Embedded Files
-- Day 0 --
The plane flight was pretty uneventful aside from the anticipation. I managed to get through three movies and four episodes of Walking Dead, and finish my draft for the first scene of Kasojizo. The only thing of note was the confusing wrap I ended up getting for one of my meal (pictured to the right) but aside from that I managed to get almost no sleep, so I was pretty jetlagged for the next few days.
The rest of the night was spent in Tokyo getting to the youth hostel-- lots of nighttime pictures and bright lights.
Pictures:
Right top, me with customs forms in immigration
Bottom, Tokyo city lights nearby the youth hostel
Top, Meiji Shrine from the outside
Middle, Everyone at dinner on Monday
Bottom, Tokyo skyline from the hostel in the morning
-- Day 1 --
First day was very fun and eventful! First off, we took the train down to the Meiji Shrine, and we walked around there in silence for a while buying things and giving money in prayer to the gods. The blessing ritual was a bit confusing but I got the hang of it after the second time. One specific tree had people's wishes and prayers written on wooden chips, and it was interesting to read what some people had chosen to write. Second day's stop was shopping in Harujuku where I discovered the wonderful Daiso (and got enough face masks to last me 2 months; totally prepared!) and it was wonderful having time to just wander and explore like a kid in a candy store. Third stop was Shibuya and Hachiko station for lunch, where my group went to a lovely little ramen shop that was on a small side alley. The only small hiccup was that pescetarian diet is difficult sometimes to keep in restaurants and I ended up having a bowl of rice for lunch and a couple of gyoza, but it was still an amazing experience going through Shibuya and spending a bunch of time in such an iconic row.
Afternoon was spent on Odaiba, a leisure based island that's full of tourist attractions including a ferris wheel and a couple of big shopping centers. We spent the first part of it was spent at Mirai-Kan, a museum dedicated to the development of futuristic technology, and the second part was spent shopping at Diver City (massive mall with lovely staff and selection) and getting good views from the ferris wheel. On the way to dinner we met up with one of Sensei's former students and had dinner with him, and by the end of it all everyone was exhausted enough to pass out on the table. Everyone was tired enough that by the time we got home at 10PM, we just flopped into bed.
Other highlights of the day include trying natto (not something I'd recommend for everyone) and onsen for the first time and enjoying both very much. Also had a funny moment where I tripped twice on a cart barrier (which for reference was just tall enough to reach my waist but short enough to be out of my field of vision) and it was pretty hilarious after the second time-- I wasn't hurt though!
-- Day 2 --
Second day was pretty decent, as far as things went. We started off the day with breakfast and by going to Waseda University for a tour by one of the other student's brothers, which was entertaining and relatively informative (though as far as college and as such my mind is already made up), but the architecture was nice and we did have a funny experience in where we got stuck on the elevator for a few minutes because someone else was leaning on the button panel by accident.
Next was the metropolitan government building, the seat of power for all of Tokyo's districts. Giving the site report was a piece of cake since everyone was too busy looking at the view on the observation deck to listen to me, but it was still good. We spent a while in the central plaza beforehand trying to perfect a shot where we all had to jump in the air at once (I'm guessing we did something like 15 tries before settling on one), and while upstairs I got some good pictures and bought some omiyage for the Tea Ceremony Club-- shout out to you guys if any of you are reading this! -- mostly it was just a game of looking for exact change to pay the register clerk with. Note to those going next year and after: careful with your coin usage. It builds up after a few days. Lunch was at Denny's. which is actually very upscale and decent in Japan (one of the many things the US should step up on, in my opinion). Got fried chicken in potato salad and a fruit parfait (pictured to your right). Rest of the afternoon was spent in the Peony Garden at Toshobu (?) Shrine. It was built in 1658 and was plated in gold on several areas, very quiet, and has a a lot of Chinese-inspired architecture. Also unidentifiable citrus-type fruit growing around there-- I hope someone in the comments section knows cause I most certainly don't :/ -- either way, afterwards was a hike deeper into Ueno for the Sky Tree. I didn't take many pictures from the deck since we were all really beat by that point, but inside was very nice and beautiful. They also had a disco floor that I regret not taking a picture of.
Dinner was Mos-Burger, pretty basic fast food joint but very nice service, good fish burger, and very patient. There were too many of us to eat there so we just took it all to go two people's orders at a time and walked back to the hostel. Note to America: Please adopt Japanese portions.
Rest of the night was great since I managed to get the onson to myself for a good twenty minutes, Really looking forward to Zao Onsen tomorrow!
Bottom left, Okuma Auditorium, built for the 50th anniversary of the university's founding
Bottom right, Toshoba, Ueno, bare Sakura trees
Top, a row of shrines at Toshobu temple
Middle, the fruit parfait from Denny's
Bottom, bowl of cut peonies in water
-- Day 3 --
Today was mostly a blur in terms of activities-- much of it was spent in transition between Tokyo and Zao Onsen, so it was pretty uneventful all around. We walked from the youth hostel to the station and rode to Ueno, where we bought Eki-Ben (or train station bento which you eat on the train) and spent some time looking around while we waited for the bullet train.
