those same people for a year. This is a very flawed system from the start because every college teaches Japanese a completely different way. I have talked to people who studied everything in romanji but had a really strong speaking ability, I met people who knew tons of kanji but couldn't speak very well so most people were placed in a class where one aspect was too hard and one was too easy. An alternative would probably be impractical but I think their system needs some serious attention. Each class then rotated teachers throughout the week. For me that meant I had one day of a really strict teacher, two days of a really really laid back teacher and only two days of a regular teacher. While I would hate having 5 days of the strict or laid back teacher this lead to the class feeling very unbalanced. I've said all of this but the Japanese classes aren't too bad, since I wasn't talking to my host family at home much this was my main Japanese practice. The real issue came in the electives. The teachers are nice people, smart people too but a good amount of them don't know how to run a classroom. I had a history class where we went over pretty much all of Japanese history without a textbook! To add to the confusion the teachers notes weren't really in any order and as I looked over them they didn't make any sense. We had to rely on wikipedia to study for the midterm! There is no clear expectations, for the most part the work load was so lite I felt like I wasn't in college anymore but rather some magical make believe school system. As a whole I did have fun in some classes, I did learn some stuff but I don't think any of these classes would happen at my home university. I think the dean would shut them all down for not being up to standard. So in a nutshell don't expect too much from the classes.

Field trips. When I was going through one of my up and down bits about being homesick what always cheered me up and made me excited about being in Japan was the field trips. I saw some really awesome stuff. Castles, temples, shrines, landmarks, famous scenery, I've seen more then I can count. To experience this much of Japan in a safe and reliable context you can only do it through being a foreign exchange student. Simply put the field trips make it all worth while.

My Japanese still sucks a lot. I thought that I would become fluent by being in Japan for 9 months, that was not the case at all. I didn't talk to my host family much, aside from japanese class everything at school for me was english, and I wasn't really able to make a Japanese social life. I felt that I was in this English bubble and through my Japanese class I did get better for a while but then I kind of hit a plateau. If becoming fluent is the number one goal of yours, I can't recommend this program. Like you'll get better for sure but their is so much english in this program and you are so isolated from the other Japanese students there is no way you can say that this is immersion. If you really have to become fluent, search for a program that places you in Japanese classrooms, if you can be ok with coming back and still having to study a lot before you hold up a normal conversation without feeling dumb, then this program is ok.

Being a foreign exchange student is something I recommend to everyone. You can read about a place, you can visit it on a vacation, but neither of those are like really living there. Everything aspect of living in a foreign culture comes together to be this incredible experience that you will cherish forever. I also think it helps you grow as a person in a way you never could have imagined. Being separated from everything and everyone you know, you find out that you have the power to do anything you want. Because you are thrown out of your comfort zone in the most literal sense and it becomes sink or swim kind of thing. Regardless where you go I recommend to study abroad.

Like I said this program has some ups and downs but in the end it was worth it. As long as you are ok with the randomness of being assigned a host family, silly classes, and not being fluent then go for it!

the program is over

Well today is the 15th day I have left in Japan and the program officially ended yesterday with the farewell party. It was really sad to say goodbye to all of those people and finally accept that this little path in my life was going to an end. I couldn't hold back the tears when I realized it was the last day that I would see the people from Hawaii, especially Jay, Nohea and Courtney as they are leaving today for the airport. I had so much fun with them and I really enjoyed being otakus in japan together. But not just them I might see a few people here and there before the last two weeks are up and we might see each other at the airport but now its time for us to go our separate ways all over the world. I would really like to visit Les in Canada, Darlo in the UK and Martin in Germany but will I ever be able to?

I know its part of life to make relationships and then go your separate ways, make new ones and repeat but their is a part of me that just wants to stay a ryugakusei with these people forever. But at the same time I know that there is a new and exciting road ahead of me as well.

You know for it being such an emotional farewell party for me, I don't have too much to say for once. I really enjoyed spending times with everyone here and maybe I didn't accomplish what I wanted (never did find that Japanese girlfriend) I still had an incredible experience that I will treasure forever.

Monday, May 11, 2009

The last 20 days in Japan

Well here I am, almost done with this grand adventure of mine. Soon I'll be back home into the 100+ degree Arizona heat and far away from Japan. I'm not really dreading it or anything like that. I've done what I was supposed to here, made lots of memories, learned more then I could ever write down and now its time to move onto the next stage of my life. If anything I am going to miss all of the other foreign exchange students the most. I think of almost all of them as my best friends and I am really going to be sad when I can't see them everyday anymore, but that's life. I am really looking forward to being home though. I really want to see my family and friends.

