Sary
Silvia Saray Roman Gonzalez Joined: March 7th 2006
Logged in: October 16th 2006
Logged in: October 16th 2006
My name is Silvia Saray Roman Gonzalez. You can just call me Silvia, or Saray (I prefer Saray), or Sary (that's more of a friendly nickname, I guess)...
I'm from Mexico and I'm getting my bachelor's degree in "International Studies and Relations" and "Spanish for Teaching Licensure" at Maryville College in Tennessee.
As part of my college requirements and in search of my vocation, I will be in Japan from August 25th to December 19th of 2006.
I will like to take advantage of travel blog as an opportunity to share with you my experience in Japan. I'll try to post pictures in every entry... sometimes, I guess, there will be more pictures than words. Sometimes, I'll just write my thoughts on something and I won't have a picture for that entry... I don't know... We'll see how it goes. Please feel free to comment on any picture or entry, I'll feel motivated to share more if I know you're interested in what I post. If you have questions, ask... I might not know the answer but I'll try to find one... Let's make of my trip to Japan a mutual learning and fun experience.
Sary
http://www.travelblog.org/gmaps/map_25Y.html
Japan: Second week
Hi everybody!
I'm in Japan now...
Two of my classes require that I keep a journal and I talked to my professors and they were ok with me using "travelblog" as the journal. All of the things I include will be personal and from my point of view; however, I'll write, in some cases, influenced by topics or themes that I studied in these two courses: "Religion in Japan" and "Intercultural Business Communication in Japan". I hope you find those entries just as interesting.
sincerely,
Saray
Travel Blog Posts
It just seems that I have to write about shoes every week... hahaha sorry... I still find things that fascinate me about this topic... But, this might actually be the last time I talk about shoes... I hope. Yeah, yeah… I told you I was over the shoe thing. I’m sorry, it seems like I’m not. I guess I’m not. Next week, I’ll probably write something new… Well, I was used to taking off my shoes at home. You know… I told you that already… But, taking off my shoes when trying clothes at the department store hit me as something new. I mean, I usually take off my shoes in the fitting room just because it is easier to try on jeans or pants, you know? But, I have them inside the fitting room with ... read more
In two days it'll be a month since I arrived in Japan... It's gone so fast! I promised I'll let you know how the shoe thing would go... So, here's a continuation of it. I can tell you, proudly, that I’m used to taking off my shoes now and I’m actually using the Getabaco. It just feels like a natural thing to do. I’m conditioned to reach my right foot and untie or take off my shoe as soon as I pass by the entrance. Then I step into the Getabaco and take off my left shoe. I put them in their shelf with my right hand while grabbing with my left hand my slippers and throwing them on the floor, so that I won’t be barefoot inside. I really like the idea of slippers. I ... read more
I've been in Japan three weeks by now... Today in my “Religion in Japan” class we talked about Shinto as the predominant religion in Japan. It was really interesting to learn how most Japanese people don’t even consider it a religion. A lot of them consider it tradition and cultural heritage. Thus, it is something that permeates a lot of their daily life activities. Purity is one of the main themes of this religion. So, the theme of purity vs impurity is present everywhere, although not apparent sometimes. Of course, when walking into a shrine, this becomes more obvious since the red Torii gate tells you that you are entering a “pure” place. This illustrates the idea of the outside being impure while the inside is pure. This led me to think that the practice of ... read more
Second week in Japan I’m quite used to taking my shoes off now. But it’s not something I automatically do. It still is quite alien to me… Each time I walk in, I’m reminded to take off my shoes by the shoes on the lobby and the “take off your shoes” sign, because I actually forget about it when I’m out. I’m still lazy to go into the “getabaco” and put my shoes in their shelf. So, I pretend I’m a visitor and I leave them in the lobby which is more practical since I’ll be going out soon again anyway. Im sorry! I haven't told you what the getabaco is; I think that you must have inferred its meaning from the previous sentence. Anyway, the Getabaco is the room where shoes are stored. It not ... read more
La entrada
A group of Japanese students from Kansai Gaidai organized a trip to Kyoto. About 100 or more international students signed up. The Japanese students divided us into little groups and assigned to each little group two or three Japanese guides. Our group ended up visiting a very beautiful shrine with a garden and a lake. ... read more
My futon
Let me show you my place. It is a coed Japanese Style dorm. On the outside is just like any other building (which is not even Japanese in architecture). Let me show you around. ... read more
Shoes Off This is one of the things that I was well aware of before coming to Japan. I mean, as part of my pre-departure training, it was one of the things that I was supposedly prepared to face. Besides, I’ve had friends from other countries in which this is also a common practice, and every time I went to their houses, I would have to take off my shoes in order to go in. Yet, when I arrived here, this was an “everywhere” and “everyday” thing. On my first night here I stayed at a hotel, so I didn’t realize the degree in which this took place in Japan. On my second day in Japan, I was picked up by the Kansai Gaidai staff and taken to my dorm. On the outside, “Seminar House II” ... read more
The Airport
After 14 non-stop hours of flying, I am with my feet on the ground. This is what I see:... read more
Japanese sky
Arriving Yes!! I'm allowed to open the plane window shade again since everybody is awake now... The sky is the same everywhere. So beautiful! Am I really in Japan? It's hard to tell just by looking out the window... The pilot makes some flying tricks (that's how I call them, he is flying the plane at an angle) and I'm thankful because I am able to get a wonderful view of the Island. And of course, this also means that I can take more pictures. From up here, Japan seems like any piece of land surrounded by water... how familiar! just like home... well, like one of my homes. We continue going down... and down... at various angles... The ice crystal that adorned my window is gone. The temperature must have gone up about 70 degrees ... read more
Despegando
Here I am flying... headed to the place where the sun rises (so its natives claim); yet, the excitement that I experienced last month when I finally got my visa is gone as well as the sadness of leaving family and friends behind... I guess that I just havent' realized the meaning of being here in this plane right now... "no me ha caido el veinte" as we say in Mexico. But I'll be excited, I'm sure. Yes, I'll be missing home too... but, as for now, I'll enjoy my flying adventure. I'll take you along. I hope you will wish to join me soon in a flying adventure of your own About 10 minutes have passed. Maybe less... I'm not good at keeping the time plus I don't like to wear watches. Anyway, the important ... read more
