I was to meet my host family for the first time on Saturday at 2 pm. I was “excited in an ‘I want to throw up’ kind of way.” They came fifteen minutes late, and then we sat down with an interpreter to go over the house rules before I went home with them. The first thing that I noticed was that they are attractive for people in their 60s. The second thing I noticed was that they didn’t seem very receptive to me. During the meeting, as we talked about my new “otoosan” (father) and “okaasan” (mother), I kept thinking about my real family (and my real otoosan and okaasan), and this coupled with my host parents’ seemingly cold reception made me tear up a couple times. I am much more sensitive and much more attached to my family than I’d like to admit.
We made small talk on the way home, but the whole time I was slightly freaking out, wishing I had opted to stay in the dorms. But I felt a lot better once we arrived home. I’m not really sure why, but they live in a former duplex which is attached by a door just inside the front doors. They live on one side, and I live on the other… So I kinda get my own place. A living-ish room, kitchen, toilet, sink, shower, washer (but no dryer, gotta hang it outside), 8 tatami mat size bedroom (complete with a kotatsu, or table with a heater built into it!), and my own key to this side of the house. The only thing I don’t use on this side is the tea ceremony room where my host mom does her tea stuff. For meals, hanging out, watching tv, and checking my email, I go into the “main” side of the house, but otherwise, I chill over here. Nice deal, no?
But my side of the house is super cold!! There isn't really any central heating here, but somehow their side is warmer than mine... probably because mine is less inhabited. I don't know if that makes sense at all. However, having the kotatsu in my room is really nice for keeping me warm when I study, and I also have an electrical heating pad for my bed that I can turn on before I sleep.
That first day, when my host dad was showing me how to use the shower, he accidentally turned on the overhead nozzle and got wet. The next night, when we were eating dinner, he spilled a bowl of rice and broth on the table, and he used the ladle to pick it up and eat it. He has an odd fetish for his host child to open his beer can and pour it into his cup at dinner. He likes to watch informational shows about animals. This April, he will travel to Thailand to climb mountains, and he is the fittest 67-year-old man I’ve met. Perhaps we should all become mountaineers.
My host mom explained to me some of the details of tea ceremonying, like the poetry of the sugar candy that goes with the tea and the differences of doing the tea ceremony in every season. She asks me to carry the food for dinner over to the table and to wipe the table after dinner. She’s obsessed with making sure that I come into and leave the house through my own front door. I hope one day I have enough perseverance to learn how to cook like her.
All in all, they’re very kind people. I still feel very awkward here, like I’m completely intruding on them, but hopefully that’ll go away in a couple weeks.
Saturday, January 30, 2010
Friday, January 29, 2010
Three nights ago.
I lie in bed, having tried for an hour since 11pm to fall asleep. My futon is between those of my two roommates, a British girl and a Korean girl. I hear the roommate to the left, the Korean one to whom my back is turned, stir in futon. Then I feel a hand grasp my upper arm. I roll over in bed, and my roommate speaks Korean to me. She begins to shake me a little, saying something in Korean over and over. I look over to my other roommate to see if she sees this shet going down, but she is of no help, being dead asleep. I have no idea what to do, so I repeat okayokay while kinda lifting my head. She persists, insisting something in Korean, so I prop myself on my elbow and grab her upper arm. I give her a squeeze, and she lets go of me, lies down, and turns her back on me.
This story would have been much funnier had I posted it the next morning like I had intended. However, I didn't get the chance, so this story does not abruptly end there.
Last night, I returned to the room around 10:30pm after having not been around all day. My Korean roommate was sitting at her computer, and I began organizing some things when she turned to me and asked me hesitantly in Japanese whether she had awoken me the night before. This was the first time she had spoken to me after we had introduced ourselves two nights ago. I embarrassingly answered yes in Japanese, and she began embarrassingly laughing at herself. She proceeded to explain that she had dreamt that she had to wake me up, and the next morning, she wasn't sure if she had just dreamt it or had actually done it. Needless to say, she felt really bad that it had actually happened.