Yes, you read that right. This was our first bullet train experience... or at least it was my first. And I have to say I wasn't disappointed one bit. The ride was smooth, the bento was delicious (with the exception of the chopstick fail showcased below) and interestingly enough, the seats can swivel so that you can face the people behind you!
The ride was beautiful to look at, of course, but the gradual changes in scenery really jump out at you when you compare photos from Tokyo to photos of Zao and the surrounding mountains. The difference in climate and especially snow accumulation was shocking. I'm talking like snow drifts on roofs several feet high to the point where the edges are smooth enough curves to be featured in a Dr. Seuss book, and the snow was falling enough that while waiting for the bus we saw people holding umbrellas. When we got to Zao itself the five minute walk from station to hotel rendered most of the people who weren't covered with a hood snow people. There was even a mini avalanche that almost buried Marisa after we crossed a street near the station.
Sorry I didn't take as many pictures of the snow-- I couldn't risk my phone getting snowed on or dropped since we were moving quite carefully.
Zao Onsen itself is amazing, and I'm not just saying that because my group got the penthouse suite (which is a nice bonus since one of the students, Emma's, brother is now with us for the next few days) although the only downside is enough people are envious of the room that we attract a decent crowd at several occasions in the day, and one person has successfully ordered an extra futon into our room (brings the total to 6), so it feels a bit more like a common room than a hotel room but I suppose that's just the price to pay for the experience.
The baths are wonderful too, even though I haven't been to any of the outside ones yet for fear of freezing to death but will definitely be doing that tomorrow. First relaxing bathing experience was pretty good, no complaints necessary.
Dinner was another experience in it of itself. Firstly, you need to dress in a provided yukata for the formal dining, and the food this evening was a continuous course of dish after dish that I'm honestly starting to forget after a few hours but wasn't limited to:
- Sashimi
- Shabu-Shabu
- Soup
- Rice
- Fruit for dessert
And a bunch of other things that kept on coming-- I've never felt so full in my life. The only reason there aren't pictures is because I didn't bring my phone (I didn't realize that the yukata had pockets :3) but otherwise it was a great meal. Futons have been dragged out for the evening and I'm hitting the hay early tonight. No telling how well I'll sleep but hopefully this place is warmer than the youth hostel!
Our room, as pictured above
Tea set included in room, for all you tea clubbers out there
*insert shameless club promotion here* ; )
Pictured above: Chopstick fail with bento... still good though!
Note: if you squint really hard I think you can see Mt. Fuji from there.
-- Day 4 --
Today was a pretty relaxing, eventful day. Good calm before the storm. Today we had free reign over our day, and the extra autonomy was a nice surprise, even though I didn't really know how to use it well. This morning after breakfast I walked up to the ski slopes and through the town with a couple of others, and we made it to the ski lift center before turning back to town for lunch at a little place near the onsen. The walk gave me some good time outside to explore and see the massive snow drifts (not even kidding entire storefronts were covered in snow and it was taller than most of us in some places) Lunch was ramen, which was good and service was similar.
After lunch, I went with Liam, Emmet and Owen to two of the onsen in town and spent the afternoon there, trying to get used to the extremely hot water. It took us more or less half an hour to get used to the heat, and was pretty pleasant and relaxing. Also, did not mention this fact yesterday, but Zao Onsen is a natural spring that's heated by sulfur, for the minerals are yellow and the smell... well I'll let you imagine it, but besides that fact it's easy to get used to. Second onsen we went to was too hot to even enter, and we contented ourselves with dumping water over ourselves outside of the actual bath pool.
We were due back at the Ryokan by 3 PM, and our only scheduled activity for today was going into the mountains to see the Ju-Hyou, or snow monsters, which is a unique phenomenon where the wind and snow plaster to the trees and create odd and humanoid shaped figures. It's like a Rorschach test from above and at ground level, and the only trade off is the extreme cold, which made it difficult to stay outdoors for long. Needless to say, I'm glad I bought those miniature handwarmers for today. Both the sunset departure and the ride to and back made for some good birds-eye view pictures.
Dinner was pretty uneventful, but delicious, and before bed was spent chatting and working on homework. Sorry that this blog was more pictures than words, but I'm in a bit of an onsen-induced stupor. Hopefully tomorrow provides more to talk about!
Top Right: Me wearing a yukata for dinner and breakfast-- it's pretty typical around here.
Second right: Storefront after the huge amount of snow we got. Pretty sure they were closed today.
Third right: Snow monsters at sunset Fourth right: Breakfast are our ryokan
Fifth right: Me posing in front of the snow monsters
Top left: Perspective: the person walking there is one of the tallest on the trip.
Bottom left: The mountain and the monsters as seen from a distance.
-- Day 5 --
Today was spent mostly at Yamadera, a mountainous region that Yokoto Sensei very fittingly likened to China, especially since it's a very abrupt cliff face right next to a relatively flat little area. Very rural, lots of little omiyage stores, and a 1,000 step hike up the mountain in yak tracks to see a beautiful shrine; which is what we spent much of our morning doing.