So last week was golden week and obviously monday I had a big adventure but on tuesday I was so sore I could barely move. I went out for lunch because my host mom's mom died (she was almost 100) but beside that I stayed in my room a lot that day.

Wednesday there was a barbecue with the students from the Konan Cube campus. It was a nice get together and was kind of funny to see how much these kids did not know what they were doing. They just dumped whole bags of meat on the grill for crying out loud. Christy, Emily and Juliene wanted to go to Den Den town and I never turn down a chance to go to Den Den town so I went along. Emily and Juliene were on a quest to find non pornographic doujinshin (fan comics of popular characters) and that is a really hard thing to do. Christy got a terabyte hard drive for $110 and was so happy and thought it was the cheapest thing in the world I was trying not to bust her bubble that $110 isn't that much cheaper then the ones in America. After the girls headed home I decided to try and find the madarake in shinsaibashi and eat out since my host mom had to go to Tokyo for the funeral. I didn't find it but I walked all the way back to Umeda and got some neat night shots. Osaka is a really nice city. I ended up going to the mandarake in umeda and got this saber figure for $5! I don't know how they make it so cheap. I think some of them might be opened but they all look new and have all of the packaging so I don't care. They also have the cheapest prices I have seen for perfect grade gundam models. Like $65 for the MK2. I was tempted to buy it and ship it home but shipping unbuilt like that would have negated the cheapness of it.

Thursday there was school again so I went a little early and studied for my religion test. I thought I did pretty good. It seemed easy but you never know. I just headed home after that.

Friday was cinema and Emily finally brought back my suitcase I lent her on the Tokyo trip. When I got home I tried to do a mock pack and it seems I have just too much. I have too many clothes so I have two options. I can mail some of the stuff back and pay $40-50+ or just throw some of the clothes out. I do have some jeans that are worn past their limit and such so maybe I'll do it. I just hate the idea of paying that kind of money for clothes I might not even want. Anyways I'll check on that.

Saturday was the ryugakusei barbecue and I wasn't quite sure what kind of meat to buy. I've never actually bought meat before so I ended up with some decent pork and some really weird and not too great beef. It was a really hot day but we had this really cool park that was pretty close to campus. There were a lot of bugs that day. Like you were always walking through a swarm of tiny bugs. It was a lot of fun to talk to everyone and I had a good time. After words some of us got dinner at this Italian restaurant in Okamoto then headed off to Karaoke. I couldn't remember a lot of the songs I like to sing so I felt frustrated trying to remember them. Jordan was really drunk at that time and was acting really silly. We had three separate rooms because our group was so big and everyone kept changing rooms so we were probably bothering everyone.

Sunday after I came home and cleaned up a little mess I made outside trying to empty out the spray cans I went out with my new PSP GPS toy. I kind of wish I didn't spend $60 on it because its just so freaking weak. When it works its cool, I was able to connect while on the train and it told me how fast the train was going but sometimes it will take 1 or 2 mins to connect if at all. In a car that might not be a problem but while walking its really annoying. I read online that if you get a metal case for the PSP it helps block some electrical noise that interferes with the device but I can't find one for my 1000 series PSP. It's so hard to find accessories for these game systems because as soon as a new model comes out the old stuff disappears. Well at any rate because of the GPS and the fan made program I am using I was able to find this cool Chinese style temple in Kobe.

Monday, May 4, 2009

Best Day EVER

So at the speech contest all of us were invited to participate in fukae matsuri. Only a few of us did it and I feel bad for all of those who passed up this chance because this was one of the coolest things I have ever done in my entire life.

So we met bright and early at fukae hanshin station and of course Pak was late. We are guided to the changing rooms in the building on the temple's grounds. We each have a bag with our names on it and inside is the traditional costume for this festival. After getting some help from some people we all got dressed.

Here is what me and Pak looked like



For the legs it actually was a skirt kind of thing but was pretty comfortable. I was at first nervous about showing off my chest like that but I then decided just to have some fun with it and a few people just came up and touched it and some people took pictures of me because of it. It was fun though.

