Week One

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Apologies

Sorry for the lack of updates it’s been a rather busy few weeks. Anyways, on to week one’s adventures.


Out of Tokyo

Monday morning I was met by two girls for Seigakuin’s European-American culture department, Harumi and Yuki. After short introductions, and my instantly forgetting of their names (this becomes quite common), we headed off for Ryogoku Station, bags in tow.

Now, it should be said that Japanese trains are not good places for clumsy, luggage-laden gaijins. As we hit transfers at Akihabara and Ueno, I found myself deathly worried that I was going to take a turn too quickly and slam my backpack into someone. Thankfully, the trains weren’t excessively crowded and I managed to make it to Miyahara Station without causing an international incident.

Stepping out of the train, the girls led me down the stairs to a bus that deposited us at the entrance to Seigakuin University. Finally, I had arrived at my destination. First stop: the international center. At the international center, I met some of the staff and finally left my luggage behind as Harumi and Yuki showed me to the cafeteria for a rousing lunch.


Not Again

Seigakuin’s caf acts very similar to the ramen shop I had eaten at just two days before. Look at the plastic food, insert money into the machine, match up the name (it’s like playing a word search in Greek), and push the button for your slip of paper. Then, hand the piece of paper to the appropriate person, grab your food, and off you go.

Now, by this time, I was confident in my ability to use a vending machine (money first), but my food related issues were not finished. Looking over the plastic food, one thought ran back and forth through my still-dazed mind: “What the heck is all this?” The names of all the foods were, of course, in Japanese, and I was still in the dark when it came to “food kanji.” Finally, I recognized a word: “カレー” (curry). “Curry?” my brain wondered, trying to think quickly. “That’s supposed to be good, right? Let’s go with that.”

So, I got my little slip of paper proudly proclaiming, “カレーA,” and managed to get my plate of food. The girls showed me where the water was located and we chit-chatted in Japanese and English over lunch. Once again, my chopsticks issues plagued me as I had to grab a spoon to separate the pieces of chicken (think it was chicken) that lay atop my curry.

The Host Family

After lunch, I met with Imoto-sensei, my advisor at Seigakuin and got all my classes lined up. Then, on to the student ID and a whirlwind tour of the campus courtesy of Reverend Osburn. With all of my business at Seigakuin finished, Rev. Osburn drove me to Kasuya-san’s house.

Kasuya-san read me the rules of the house, and then led me upstairs to my room. I soon came to discover that there were four international students living in Kasuya-san’s home, like a sort of foreign student apartment: Patrik from Sweden, Yon-chan from Korea (whose name I instantly forgot), and Gai-san from Thailand. After settling into my room, I headed down for dinner (delicious yakitori) with my new family.


Stupid Gaijin IV

The next day, I rode the bus to school with Yon-chan to go get my Alien Registration card application filled out and eat lunch with the International Center’s staff. I arrived at the International Center, and quickly discovered that I had left my passport at the house. Oops. The ladies assured me it was all right and that I’d just have to head back to the house before going to fill out my application. Then, they invited Yon-chan and me to lunch at デニズ (Denny’s). It struck me odd at first that, of all the restaurants to travel over from America, Denny’s was the one that made it. Still, Denny’s in Japan proved to be much different from the Denny’s in America. Yon-chan and the two ladies ordered Jambalaya (served with egg of all things), and I ordered curry. Again.

I would like to mention here (since were talking about dining and what-not) that the Japanese drink a lot of water. It seems with every meal, water is automatically brought to the table (along with tiny cups about half the size of a US glass). No need to order it. Generally, no asking for lemon. Just BAM instant water at your place-setting. However, most Japanese will only drink one of those small glasses during their entire dinner. No word yet on whether soft drink refills are free or not.

Dinner capped off with desert, tiny pieces of cheesecake, and then Yon-chan and I walked back to the house so that I could get my passport again. As soon as we arrived, I instantly forgot the path to school, but I did remember to grab the passport. Passport in hand, I had Yon-chan point me in the direction of the station and trotted off to meet Ogino-san (one of the workers at the international center). With his help, we managed to get the form filled out without incident.