Breakfast was very delicious as usual, but earlier since we had to get on a bus and then a train to get to Yamadera. The bus ride and the train ride were pretty uneventful aside from the views and the fact that I accidentally forgot my money belt at the ryokan (don't worry mom, I found it when I got back) and had to borrow money from Emma in order to buy one of the most Sensei-approved souvenirs on the trip: a book that keeps track of which shrines and temples you visit by having beautifully hand drawn calligraphy and stamps specific to each one on each page. I managed to get three later in the day around noon since I was more busy just wandering around and taking pictures from that perspective since this complex had so many layers at the top, but the stamp I did get were well worth the 300 yen each. Here's the one's I've gotten so far:
Also, as you can imagine, 1,000 steps up a mountain is pretty high. Here are some other pictures of the views I got up there. Kyle, this is the place to be!
Lunch was at a little place down the mountain that was perched over Yamadera's river, and I got Tunuki Soba, which is basically warm soba noodles in broth with tempura batter sprinkled on top. After lunch (which was delicious) I walked around town for a bit and got some sakurabo flavored ice cream (which is cherry blossom) and that was a wonderful experience as well.
Getting back to our ryokan was equally long as it was this morning and since the bus was a little later than usual we had some time to go shopping and look around places. I didn't buy anything in particular, but it was nice to just hang around. After we got back to the ryokan, we had dinner and I bathed, and after that I was just too tired to do much of anything except read and finish this blog. Looking forward to tomorrow!
Top left: a kitten we found while waiting for the others to come down the mountain. This held our group up and kept them occupied for nearly half an hour, but it was worth it.
Top right: Tanuki soba-- highly recommend it!
-- Day 6 --
Today was the day to meet my host family and leading up it was mostly travelling and transferring between two shinkansen. The ride out of Zao was difficult for some, as they didn't want to leave and I can't blame them. It's hard to imagine leaving such an amazing place willingly! However, I was only disappointed that I hadn't taken the opportunity to bathe more, but I suppose that's best to save for next time.
The rides between Zao and Niigata were relatively uneventful save for reading Their Eyes Were Watching God and taking an interpretative test for the folk tale unit. The only thing of note happened when I did the test incorrectly and almost handed it into Sensei before realizing I misunderstood.
I was really nervous to actually meet my host family but after talking with Ryo-San for a while I felt much more at ease. We had an hour at the station to wait for his train to get back home, and we spent it mostly talking to each other and talking to friends. The ride over was fast and I managed to keep my JR Pass (thankfully, since a couple of others have lost theirs while in motion) and get my bag and things off of the train in time where I met Ryo's father and sister, Aya-San. We rode home for about 10 minutes and I met the rest of the family shortly after.
Dinner was amazing and I got to answer a lot of questions about both myself and America, up to and including:
- Does it snow much in Chicago?
- How old are your parents?
- Do you speak Spanish?
- What is your opinion of the president?
And so on. Dinner consisted of many different kinds of nori-maki, including some with eel and hot dogs, (but all of them were delicious), two different kinds of tako-yaki, potatoes, fried chicken, and salad. I had some of everything and it was all amazing! There was nothing there I wouldn't eat again... Okasan is quite the chef!
After dinner, they explained that they only eat maki-sushi on February 3rd, and after dinner, they take turns throwing beans at a paper demon that they hang in the living room, and I joined in. It was a lot of fun taking shots at the little thing, and I managed to hit it at least once, I'm sure. Ryo and Aya were much better than I was though!
After that, we sat around the kotastu, watched TV, and talked about things. I drew up a blueprint of my apartment to show how my room was cold in the winter, showed them where we do things, explained the Online Degree Database (with some difficulty, might I add), and got to show them my photobook which was a wonderful time laughing over things like my size difference between when I was born and what I am now. I loved every moment of it. Also, when I went to go get my photobook, I found out that Aya plays the piano and plays it really well!
Soon after (how many times have I said that today?), I took my bath. It was a bit of an ordeal getting the shower water to heat up but I figured it out after a bit. It was wonderful to relax after a long day of travelling and eating. Later I felt tired, and got to eat some ice cream and try barley tea. It was wonderful! Afterwards, I decided I was getting tired enough to warrant going to bed. Hopefully there's a busy day in store for tomorrow!
Top: Breakfast at ryokan
Middle: Shinkansen between transfers
Middle: Dinner tonight
Bottom: Onimame (Bean Demon)
-- Day 7 --
Today has been one of the best days of my life and no I'm not exaggerating. Getting to spend the day with my host family was one of the best days of my life so far and the day's pretty much over by this point so I guess I'll start from the beginning.
I woke up a little early, around 6;30 after accidentally kicking the wall in my sleep, wrote in my dream journal, and came down to find Okasan was making french toast with Japanese-style bread! She immediately let me help her cook it and I think I did OK although I'm sure I could do better, they didn't seem to mind. The rest of breakfast was some leftover tako-yaki, salad, fruit with yogurt, toast, and strawberries. Everything was very delicious, and conversation was good. I found out that Hinna-Matsuri was being started today, and after breakfast, me, Ryo, and Aya all studied and worked on homework until about 9:30, when we went to go set up the Hinna-Matsuri display.