So an unfunny end to a kinda funny story. She explained that she hadn't spoken to me before now because she doesn't speak much English, and she wasn't sure if I spoke Japanese (to be fair, I had barely been in the room the first couple days). I gave her an SUA pen, and she gave me a Shin ramen. We're taking ceramics together. And her Japanese pronunciation (and knowledge, for that matter) is absolutely incredible. Her major in Korea is Japanese, and she came to Kansai Gaidai to study English so that she can do international commerce in Pusan (at least that's what I remembered her saying). And she's like my new best friend, I hope.
Today I visited Kyoto, but I actually don't have much to say about it. I saw shrines and temples, but I've decided I have very little interest in those things. I'm beginning to worry that one of my larger interests in Japan revolves around consumerism...
Actually, this lack of interest made me wonder if I am studying abroad correctly. I've already seen before a lot of what I'm seeing now, and I can very easily adapt to what is new, and I'm not interested in seeing sites so much, so what is the point of my being here? I've come to realize that 1) I'm here to learn Japanese so that I can speak to my family and 2) I am taking a test-drive of Japan, seeing if living here more permanently is something that I might consider for the future. So maybe I should take that more challenging class? But I won't find out my placement until tomorrow, so I'll have to see about that.
My learning experience for the day:
I went to Kyoto with the SUA kids and one of our speaking partners and two of her friends. One of the friends is studying English and will study abroad in Canada in April, so to help each other out with our respective second languages, we switched our conversation throughout the day between Japanese and English. He asked early on how long I had studied Japanese (or so I thought), and I told him two years. Maybe six hours later, he started asking me how he could improve his English within six months in Canada, and I thought that was kind of an odd question to ask me, but I did my best to give him advice anyway. But come to find out, he thought I said that I had studied English for two years, and he was amazed that I spoke so fluently in that time span, so he wanted to know how he could get the same results as I supposedly had. I felt really really really bad about that miscommunication because I may have potentially disappointed him... yabai!!!
I received a letter describing my host family to me. My host parents are in their late 60s, and they have no children living at home, but they have two birds. My host mother's hobby is tea ceremony, and my host father's is mountaineering. I will have to commute by train and bus for 40 minutes to get to school. This family is almost opposite of what I had wanted (kids, close enough to ride a bike because that's fun... I guess that's it), but now I have an image of a really sweet old couple who will take me in as their own child. I will be meeting them tomorrow afternoon, and if we don't initially hate each other, I will be going home with them.
No more other stories really, but here's a list of cool things about here:
Some of the toilets have "small flush" and "large flush" options
Tax is included in prices, and no tips!
In a special type of train, you can flip the seat over so that instead of facing the front, you can face the back, making a perfect little seating arrangement for a group of four
On another train (possibly also special, but I'm not sure), the seats are heated
I lie in bed, having tried for an hour since 11pm to fall asleep. My futon is between those of my two roommates, a British girl and a Korean girl. I hear the roommate to the left, the Korean one to whom my back is turned, stir in futon. Then I feel a hand grasp my upper arm. I roll over in bed, and my roommate speaks Korean to me. She begins to shake me a little, saying something in Korean over and over. I look over to my other roommate to see if she sees this shet going down, but she is of no help, being dead asleep. I have no idea what to do, so I repeat okayokay while kinda lifting my head. She persists, insisting something in Korean, so I prop myself on my elbow and grab her upper arm. I give her a squeeze, and she lets go of me, lies down, and turns her back on me.
This story would have been much funnier had I posted it the next morning like I had intended. However, I didn't get the chance, so this story does not abruptly end there.
Last night, I returned to the room around 10:30pm after having not been around all day. My Korean roommate was sitting at her computer, and I began organizing some things when she turned to me and asked me hesitantly in Japanese whether she had awoken me the night before. This was the first time she had spoken to me after we had introduced ourselves two nights ago. I embarrassingly answered yes in Japanese, and she began embarrassingly laughing at herself. She proceeded to explain that she had dreamt that she had to wake me up, and the next morning, she wasn't sure if she had just dreamt it or had actually done it. Needless to say, she felt really bad that it had actually happened.