Ohanami

The next day, I met a former resident of Kasuaya-san’s house, Kaew from Thailand (whose name I instantly forgot). Together with Okaasan (Kasuya-san, as she’ll probably be referred to from here on out) we headed for a local park to check out the sakura trees, which were in full bloom at the time. For the uninitiated, sakura roughly translates to cherry tree, and in early April the trees explode into millions of light-pink flowers. It reminds me of Bradford Pear trees, but without that horrible odor (in fact, I plan to suggest switching the two at the next home-owner’s association meeting). Sakura trees are kind of a big deal in Japan due to the fact that they only last for about a week or two, and we just happened to be in peak season.

So, Kaew, Okaasan, and Myself trotted off for the local park, where the pathway was lined with sakura trees, their petals blowing in the wind. It’s one of those moments where it really hits you: Woah… I’m really in Japan (other moments that fall into this category include seeing a sumo on the street, riding a rush hour train, and gorging yourself on sushi for the yen equivalent of $10). So after taking about thirty pictures and only really liking two and spending time to converse (poorly) with Okaasan’s friends, we headed off to the Okanomiyaki restaurant, because Kaew was craving this fantastic, Japan-exclusive dish (this is also on the “things to eat in Japan” mental list). Unfortunately for us, the place was closed and we had to abandon all hope of Osakan-style goodness.


The First Day

I really hate the first day of school, especially so coming into a new school as a junior. For any college (Japanese, American, probably Plutonian), cliques form fast (within a week of the start of freshman year kind of fast), and generally, those stay pretty well stuck together the whole four years you’re in school. About the only way to break into one is to be “introduced into it” by a mutual friend. Of course, just talking with someone in class works too (they usually become said mutual friend).

Nowhere is this more apparent than the lunchroom. An anthropologist would have a field day making a study of late-teen/early-twenty subculture in the typical college cafeteria. Each group has their place and their typical seats, and generally don’t give up those seats to anyone outside the clique. It was in this situation that I found myself after my first Japanese class, holding a tray of Udon with fish tempura and desperately searching for a seat. After about five minutes of aimless wandering, some guy got tired of seeing the helpless gaijin and moved his bag, freeing up the seat next to him.

I ate in relative silence, making unsuccessful attempts to pull apart my fish with chopsticks. Finally, I gave up on the fish and took my bowl over to the dishwashing area and ran back upstairs to the safety of the classroom to continue studying with my professor.

Since I’m the only exchange student in Seigakuin, I also happen to be the only person in my Japanese classes. It’s not necessarily a bad thing, but it does mean that the teaching is very intensive, and about halfway through my second class of the day, my brain hit its “Japanese limit” and shut down. I managed to struggle through the last half hour of my Japanese class and smiled and nodded at the appropriate times (a very useful and dangerous technique) in the “Intro to Japan” class that followed. Thankfully, there were other foreign students in the Intro to Japan class, one boy from Africa whose name I believe to be David, and two girls from Asia whose name I instantly forgot and still aren't sure on. After an hour-and-a-half of smiling and nodding, classes were finally over and I scurried to the bus and rode back home. Dinner that night: Curry! (third curry meal this week). Needless to say, I spent the night in a state of curry overload.

Friday, my classes were in English and started after lunch, meaning I was able to avoid the pitfalls of the previous day. Both of the classes were about third-year/fourth-year level classes on language and culture and seemed to be pretty interesting. I also met several more ryuugakusei (foreign students) in my classes, including students from Brazil, Korea, Hong Kong, Nepal, and Bangledesh, as well as a nice Japanese student name Shouji who is in both of my classes. So, Friday passed much more easily than Thursday.

Miyahara

It should be noted that there is very little to do in Miyahara on a weekend. Although, more to do than in LaGrange. During Saturday proper, we made an exciting run to the grocery store, where I was shocked to see how little frozen food there was. Of more interest was the bookstore and arcade in the same building. Of course, I picked up a Famitsu at the bookstore, then went to play a few games with Yon-chan. She talked me into trying out the Gundam game (which we only discovered later needed a card that stored your pilot data). After my Gundam battle, we rocked out on Guitar Freaks (like Guitar Hero), and went to go meet with Okaasan and head back home.