It took a while, but I'm proud of it. It's similar to a Christmas tree in that there's a lot of parts that are all packed away until the occasion is near. It's a very complicated set involving a prince and a princess with all of their important servants at various levels beneath them. I think it's depicting something similar to the aftermath of a marriage, but I'm unsure. Perhaps it's a folktale, but either way, the significance is that it celebrates a young girl's coming of age, and it's where they wish for health and good growth of their daughters.
After that, Okasan decided that we should make some okashi, and we decided to make takoyaki that was filled with chocolate and raisins instead of fish or savory foods, which Aya dubbed chocoyaki. It was a little difficult the first time but I actually kind of want one when I get back to the states. It was pretty easy to make (similar to pancakes) and the final result was very delicious.
Around lunchtime, Otosan's sister paid a visit and stayed for lunch. She was very nice and brought omiyage in the form of cream-puff donut type things that are inexpensive around Valentine's Day, and so decided I should give them my omiyage afterwards. They loved all of it and thought that the bag was cute (even though as I picked it up to take it from my room to the kitchen the handle ripped off because it was so heavy). It was a wonderful time getting to chat with everyone and the cream puffs were also delicious.
At around 2:00, we left to do the day's activities, which included all the things I wanted to do while I was there and then some. My list was relatively simple, and Okasan and Otosan were nice enough to fill in the blanks with things that I would like. I wanted to go to a supermarket to see the differences between America and Japan, and the answer is they're really not that different. One of the main things I noticed (although this may just be specific to that store) was that instead of empty space, they actually had parking on the roof, and a second floor, much to my surprise. I checked the candy aisle and found some unique Kit-Kats (finally!) and got some omiyage for the people close to me ;)
Before that, we went to a temple/shrine and walked around for a bit. It was a long drive out but it was well worth it.
After the supermarket, they added an additional stop when I mentioned that I liked to shop cheap: Daiso! That too was a long drive but also was well worth it. Also, haven't mentioned this yet, but the weather today was crazy! It was snowing one minute and sunny the next then cloudy and then sunny and snowing again! While in the parking lot I learned that the drains in Japan squirt water if there's too much melting snow or rain, and we almost parked right in front of one of the tiny water jets had they not noticed it.
Daiso was pretty quiet in terms of conversation, but I did get some important things such as some touch screen gloves, a bread scraper thingy, and masks for months. Dinner was udon, as I'd said the night before that it was one of my favorite foods; and it was very wonderful to finally have after a week of wanting some!
Onsen was our last stop, and here is the only hiccup to the day: I didn't wear my contacts, so it was difficult to recognize Otosan or Ryo from a distance without my glasses. However, I did still manage to clean myself and relax, so I'll call that a successful trip!
Good night for tonight! First day of school is tomorrow!
Top: Breakfast, complete with french toast
1st/2nd down: Finished chocoyaki with whipped cream; making it in the pan
3rd down: The whole family, including Otosan's sister
4th down: Hina-Matsuri alter/display
5th down: Dinner tonight; kakeudon
6th down: The little jet of water that was so surprising I just had to take a picture of it.
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Top and second down: The KJ presentations as they happened... was too busy throwing things to take pictures after.
Third down: The meeting room
Fourth down: The bento that Okasan packed... very good, as always :)
Fifth down: The computer that we were at-- no clue how to use it, though.
-- Day 8 --
Today was a very fun day, and a great introduction of my sister school. I woke up at around 6:15 after having an odd dream, and within another fifteen minutes of organizing my suitcase, Ryo was knocking on my door to get me for breakfast. Note to self: Wake up earlier!
So, after getting dressed and caring for myself, I had breakfast and managed to get to the car by 7:10 to go to school. Everything was going according to plan until I realized that I'd accidentally left my money belt at home, and that it had my JR pass inside! It was so embarrassing having to drive back to the house to get it and I couldn't apologize enough, but Okasan and Ryo both reassured me that it was OK, and that we could just take the next Shinkasen. In fact, a few students were also running late due to the heavy snow during the night, so some of the shinkansen weren't running. We managed to get there with plenty of time to spare, and Ryo and I even bought some drinks for the day.
The train ride was very fast, and the bus was waiting for us when we arrived. The seat was a little small for me, so I ended up kind of sitting on the armrest of the bus seat. It was uncomfortable, but that was okay. Kokusai Johou is actually a lot bigger than I imagined to it be, especially for 400 students; it was actually similar to Evanston or at least it felt that way to me.
The morning assembly was also slightly difficult since I was wearing a pair of borrowed slippers that were a little small for my feet. Marisa was the one set to give a speech to the student body about how grateful we were to be under their care, as she is the best student and the most adept with Japanese, so naturally, she did a fantastic job. I can't help but hope that Carlon gets a chance to give the farewell speech, since he seemed eager to speak.
After the morning assembly, all of the students from Evanston were taken to a room for presentations by the UNESCO club, who put together a presentation about their school for us. It was very well done and their English was very good! Also, at the end we did Mamemaki, and Trotter, Dennis, and Lucy volunteered to be the demons and wear the masks, although after we started throwing things at them they got cold feet and hid behind both each other and the teacher. I actually threw out my arm from all the hard throws I did!