We started by pushing the danjiri from its storage shed to the temple which was like a block away. For those that don't know, which is probably everyone, a danjiri is kind of a traditional Japanese float. However float makes one think that it is light, that is not the case at all. They actually weigh around 4 tons! It has stone wheels that leave a trail on the street where ever it goes. To turn this thing the people in the back have to sit down on it while the people in the front lift so that it is only on two wheels then they can push it in the direction they want.
Here is a picture of the one I pushed and a picture of one that looks exactly like ours did (even the clothes were the same so I have to wonder if I found the right one by chance).



There was also a smaller one that was pushed by only women. As it turns out I was really lucky to do this year because they do the men's one every 2 years and the women's one every 3 years so the year they do both is only once in 6 years. In side of both types is someone playing the taiko drums and they NEVER stop. As these things go through town there are also tons of other people keeping track of traffic and which direction it is going and stopping it from going off track.

So we bring the danjiri to the temple, line up then walk in a parade up to another temple. We keep a four row formation and keep up a chant, I'm not sure what we were saying but I just tried to mimic the sounds. When we got to the temple a bunch of people went into a shed and dragged out the mikoshi. A mikoshi is a portable shrine covered in bells and gold everything. It weighs over 1 ton and costs over a million dollars. Here is what mine looked like.


They placed it down and we all sat around it while some of the older guys in yukatas and wearing a special hat sang a shinto prayer song while holding a folding fan over their mouth. We then all stood up, said a chant while we clapped then lifted it up and ran around the area for a bit, brought it back to the center, put it down and then they sang again. We did this three times and then we took the shrine down the stairs and out of the temple. There is probably 20 people lifting the mikoshi at one time so you think its not that bad right? No way it was crazy heavy. We had to constantly trade out people because it was just so much work to move this thing. Here is a picture I found on the web of people carrying a similar one so it was a lot like what I was doing.



As you can see there are beams that are lower and some that are higher. Because I am just a little taller then the average Japanese person I had a really hard time using the lower beam so I would usually be in the center. Even still it was really hard to use your shoulders because for me there isn't too much muscle on the top of my shoulder so it hurt pretty badly. I tried to push it up with my hands, which hurt a lot right now. In a nut shell it was very awkward to move this thing. We were carrying this thing all through the neighborhoods and sometimes we would stop infront of some place and lift it above our heads twice then throw it in the air a little. That was really scarry. Sometimes we would shake it a lot so the bells would go all crazy. A lot of times we stopped, put it down then did the shinto prayer song again. I would carry it as much as I could but I made sure to take breaks too. We went all over the neighborhood then came back to the first temple for lunch.

lunch was pretty good there were those platters with all sorts of stuff on them and some yakisoba and what not. I had to ask the ladies helping with the food for some water because the only thing to drink was tea and beer. After lunch we continued carrying the mikoshi all around the neighborhood and sometimes meeting up with the girl's danjiri. Every hour or so, didn't have a watch so don't know, we stopped for a break. They had a car with lots of drinks and cups and also signs that said smoking area. Like they just made it a smoking area by putting up their own sign. During the breaks I had a lot of fun talking to all of the people there. I have often talked about the soto/uchi thing in Japan and today I felt part of the uchi. People would just come up to us and start talking and they were all so energetic and fun. It was a real nice feeling. Sometimes we got to use this sort of supporting cart for the danjiri and it became much easier because you just had to pull it now. I'm not quite sure why we would use it some times but not others.

The day continued with going around the neighborhood (which there were surprisingly few people out and about) and such until it was time to put the mikoshi away. We made our way back up to the temple where we got it from and there were a bunch of people cheering us on. We placed the mikoshi down in front of the shrine, they said a special song, everyone else said a different chant, we picked it up again and then the real challenge started. We ran a marathon around the shrine. I don't know how many times we did it but it was at least ten times. As we ran around the back people would tag out so people could get rests but I was in the middle and didn't think I could get out while everyone was marching like that. I just ran and ran and went into robot mode, just turned off thinking and did it. Martin somehow got in and tagged me so I ran out. I took a little break but then had to jump back in but this time I was on the edge again. I eventually got back into the inner parts and we made it to the end. We shook it like we had never done before then finally put it away.