So an unfunny end to a kinda funny story. She explained that she hadn't spoken to me before now because she doesn't speak much English, and she wasn't sure if I spoke Japanese (to be fair, I had barely been in the room the first couple days). I gave her an SUA pen, and she gave me a Shin ramen. We're taking ceramics together. And her Japanese pronunciation (and knowledge, for that matter) is absolutely incredible. Her major in Korea is Japanese, and she came to Kansai Gaidai to study English so that she can do international commerce in Pusan (at least that's what I remembered her saying). And she's like my new best friend, I hope.
Today I visited Kyoto, but I actually don't have much to say about it. I saw shrines and temples, but I've decided I have very little interest in those things. I'm beginning to worry that one of my larger interests in Japan revolves around consumerism...
Actually, this lack of interest made me wonder if I am studying abroad correctly. I've already seen before a lot of what I'm seeing now, and I can very easily adapt to what is new, and I'm not interested in seeing sites so much, so what is the point of my being here? I've come to realize that 1) I'm here to learn Japanese so that I can speak to my family and 2) I am taking a test-drive of Japan, seeing if living here more permanently is something that I might consider for the future. So maybe I should take that more challenging class? But I won't find out my placement until tomorrow, so I'll have to see about that.
My learning experience for the day:
I went to Kyoto with the SUA kids and one of our speaking partners and two of her friends. One of the friends is studying English and will study abroad in Canada in April, so to help each other out with our respective second languages, we switched our conversation throughout the day between Japanese and English. He asked early on how long I had studied Japanese (or so I thought), and I told him two years. Maybe six hours later, he started asking me how he could improve his English within six months in Canada, and I thought that was kind of an odd question to ask me, but I did my best to give him advice anyway. But come to find out, he thought I said that I had studied English for two years, and he was amazed that I spoke so fluently in that time span, so he wanted to know how he could get the same results as I supposedly had. I felt really really really bad about that miscommunication because I may have potentially disappointed him... yabai!!!
I received a letter describing my host family to me. My host parents are in their late 60s, and they have no children living at home, but they have two birds. My host mother's hobby is tea ceremony, and my host father's is mountaineering. I will have to commute by train and bus for 40 minutes to get to school. This family is almost opposite of what I had wanted (kids, close enough to ride a bike because that's fun... I guess that's it), but now I have an image of a really sweet old couple who will take me in as their own child. I will be meeting them tomorrow afternoon, and if we don't initially hate each other, I will be going home with them.
No more other stories really, but here's a list of cool things about here:
Some of the toilets have "small flush" and "large flush" options
Tax is included in prices, and no tips!
In a special type of train, you can flip the seat over so that instead of facing the front, you can face the back, making a perfect little seating arrangement for a group of four
On another train (possibly also special, but I'm not sure), the seats are heated
Wednesday, January 27, 2010
Forgot
the most important thing today.
I ate with the SUA kids at a restaurant for dinner. I ordered a hamburger patty (I know, I gave into the temptation of delicious Japanese meat) that comes with a sunny-side up egg: medama hambaagu. Well, I suppose I was a little cocky, having seen the picture of the egg and kind of knowing the kanji. So I ordered "tamago hambaagu," or egg hamburger. The waiter corrected me to make sure of my order... and I--embarrassed on the inside, hopefully composed on the outside--corrected myself. "Hai, medama hambaagu."
The learning experience begins!
I ate with the SUA kids at a restaurant for dinner. I ordered a hamburger patty (I know, I gave into the temptation of delicious Japanese meat) that comes with a sunny-side up egg: medama hambaagu. Well, I suppose I was a little cocky, having seen the picture of the egg and kind of knowing the kanji. So I ordered "tamago hambaagu," or egg hamburger. The waiter corrected me to make sure of my order... and I--embarrassed on the inside, hopefully composed on the outside--corrected myself. "Hai, medama hambaagu."
The learning experience begins!
First Day
OMG, I think I caught a cold, sunnuvabich. I'm not very tired or anything, but my nose is draining snot out the woohaa. I'm not sure if that made sense. I hope I don't have to wear one of those mask things.