I don't know if they had fun, but I most certainly did :D
The first class of the day was English, which was a really good time, mostly because it gave me useful Japanese to hopefully use when I get back (although I really really really don't want to leave). The next class was world history (which I would've understood nothing if it weren't for Ryo) which was interesting especially since I haven't learnt much about the world in school in a very long time... if only world history was a bit more common in American high schools.
Anyhow, after this, Ryo had PE and I had a break, so I went back to our meeting room and read Their Eyes Were Watching God for most of the time, as no one seemed to want to talk to me. So far I'm up to chapter 14... pretty far ahead, eh? I hope that's alright Mrs. Jervis! This is a really good story!
So after this, we went back up to the classroom to have lunch. By this time, I was changed into my own slippers (thank you Marshall's for the awesome discount-- these things are lifesavers for big American feet!) and we went back up the the classroom for lunch. Lunch was a bento box that Okasan packed for both Ryo and I, and everything was very delicious. Some of Ryo's friends including Misaki, whom I will shadow tomorrow, I think, gave me lots of okashi as a gift and it was much more than I could eat, so we took the rest of them back to the house to share with everyone.
Speaking of which, I had so many opportunities to speak to others today and it was such a wonderful time. I swear this is the absolute best way to improve one's Japanese-- mom and dad, if you're seeing this, please sign me up for another homestay in the future if you can! I promise I'm keeping only in Japanese, and it's becoming easier and easier to communicate with everyone. It's also especially interesting to talk to Ojisan and Obasan, since their Japanese is somewhat different somehow and they know almost no English. It's a good challenge to try and understand exactly what they're saying, and I think I'm getting better at it.
The next class was titled 情報 or 'information,' and I couldn't understand most of it. It was taught by someone Ryo described as: "The Old Man;" and according to him and Okasan, the topic of the day was actually a sort of debate over the necessity of hons over digital media. It must've been interesting. It was only towards the end of the lesson when I heard the word book that I had some sort of understanding, but either way it was held in the computer lab so at least now I know what Japanese keyboards look like!
The last class of the day was math, which also required lots of explaining since even though numbers may be the same, math terms and math in general is mostly certainly not the same (apparently Cady Heron lied... math is not the same in every language, especially Japanese). Towards the end, from looking at the teacher's diagram, I definitely understood what was happening and even got into it for a while until it was time to clean up.
In Japanese schools, students clean the entire school from top to bottom at the end of each day. There are lockers where they keep supplies for cleaning, and since there are around 400 of them in a relatively small area each person only needs to do a little bit of cleaning. I was in a group with Misaki san and some of her friends, and it was really a lot of fun getting to participate, although I was actually very slow but they didn't mind too much, I don't think. Honestly, and I'm going to get flak for saying this, I think that we should do the same in America.
After school we ended the school day by participating in Sado (Tea Ceremony Club), and it was a very wonderful ceremony. Everyone was very quiet and practiced, so the entire event went by like clockwork. At the end, I even got to do it in front of the senpai. It was so much fun! Shout out to ya'll in tea club! Keep on trucking (when was the last time someone said that, huh?)!
The ride to the station brought one more big surprise. I sat in front and across from Yuri, the student who I guest-hosted last year, and he had a card ready for me so he must've known I was coming. It was very well written, and the contents were rather personal so I'll keep them to myself, but it was wonderful getting to see him again and the card was fantastic!
Dinner was also delicious, as expected, and for dessert we had the school okashi, the leftover cream puffs, and daifuku that I had bought when I was in Yamadera and wanted to share with my host family. I also had some coffee tonight so as you can probably imagine, right now I'm buzzed enough so that I won't crash for maybe another hour. It's given me enough steam to write and finsh this blog for tonight. Until tomorrow, thanks for tuning in!
Sixth, seventh, and eight: photos from Tea Ceremony. Last one is of the okashi which was a kind of daiku, I think. It melts in your mouth!
Bottom: Dinner tonight. No other remarks... sorry :/
-- Day 9 --
Today was a great day! I know that this is getting redundant but saying otherwise would be a lie. Tosay, I woke up a little early after having a dream and recording it in my journal. I think tonight is the last night for recording my dreams, but Japan time leaves me unsure. Either way, onto the days activites.
We had to leave early to day, as soon as possible, because it was snowing really hard, and therefore the trains would be late and the ensuing traffic jam would be less than helpful. Even though we did leave earlier than usual, we still got caught up in traffic and it was maybe half an hour to forty five minutes (I think... it did feel that long, at least) before we got to the station and even longer afterwards because the trains were running late.
After a while, we got to the school at about the same time as yesterday, and I was fourth from last to arrive. The morning was spent drinking tea and waiting for 2nd period to start, because during first period almost everyday, the students must take a mini test in order to see how they're doing with their understanding. While on the school bus, train, and waiting for class to start, I finished Their Eyes Were Watching God, which was really a fantastic read. The ending was also really surprising, and I certainly didn't expect it to pan out the way that it actually did. Thanks Mrs. Jervis! This was a really great book!