We got in rows and marched down to a park where the danjiri was. I guess some people must have broken off from our group and moved it. After another break we got ready to push again. They had us be in the front and it was really fun. We switched at the train crossing and then stopped on the other side. Looking down the street were crowds of people cheering us on from the sidewalk. The taiko drum's beat got faster and faster until we heard the whistle and we all took off running. This 4 ton danjiri was flying down the street at a crazy speed. The lanterns attached flew off and some of us not pushing it picked them up as we ran. They did this a total of 5 times and twice I got to push it. It was really scarry pushing it because I couldn't normally keep up with that running speed, I had to put some weight on the danjiri and my feet barely touched the ground. It was a really cool feeling to be a part of it and to see the crowds of people cheering you on. It was really something else.

We then started the long process of putting the danjiri away. We put all of our weight on the back and turned it around probably 10 times then pushed it towards the storage shed. The crowd followed us and kept up the cheering and clapping. We pulled it into the garage and then ran back out and pulled it back it and then ran it back out several times. Then we all got inside and they shut the garage door. Behind the garage door they had a paper curtain cover it so when they opened the garage door they could show the lights from color flash lights. But what really surprised me was that some of the older guys came and stood on the front of the danjiri dressed as anpan man and other characters. With the garage door open they burst threw the paper one and everyone was dancing and clapping and streamers and confetti flew everywhere. I could not believe the amount of energy these people had after such a long day. The costume guys got down and then some of the leaders got on the little stage and jumped into the crowd and we threw them up in the air.

I was blown away by it all and had never seen anything like it in my life. After this we walked back to the temple, bowed before the shrine, ate some sushi for dinner, changed clothes and then went home. This was an experience that I will never forget and I can't believe that I was lucky enough to be able to experience it.

Friday, May 1, 2009

The end is coming

So today is May 2nd 2009. I have under 30 days left in Japan and I'll soon be coming home. Its a weird feeling to think about leaving this place that I have grown to love so much but I'll be able to return home to my friends and family.

But hey I'm almost done with all of the stuff for school here. My Japanese final is over, for education I just need to do a small presentation, for cinema I just need to show up, for religion I have a final but I dont think any of those are really anything tough. The japnaese final was tough, we really rushed at the end to get as many grammar points as possible in.

I decided to take a fall semester instead of a summer so I guess I'll probably live at home a while longer but you never really know whats going to happen. I managed to get all of my classes on tuesday and thursday and because I am getting grants school will be free. Very nice. As long as something major doesnt happen I should be able to pay off my student loans before I even graduate.

We had a fare well party on friday night. It was done by one of the clubs and they put a lot of effort into considering it was just a club. It was a lot of fun but I really wish this club would have come and talked to us more during the year. I tried to get information about how I could be apart of it one time but was unable to get any information. Oh well I guess. Some of the staff was dressed up in yukatas or ninja costumes and one guy had that freaky horse head mask on. They played bingo and everyone talked a lot. Some of the guys I had met before kept trying to get me to talk to a bunch of girls. I would do it because it was no big deal but they were so shy and acting weird about it. It was fun and all and I appreciate all they did but being isolated as a foreigner is something I don't think I'll ever like about Japan.

So on Wednesday I decided to head off to Takarazuka. My original goal was to go to the area where the horse race was and see that area again but the place I went seemed completely different. It was a really cheap train ride there and the area was gorgeous. I was really blown away by the area around the station. Takarazuka is famous for a type of play done only by women actors of the same name. So the area was full of flowers and pleasant architecture. It was kind of like shojo city. So after a little bit of being blown away by how pretty it all was I stumbled across Ozuka Tezuma museum. Now honestly I have a hard time remembering the name but this guy is the father of japanese anime. He created not only Astro boy but that white lion thing and black jack and apparently something like 30 anime series, several movies and TONS of manga. I don't know if there is anyone who has done as much in the way of entertainment as this guy has in his life. It had a very nice atmosphere about it and everything looked like it was from a 50s scifi show. There was a lot of information about the guy too but I didn't bother to stop and read all of the Japanese.

After I saw most of the museum I continued to walk away from the station and enjoyed the really nice area that I was in. I soon got to a river bank and it was simply goregous, the city scape off in the distance was amazing and you see nothing but packed buildings all the way until the mountain. I walked along the river bank for a while and really just took it all in. After a while I got back up to the street then got to a more business area and headed back towards the station.