Besides that, I freaking love it here!! But first, my ride over:
I didn't sleep for about 17 hours before my flight from Dallas to Japan, so I was pretty worn out. Surprisingly, I was able to sleep for a good seven hours on the plane. Perhaps it was the Dramamine that Dad insisted I take, which I haven't used for years...
On the plane, I watched The Office, parts of "The East is Red," and part of Michael Jackson's "This is It." That last one would have been a really cool concert had MJ not passed away. For some reason, I was given special vegetarian meals during the flight, which I don't remember specifying, but I guess that is cool too. But the food was still pretty bad, so I was thankful that Mom had packed me some rice balls.
When I landed in Tokyo, I went through customs, then went to the gate for my domestic flight into Osaka. While sitting there, some American approached me and asked if I could watch his suitcase while he used the restroom. Sketchy, but I agreed. When he returned, he told me he was surprised that I spoke English... Could that mean that I have finally been mistaken for being Japanese?? I found out that he is a Marine who's been stationed in Okinawa for a couple years, and I probably misunderstood him, but I think he said he was on his way for another tour in Iraq. He told me all about his work out there: He's the shooter guy up on top of tanks, and he told me that on the tiny shields that cover him and his partner are written "FML" and "WTF." He showed me pictures of his tank and of huge sand storms from his ipod. He gave me advice on things to do in Okinawa and told me that there are probably lots of other things that would not be restricted to me. I asked what he meant, and he said I would pass off as one of the Okinawans... Indeed, for the first time in my life, someone pegged me for an Okinawan! kind of. He then introduced me to his family via photos and videos from his digital camera. I never got to say goodbye to him: He just kind of disappeared when I went to board the plane, which I had assumed he would be riding as well. But I guess you can't get to Iraq from Osaka.
The domestic flight to Osaka was so incredibly cozy that I was uncomfortable. The soothing music, the pleasing cherry blossom designs on the seats, the perfect flight attendants who all bowed at the same time... I was expecting there to be a fireplace in the place of an emergency exit. I just wanted to sleep for that hour-long ride, but I felt rude doing it.
After arriving that night, I met up with SUA friends and they showed me around the residential area. I went to bed at midnight and woke up at 7:30 am! How did that happen?!?
Today was just orientation stuff in the morning. One odd thing: I took my Japanese placement exam in the morning, and the whole time I thought, "Their placement tests are going to be so much more accurate than Soka's... they're definitely gonna know my Japanese isn't that good." Well, a couple hours after the test, I found a note in my mailbox requesting that I be interviewed in Japanese with a professor. I went to do that... And he thought I could be in a higher level Japanese course that uses very academic kanji. I was flustered, freaking out that he thought my crappy Japanese during the interview was competent, even good. But he understood my fear of very academic kanji, considering I only know about 300 (it generally takes a knowledge of about 2000 kanji to read a newspaper). The entire time I confused him, telling him that I had never heard of some special Japanese exam (he really was shocked by that), telling him I had only taken up to 300-level Japanese, telling him that we used a textbook that he had never heard of (he searched through his all his bookcases to see if he had the book, surprised that he had no knowledge of it). Then I told him that I want to challenge my Japanese but that I also want to enjoy Japan and don't want to study all the time. I left the interview having seemingly baffled him thoroughly. I will find out my placement on Friday.
In the afternoon, the SUA kids showed me around some more. I've only been around the nearby shops, but damn, I love Japan so much! I'm probably gonna take a trip to Kyoto on Friday, so hopefully that'll be even more amazing.
The campus here is so nice, and I feel like I'm at a real college, which I guess I am. It's cool having a building whose first floor is a McDonalds/Seattle's Best, second floor is a convience store, and third floor is a book store... all right next to your classrooms. We had a professor orientation, and they all seem super nice and funny. They all happen to be non-Japanese, except this one whose topic is apparently so complicated that he has to teach it in Japanese.