Today, we actually met up with our guest hosts. I had met mine on Sunday through Ryo's suggestion-- he actually called her and let us talk and introduce ourselves on Sunday night -- and Misaki was a wonderful guide today! Our first class was classical Japanese literature, during which I learned how to write several kanji, and found out that the story they were reading was about a horse and not a fish (fish and horse kanji look similar from a distance) that was always the best at races, but there weren't always human racing experts around. It sounded kind of like an allegorical cautionary tale, but we didn't get far enough for me to be completely sure.
Next was a break where I mostly did nothing... no wifi meant no homework and I definitely tried my hardest to get ahold of it but to no avail.
Chemistry was next and Ryo told me that the teacher's voice makes everyone feel sleepy and he certainly wasn't kidding. I almost nodded off a few times but kept myself awake by writing kanji for the period. Next was lunch I think (I'm sure I'm missing something I'm sorry my memory is very foggy right now) and although the food was delicious and fresher than at ETHS, I do still think that Okasan's bento is superior to it any day.
After lunch, we had music class. At first I was a little disappointed, because I had heard that Ryo was going to calligraphy and since I'd done pretty much nothing but write kanji all day I'd wanted a chance to learn how to write calligraphy, but all that changed when we met the teacher. I swear she is a riot-- one of the most interesting teachers that I've ever met. She was very excited to have us ETHS students in her class and made sure to utilize how various talents at every possible opportunity. I sang in front of the class twice, once in Japanese and once in English, Emmet played piano in a sort of music battle (though to be honest, I liked Moe's Beethoven solo better than his waltz) and Lulu and I sang a duet to end the class. It was such a wonderful time. Between all of this, we also got to pair up and work on making player paper for these little music boxes. It was so amazing getting to do that... ETHS, please buy some of these things for the music program! It would really help with learning how to read music for beginners (like me,). I will start a kickstarter for it if I have to!
Next we had time to practice our presentations, and during that time since Uriah had a hotspot and space for wifi was limited, I let Brenden use my chromebook to work while I played Never Have I Ever with one of the groups that formed. There will be plenty of time for that after tomorrow.
After I helped to clean the stairs like I did yesterday, Ryo, his friend, and I walked to the shinkansen station because the bus was too crowded to ride, so we raced each other by throwing snowballs for motivation. I hope I manage to improve my aim while I'm here, because I know at home I'm a terrible shot. After we got off the shinkansen, we had a wait a while since Okasan was stuck in traffic to pick Ryo, Aya, and I up, so we had some snacks while we waited and I used a 5000 yen bill at the convenience store to get some smaller change. Like I said before future trippers: save your coinage! You go through it very quickly with all the vending machines around here!
The ride home was very long and bumpy, but it was still a good time. I felt a bit out of sorts and exhausted, but nobody seemed to mind that. When we got back to the house, I bathed, had dinner (which was a little bit difficult to eat since it was a whole fish and therefore had lots of tiny bones) but everything was delicious!
I'm too tired to keep going... more tomorrow when I'm back from Ueda Koko!
-- Day 10 --
Today was a pretty good day, all things considering. I woke up at around 6 this morning, due to the fact that we'd be dealing with heavy snow, and that causes traffic jams on the commuting hours. Yesterday, this did happen too, but today it was very noticeable. Apparently this is Okasan's first time driving in such weather, but she did a good job!
It was a little difficult to understand their instructions on what to do during the day, but the morning was spent mostly doing nothing but waiting for the shinkansen. I bought some snacks at one of the shops in the station, including Kame sours, vanilla Melty-Kisses, and Pringles-like chips that are super addicting to the point of asking someone else to hold them so I don't eat them all. The train ride was pretty easy, and the only major hiccup was when we reached Urasa, I didn't realize that we had to get off of the train to switch between cars (in Japan, train cars are attached in groups of two, so I had to run between cars while Ryo told me what to do from a distance because I was running far away to get to the right train. However, in the end it worked out fine.
After I found my group, I mostly did nothing until we got off, where I was so engrossed in my thoughts I didn't realize we were getting off until the very last minute, so I was a gaijin-mess getting off of the train. It was a miricle that I didn't forget anything on the train! While waiting for the next one, I got some canned onion soup from a vending machine, which was really delicious. I wish that we had stuff like that in the states.
Anywho, after we arrived at Ueda station, there was a huge familiar looking group holding up signs for us and we were all really awkward at first but that faded after about en minutes of introductions. It was a really odd sensation getting to talk with people that you've only exchanged texts and comments with in a completely digital setting, but we got the hang of it after a while. I really enjoyed getting to talk with the red team, which was a wonderful little friendship clique of girls who all really like Marisa and and I think maybe liked me, but that's besides the point. We spent the first half hour or so playing icebreakers with the students, which was pretty uneventful, but informative. The only real problem was that as per the norm, I'm terrible at remembering names, so I knew their general interests and traits, but not their names. It was really embarrassing, but I don't think that they minded too much.
After that, we went to a mall and played from arcade games. It was a lot of fun since Japan really steps up it's game when it comes to air hockey. I totally sucked, but it was still pretty interesting. After that, we went to a lovely soba restaurant that was very delicious, and I got to try not only Ueda's famous soba noodles, but also ohagi, which is a sweet, sticky rice ball covered in what I think in a cinnamon and butter mixture. Either way it was super good and when I come home I totally want to try and learn how to make it!