So while walking I found my next destination kiyoushikonji-seichoji temple. this was around 2 km away and I just followed the arrows as I went up a steep hill and through a very residential type of area. As I went up and up the view became really nice. The arrows I was following though were for cars so I was walking on the side of the road for a little bit and was really starting to question if I was going the right direction or not. I finally got there and climbed a bunch of stairs just to find a regular modern Buddhist dormitory and a cemetery. A little disappointed I was heading back but decided to go a different way down the hill. I am glad I did because that was where the real temple was.

The temple had a really cool atmosphere and while not too different from other temples I really liked it. Took lots of pictures of course. I sort of followed the crowd on my way back and it lead to this really neat little shopping alley. You don't really see ones like this in the states I think where its really cramped and people's houses are right next to stores selling souvenirs and such. I was getting a little worried as to where I actually was because I was going a very different way then I had come. It seemed to go on for a long time but ultimately it did end infront of kiyousoji station.

Before I got to the station however I saw a sign that said "nakayama temple 2000 meters this way". I stopped and thought about it but felt it was better to get to the station because I didn't know where exactly I was and I didn't have much money on me. I had under 1000 yen and I needed to make sure I had enough to ride the train back home because I could not find a SMBC bank or ATM anywhere. So when I got to kiyosoji station I debated whether or not to try and walk to nakayama. I even started to head back to the sign but turned back. I ended up deciding to take the train to the next stop and just check out that temple. This train line is really cheap so I was ok money wise.

So I exit the station and I see a sign one to the left and one to the right. The one to the left said there was a temple only a few hundred meters to the left and the other one said nakayama temple was 900 meters to the right. So I figure I can do both. As I head to the one on the left I see this big open gate and a sign that said something about takarazuka. I go in and there is a statue of Jesus. I was really surprised to see a statue of Jesus in Japan but was really happy. I go up the trail a road a little bit and I see a bunch of buildings. It turns out that this wasn't a park but the takarazuka catholic school or something like that, and I was just trespassing. Luckily no one but someone working on the yard saw me so I just hurried out. I found the other temple and it was a so so one with stairs going really high up.

I then headed off to Nakayama temple. There isn't just a path just a few signs every so often saying which direction to go. I ended up walking through some neighborhoods and I always feel a little odd walking around people's houses with a camera as a gaijin. Because I think people automatically assume that I don't live there and if I'm taking pictures of something normal like a neighborhood it might be looked at as kind of creepy. Of course no one would ever say anything so I probably shouldn't worry.

I ultimately get to nakayama temple and it was very big and also very modern. There were parts with escalators even. There were also a lot of young families with newborns there, I guess they bless the baby or something. There was a great view, lots of cool shots, and an all around cool environment that you never see in America. After that I headed towards the station and made my way home.

While on the train however I got an email from Courtney asking if I wanted to hang out with her and Martin. I was tired but I said yes. We were planning on studying for our kanji test the next day but ended up just doing some shopping and eating.

So this Saturday I was free and wanted to check that area out some more because after all if there were two awesome temples there I would imagine that there should be more. Exiting nakayama station I saw a very different kind of atmosphere, everything was really spread out. It felt more like Tucson almost. there were a few temples here and there but I ended up walking through a lot of residential areas.

I saw the same signs as before and one of them pointed to a waterfall. I really wanted to see this so I followed the arrow, and I followed it for a while, even until the next station and I saw nothing. I then road back to the station where I saw the sign and tried to figure where on earth it was supposed to be because it points in one way but the road turns drastically right away. Frustrated I gave up trying to find it and just checked out a few more temples I learned about from a map I stumbled across. After that I went home.

I stopped at sannomiya because I wanted a guide book for Kansai. I wanted to know where all of the cool spots were, I don't think I have enough time to just wander around endlessly like that anymore. There were plenty of guide books at Junkudo but they all were just about one city. I wanted one that was about all of Kansai so I could compare where to go. I left empty handed but thought I would check out Seiden/Tsutaya to see if maybe there was some super cheap GPS thingy or something I could use. I saw the PSP GPS add on and thought it was worth checking online reviews. When I got home I found out that using a homebrew game you can make your own maps of anywhere in the world. So that was kind of the deal maker, I went back the next day and bought the GPS add on for the PSP. After a LOT of work I got it to work just the way I want it to and now I can know exactly where I am and where the nearest, temple, shrine, or convenient store is to my location.

Tomorrow I get to do a real once in a life time thing, I get to pull a danjiri (traditional Japanese float)! Its going to be tiring for sure but wow how cool is that, I mean really. Okay I wrote a whole lot so I going to stop now

---Ben