The dorms here are amazing too, or maybe I'm just excited by the new environment. The rooms are traditional Japanese, so there are tatami mats and futon and this little paper screen that can separate the desk area from the rest of the room. It's a pretty good size room. You can't walk around the building in shoes, so it's funny seeing everyone shuffle around in slippers and socks.
Also I am in love with the bathrooms: separate room for toilets and a room for showers. In the shower stalls, there's a little curtained room in which you take off/put on your clothes and then an adjoining shower which is behind a folding door. For some reason, I am super intrigued by these stalls. Maybe it's the combination of the socially-agreed privacy and the thrill of the possibility of someone pulling your curtain aside to reveal a naked you. Or maybe it's just cuz I'm experiencing realer college.
Anyway, my obssession with the dorms (including this very white, clean, awesome computer lab, which resembles the gross IT lab at SUA in no way, and in which I am typing this message) makes me want to cancel my homestay and stay here. But I'm excited to see what kind of family I get, and hopefully my Japanese will get damn good. I won't find out who they are until minutes before I meet them sometime this weekend and then go home with them. Kinda awkward.
Here is a message I received from my Japanese speaking partner, whom I will meet tomorrow:
"Welcome to Japan , Krystal !! I burned for your arrival in Japan ."
Things to look forward to:
Homestay family
Speaking partner
Cellphone (tomorrow maybe?)
Kyoto trip on Friday
Besides that, I freaking love it here!! But first, my ride over:
I didn't sleep for about 17 hours before my flight from Dallas to Japan, so I was pretty worn out. Surprisingly, I was able to sleep for a good seven hours on the plane. Perhaps it was the Dramamine that Dad insisted I take, which I haven't used for years...
On the plane, I watched The Office, parts of "The East is Red," and part of Michael Jackson's "This is It." That last one would have been a really cool concert had MJ not passed away. For some reason, I was given special vegetarian meals during the flight, which I don't remember specifying, but I guess that is cool too. But the food was still pretty bad, so I was thankful that Mom had packed me some rice balls.
When I landed in Tokyo, I went through customs, then went to the gate for my domestic flight into Osaka. While sitting there, some American approached me and asked if I could watch his suitcase while he used the restroom. Sketchy, but I agreed. When he returned, he told me he was surprised that I spoke English... Could that mean that I have finally been mistaken for being Japanese?? I found out that he is a Marine who's been stationed in Okinawa for a couple years, and I probably misunderstood him, but I think he said he was on his way for another tour in Iraq. He told me all about his work out there: He's the shooter guy up on top of tanks, and he told me that on the tiny shields that cover him and his partner are written "FML" and "WTF." He showed me pictures of his tank and of huge sand storms from his ipod. He gave me advice on things to do in Okinawa and told me that there are probably lots of other things that would not be restricted to me. I asked what he meant, and he said I would pass off as one of the Okinawans... Indeed, for the first time in my life, someone pegged me for an Okinawan! kind of. He then introduced me to his family via photos and videos from his digital camera. I never got to say goodbye to him: He just kind of disappeared when I went to board the plane, which I had assumed he would be riding as well. But I guess you can't get to Iraq from Osaka.
The domestic flight to Osaka was so incredibly cozy that I was uncomfortable. The soothing music, the pleasing cherry blossom designs on the seats, the perfect flight attendants who all bowed at the same time... I was expecting there to be a fireplace in the place of an emergency exit. I just wanted to sleep for that hour-long ride, but I felt rude doing it.
After arriving that night, I met up with SUA friends and they showed me around the residential area. I went to bed at midnight and woke up at 7:30 am! How did that happen?!?