After this, we made some cards as presents for the teachers that were behind the Schoology posts, and I spent the entire half hour trying to make mine look pretty that it was mostly blank by the time that we needed to leave, but either way I'm really pleased with it. It was difficult, but the payoff of satisfaction was well worth it.
Commuting home was a breeze, except for the lack of wifi which meant that I couldn't do my homework for much of it. For some reason offline mode was being really screwy with me so I was struggling to edit the documents that needed editing. It was also a little difficult to read the textbook for Psychology, but after we got home I managed to finish most of it.
Speaking of which, the commute home was a nightmare. As I mentioned before, じゅたい, or traffic jams, occur often around here in the winter due to the ample snow and difficulty which said snow causes the train system. So, as you can imagine, that many people being without train commute created quite a bit of traffic. It took us perhaps an hour and a half to get from the station to the bridge, and from then on we realized that we would be at a standstill for a long time so I jokingly suggested that we get out and walk because it would be faster, and wouldn't you know it we actually did. Aya, Ryo and I all walked to the house within 10 minutes and poor Okasan was stuck in traffic for another hour!
Dinner was pretty quiet, since both Okasan and Otosan were stuck in traffic, and I had eaten a lot of snacks between lunch and dinner so I wasn't very hungry... I felt bad turning down some of the food but they understood. I was super exhausted after dinner, so I chugged two cups of coffee and got to work on my homework on the kotatsu.
Too tired... long day tomorrow. I'm really sorry for the lack of pictures... I'm just too tired to put them in.
-- Day 11 --
Today was a pretty good day, all things considering. I woke up at my usual time, 6:00, perhaps (I don't actually know-- I didn't check the clock then) and everyone had already beaten me to the punch! The night before, I had asked if I could just have onigiri for breakfast since I figured we might be in a bit of a rush to leave like yesterday but alas, there was time, so I helped myself to some yogurt and water before heading out for the day.
Traffic today was similar to yesterday, no doubt on account of the mountains of snow we've been getting, but things were a little bit faster today than they were yesterday and for whatever reason, Okasan dropped us off in a hotel parking lot and we walked to the shinkansen station from there (for perspective, we could see the building's front doors from there) but all was fine and we were on the train in no time at all.
The train ride was pretty uneventful since I was still working on some of my homework, in particular the contract for this unit of Psychology... and as of tonight I'm officially caught up and relieved. I was quite nervous about completing everything yesterday but as they always say, don't make a mountain out of a molehill.
Getting to school, things were a little odd as the meeting room where we usually are was divided in half by a divider (in fact, it took me until after we got back to notice it) and the tables were rearranged to practice giving and working on our presentations. It's stupid, but doing presentations have always freaked me out, even though this time there's no serious grade attached-- just the opinion of our sister school, but impressing native Japanese is no easy task especially when they know you can speak Japanese, but I think I'll be OK, at least I hope so.
Anyways, getting back to the topic at hand: today KJ planned a trip to Uonuma for us! Not even sensei knew what we were to be doing-- just that we had to leave by 9:30 and that we did. The tour guide was very friendly and engaging on the drive over (when he wasn't talking about Uonuma I worked on homework) and in no time we were at our first stop: someplace I don't remember the name of but is very culturally significant. It's the main road for the town, if I remember correctly.
We made stops in plenty of the little shops and even a place with what I think was a Buddhist monk in prayer. Hina-matsuri sets were everywhere today; even at the sake shop we looked at from a distance and totally did not go into at all. I didn't buy anything around there because we both A. Ran out of time and B. There wasn't anything in particular that I wanted.
After that we drove out to a lovely little ryokan and had a tour of that. It was apparently very historic and at the very least was very hospitable and beautiful. I even got to walk around outside in the biggest shoes that they had-- which although made of woven straw were very impressively watertight.
Next was lunch and since I was tagging along with the others the group got intrigued by a picture of pizza and so for lunch we had our American food for the first time in almost two weeks which was very odd. I don't miss American food all that much, but the pizza and the gratin that we had we distinctly somehow Japanese-- very good and unexpectedly so.
After that we went shopping, and unfortunately for my Kit-Kat search the supermarket turned up nothing of interest so I think I've exhausted the local varieties for this trip. Hopefully Narita airport will have more of what I'm after :3
Getting back to school was pretty quiet, and the real trouble of the day was giving presentations, and it took me until the moment my group started rehearsing in front of the class to remember how much I absolutely despise presenting things... thank goodness it's senior year and probably my last year for doing such things (and don't you dare burst my bubble in the comments-- I'm fine living in ignorance). I'm going to practice a bit more to get the years of my presentation down as that's what slowed me down the most during our practice. Hopefully tomorrow will go well.
The car ride home was plagued by じゅたい, and I was pretty tired until we made it home for dinner. As I'm writing this, I've got a big bowl of oranges to the left and a big bowl of okashi to the right, as Obasan is intent on feeding me. When I sat down at the table to start writing, she also moved the heater into the kitchen for me and recommended that I switch seats to be closer to the heater. She is the sweetest little old lady I've ever met!