That night, my housemates and I set off to enjoy the best of what Miyahara nightlife has to offer. Namely, karaoke and the isakaya. Karaoke is one of those words that strikes fear into the hearts of most average Americans, who conjure up images of standing in front of a room full of drunks belting out a bad rendition of Bon Jovi’s “Livin’ on a Prayer.” Not a fun time (especially if you’re not one of the drunks). Japanese karaoke has a few similarities, but some distinct differences. You’re still singing a bad rendition of “Livin’ on a Prayer” in front of a bunch of drunks, but these drunks happen to be your friends and the room is only big enough to hold about 6 people (one of many rooms in the karaoke parlor). So, the experience is much more fun (even for the sober people). Thankfully, Patrik and Yon-chan are both quite competent singers. So, even just listening is fun. After we burned our two hours of karaoke, we headed for the isakaya.

The isakaya is like a small bar with booth space, and the best one in Miyahara is the Doma Doma. Prices are pretty darn cheap and the booze is pretty darn good. I finished off the night with a rum and coke, and Patrik lamented the fact that none of us could keep up with him long enough for him to get drunk. Feeling quite good, we headed back to the house for the night.


Harajuku

The next day, Patrik and I left the house around noon and headed for Yoyogi Park in Harajuku to do some outdoor studying. We hopped on the train and rode on down to Tokyo. Harajuku is something akin to an artsy/fashion district in Tokyo. If you’ve ever seen anything regarding crazy fashions in Japan, chances are it was true and happened in Harajuku.

Patrik and I exited the station and made our way towards the streets of Harajuku to find some food, and I was introduced to Partick’s exploring rules (Rule #1: No back-tracking). We wandered the streets trying to find something aside from the massive McDonalds to munch on, all the while getting a long look at all the crazy clothes on sale in Harajuku’s many many stores. Finally, we stumbled upon a 7-11 and grabbed a bento to eat in the park.

Yoyogi park is famous mainly due to the fact that it serves as a sort of extension of Harajuku, as the entrance way to the park is usally crowded with people in crazy outfits, cosplayers, and dancing greasers with massive pompadours. One of them had to have a pompadour over two feet long (I assume he was the leader of the Greasers). I really wish I were kidding about that.

Also outside the park on Sunday are several stands selling Japanese fast-food: Yakisoba (fried noodles like lo mein), Okanomiyaki, and Takoyaki. Now, I know it’s been a while, but if you’ll kindly look back at the Akihabara post where I talk about the mental list of tasty eats to buy in Japan, you’ll notice that I mention takoyaki. Well, when I came across it in Yoyogi Park, I simply had to buy a pack of six. After finding a decent spot of grass, Patrik and I plopped down on the ground and cracked open our eats.

I would like to say right now, that takoyaki may just be my favorite Japanese food of all time. It’s doughy, cheesy, hot, and just all kinds of wonderful. If you come to Japan, please, by all means, partake in these little balls filled with octopus. So good.

As I mentioned before, Yoyogi Park is a sort of extension of the curious parts of Harajuku, where the spectacle is everything. This is even true inside the park as we say several people putting on mini-exhibitions of sword-fights, dances, etc. The park was also slammed with people just out there having a good time. We also came across a tour group who took a particular interest in the kendo practice that was going on just behind us. Still, we managed to get some studying done before we decided to pack it up and move on.

Next up was the Meiji Shrine, conveniently located right next to the park. Feeling we needed to do our tourist duty and see at least one shrine while in Japan, we decided that the Meiji Shrine would fit the bill. We looked around the shrine for a bit, watched people throw money in the offering boxes for good luck, and finally decided that it was time to leave Harajuku.

Still feeling up to some sightseeing, we headed for Shibuya, perhaps the most popular district in Tokyo among people ages 13-28. It’s full of gleaming high-rises, trendy department stores, and classy eateries. Patrik and I walked across the world’s busiest crosswalk and made our way down the streets to an arcade. Patrik severely damaged my pride at Street Fighter 4, and we decided it was finally time to head home for the day.


Closing

Yes, I know this is week 3 (or 4 or something like that) already and I’m just now posting my week 1 adventures. Due to the massive amount of time posts like this take, I’m only planning to do one more big one like this (weekends for week 2 and 3). After that, I’m planning to do shorter, more episodic posts (like the one I just put up about the Sake). By now, you should have a good idea of how things are setting up for me in Japan. So, long exposition should be a little less necessary. Got it? Good. Anyhow, thanks for your patience and thanks for reading.

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Photos

Kaew and Okaasan
Still no really good pictures of the rest of my host family yet. Maybe soon.

Sakura Trees
So Pretty.

Sakura Close-up
Still Pretty.