Today was just orientation stuff in the morning. One odd thing: I took my Japanese placement exam in the morning, and the whole time I thought, "Their placement tests are going to be so much more accurate than Soka's... they're definitely gonna know my Japanese isn't that good." Well, a couple hours after the test, I found a note in my mailbox requesting that I be interviewed in Japanese with a professor. I went to do that... And he thought I could be in a higher level Japanese course that uses very academic kanji. I was flustered, freaking out that he thought my crappy Japanese during the interview was competent, even good. But he understood my fear of very academic kanji, considering I only know about 300 (it generally takes a knowledge of about 2000 kanji to read a newspaper). The entire time I confused him, telling him that I had never heard of some special Japanese exam (he really was shocked by that), telling him I had only taken up to 300-level Japanese, telling him that we used a textbook that he had never heard of (he searched through his all his bookcases to see if he had the book, surprised that he had no knowledge of it). Then I told him that I want to challenge my Japanese but that I also want to enjoy Japan and don't want to study all the time. I left the interview having seemingly baffled him thoroughly. I will find out my placement on Friday.
In the afternoon, the SUA kids showed me around some more. I've only been around the nearby shops, but damn, I love Japan so much! I'm probably gonna take a trip to Kyoto on Friday, so hopefully that'll be even more amazing.
The campus here is so nice, and I feel like I'm at a real college, which I guess I am. It's cool having a building whose first floor is a McDonalds/Seattle's Best, second floor is a convience store, and third floor is a book store... all right next to your classrooms. We had a professor orientation, and they all seem super nice and funny. They all happen to be non-Japanese, except this one whose topic is apparently so complicated that he has to teach it in Japanese.
The dorms here are amazing too, or maybe I'm just excited by the new environment. The rooms are traditional Japanese, so there are tatami mats and futon and this little paper screen that can separate the desk area from the rest of the room. It's a pretty good size room. You can't walk around the building in shoes, so it's funny seeing everyone shuffle around in slippers and socks.
Also I am in love with the bathrooms: separate room for toilets and a room for showers. In the shower stalls, there's a little curtained room in which you take off/put on your clothes and then an adjoining shower which is behind a folding door. For some reason, I am super intrigued by these stalls. Maybe it's the combination of the socially-agreed privacy and the thrill of the possibility of someone pulling your curtain aside to reveal a naked you. Or maybe it's just cuz I'm experiencing realer college.
Anyway, my obssession with the dorms (including this very white, clean, awesome computer lab, which resembles the gross IT lab at SUA in no way, and in which I am typing this message) makes me want to cancel my homestay and stay here. But I'm excited to see what kind of family I get, and hopefully my Japanese will get damn good. I won't find out who they are until minutes before I meet them sometime this weekend and then go home with them. Kinda awkward.
Here is a message I received from my Japanese speaking partner, whom I will meet tomorrow:
"Welcome to Japan , Krystal !! I burned for your arrival in Japan ."
Things to look forward to:
Homestay family
Speaking partner
Cellphone (tomorrow maybe?)
Kyoto trip on Friday
Monday, January 25, 2010
5 hours to go
2 hours before I help my mom make my bento for the airplane. 3 hours before going to the airport. 4 1/2 hours before my flight to Dallas. 5 1/2 hours till I fly to Japan.
Everyone's study abroad is different. I will make mine successful. But right now, I'm just edgy.
Almost burst out in tears several times tonight, but the feeling subsided as soon as it came about. Luckily I have The Beatles with me right now to calm me down.
Sunday, January 24, 2010
Packing
Half packing, half playing with my new ipod touch. It's amazing, but I hope the investment is worth it.
It hasn't fully hit that I'll be leaving on Monday. I'm starting to get that awful stomach feeling, but I think it won't hit me full-on till I'm in Osaka. Which might be a good thing because I'll probably be happy enough just being there to forget that I miss home.
Holy crap!!!
Saturday, January 23, 2010
New Friends...
My Japanese speaking partner sent me an email:
"I want to go to many places with you."
I already love her. I hope she loves me too.
Thursday, January 21, 2010
Three days...
Feeling sick to my stomach.
I'm not nervous about being in Japan. This is what I've been waiting for since the last time I was there.
But I feel like I'm leaving a lot of unfinished business behind.
I thought that after going to California every semester for the past 2 and a half years, I had gotten used to leaving home for somewhat extended periods of time. This Japan thang is only about a month longer than the average semester, and my mother and little sister will join me for the last month, but for some reason, I feel like I'll be gone for z very, very long time.
I suppose I still have more growing up and growing out to do.
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