Anyhow, I think it's time to hit the hay. Note to self: you'll do good tomorrow. I don't care what you tell yourself you'll do fine! Make your last day with your host family a good one and seize each and every opportunity you have with these amazing people!
-- Day 12--
Although this was not my last official day with my host family I promise that I'll miss them very much. Today was a wonderful last day at KJ and with my host family, especially since they've been so accomadating and kind to take me in and care for me as if I were one of their own. My thankfulness can't be easily put into words, but I tired my hardest to explain it in my thank you note to them. I apologize in advance if my Japanese is terrible in that note and I hope you don't read this until after I'm gone, as I'm trying to make the note a surprise. If you read this before you see the note, pretend that you didn't and think about Momotaro's Obasan catching the peach with a frog and going back to her home in Daiso.
Anywho, onto what has happened and why this has been a wonderful day.
The commute today was pretty par for the course, nothing out of the ordinary that I can remember. I worked a lot on my presentation on the train, speaking bits and pieces while writing out what I wanted to say in English, which was pretty easy and my preferred method of preparation.
After we got to school, we had some time in the morning to ourselves since the small test of the day meant we couldn't be with our students, and the English teacher brought in a bunch of snack for us as a thank you for all the hard work and helping his students practice. Everything was very delicious and I spent much of the morning just rehearsing my parts so I wouldn't seize up like I did yesterday. I also started to write my host family's thank you letter to get it out of the way for tonight so I wouldn't be scrambling to finish it tonight.
Thankfully, my group wasn't the first presenting, but due to a couple of absences, we ended up going second. I wasn't upset or nervous when we got up to the front of the room. I was more nervous for the others in my group since I knew that they either hadn't practiced or hadn't finished their slides due to time constraints and a lack of wifi. All in all, I think I had okay with my Japanese. I definitely got the point across with all of my pictures, I think. According to some I was one of the better people in my group, so I guess I should just be grateful for that and move on. Either way, everyone else's presentations were a whole lot of fun!
Also, the interesting thing about today was that we were presenting in bunches of two groups at a time, due to the fact that between them, there were groups of KJ students who had prepared presentations for us, and we had to split with our groups and judge their English level, ease of understanding, and how interesting their presentations were. Many of them are coming to Chicago in March. The interesting thing is that like many of us, they were constantly buried in their scripts. I imagine many of them were quite nervous about presenting to Americans, but I imagine that since I know that Lucy was being pretty forgiving in her evaluation, they'll feel better about me being more realistic. It was more just their projection and comfort that needed work, not their English. That was honestly the most interesting part of all of them-- I could very easily understanding what they were talking about and there was usually at least one person in the group who was either enthusiastic or knew exactly what they were going to say, and that in it of itself s impressive since recently my own confidence has taken a dive and I feel less sure of my Japanese ability now than I did before.
However, that's neither here nor there. After two rotations of presentations and a nearly coma inducing hunger, I enjoyed a very delicious bento from Okasan that included a hamburger that was very much like a meatloaf, an orange, rice, pickled daikon, potatoes with carrots, and tamago yaki! Everything was so good... I swear I'm not ready to go back to unhealthy American food. Honestly, if I were eating at my usual amount, doing the things I'm doing everyday, I'd probably have lost a fair amount of weight on this trip. Everything is delicious, don't get me wrong, but recently I've felt more compelled to have some of everything as to not be rude, and that leads to some pretty full stomachs D:
After lunch, we went to have a break between lunch and our next class, which was a nice nice opportunity to finish my note and practice writing kanji some more. After our break, we went to class, which happened to be pretty difficult since it was advanced Japanese that even some of the best couldn't follow along to. So, I spent most of that class trying to write kanji and chatting with the girl ahead of Ryo (also named Aya), who was too exhausted to do much at the time aside from rest.
After class, we had our farewell speech, and here was the absolute worst part of my day, because I was told that people would be crying since no one actually wants to say good bye to KJ, and I'll be honest I didn't expect to be the one crying. I broke down twice because the realization hit me that I had actually made it to Japan and was talking and making friends with Japanese students and it was all just too much for me. They were tears of joy, though, and it was very small, so I didn't mind and neither did anyone else.
The day was pretty quiet after that, and after walking to the station and getting off at Tsubame-Sanjo for the last time, Ojisan and Aya were there waiting for us, and everyone was outside. We ended up going to a conveyor-belt sushi restaurant! It was all such an amazing surprise as I hadn't expected the conveyor belt part and was really enthusiastic about the whole thing. It was amazing to be able to have some good sushi as a meal since I hadn't had much of it whilst here and wanted to have some before I left for the states. Everything was delicious, and I definitely ate more than my fill.
Then we went home and had cake to celebrate such a great week-- I got to try strawberry flavored cake, and it did not disappoint me in the least.
Anyhow, this has all been an amazing and tiring day. More pictures to come, and even though I'm getting behind on that, I'll try to catch up by tomorrow. Thanks for tuning in, and until tomorrow have a good Friday!
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