Alfredo

2/25/17・Reflection

Skii day! Before going to Japan, my host brother asked me if I would do his favorite thing to do in Niigata, skiing. I have never skied before and saw this as another opportunity to test my ability to comprehend Japanese as I had asked my host brother to teach me in Japanese. We left the house at around 9:30 and met up with a friend from school. Once at the skii resort, we met up with some more friends and we shared a great time.

Since it was my first time, it was a given that I would fall quite a bit and would consequently get at least one bruise. At home, I witnessed Japanese hospitality as my mother rushed to find something to put on my small bruise even though I insisted that I was fine.

As we were warming up, I chose to do homework alongside my brothers. As soon as my younger brother finished my mother told me that I he had something to say and wanted to practice his English. He presented me with gifts from the entire family. He told me that they were giving me a special candy that is known for coming from Niigata and he wanted me to give it to my family back in America. Later that evening, my host mother asked me what I wanted to eat as my last dinner in Japan. I explained to them that the first Japanese food I had in the states was Udon and it would be a pleasure to experience genuine Japanese udon with them. As we ate, I saw how similar the entire family was to my own. Daisuke, my host brother, was very much like me, he was quiet and reserved in school at school bet goofy when he got comfortable with his friends and family he acted goofy. His mother was a lot like mine, learning English and sees their child as a socially inept intelligent student.

On the ride home, I realized something. I was able to understand almost everything my host family was saying to each other. I found that through sight seeing and talking to random people on trains and on the streets opened my ears to what a native speaker sounds day to day, but unlike the homestay portion of the trip, these interaction were often cut short as we had to move on. By interacting with my family I gained the ability to hear the several sentenced, identify the grammar pattern, recognize the words I know, and identify the words I didn't in a short time. The immersion I experienced on this trip gave me a sense as to what true fluency in Japanese sounds like and I do not see how else I would have understood this without this trip.

2/24/17

I think that today was the first day I was fully comfortable in Japan. Up this point I would periodically wake up in the middle of the night, but today I today I slept a full 10 hours. As I went through, all of the Japanese customs and saying came naturally and I did not need to think about them and I just did what I was supposed to. I think that this was a turning point of the home stay experience and is why it is so valuable, after experiencing Japanese life first hand, I began to gain a good understanding of it of it as a whole.

Right after lunch, I met up with some of my newly made friends from school. We met up to travel to Nagaoka to some shopping as I had told my student my host brother to go shopping with him. On the train there, I had a revealing moment in which I realized how similar he and I were. As we got bored, we both simultaneously both fogged up the window and began doodling. I then asked him what music he listened to and he talked about how he likes Hardwell and electronic music, just like me. From here he began introducing me to different Japanese artists.

After spending the day shopping, my host family took me to go eat soba with family friends of them. This put me in a place where I had to use my knowledge of Japanese to communicate with them since they knew very little English. This went very well as I was able to have a full conversation with them about comparing the weather in Niigata and Chicago.

On the way home, my host mother and brother were discussing where to take me to for some last minute candy purchasing. The settled their argument with some "Jan ken pon"(Japanese rock paper scissors). After seeing it transpire, I asked them to teach me the chant that goes along with it and they did. We went to a super market and there I asked my host family to tell me what their favorite candies were so I could share them with my family back home.

2/23/17

Today I was awoken once again by the licks of our dog Shiro. This family has really accepted me into their family and I am trying to forget the fact that I am leaving soon. During school, befriended an exchange student from New Zealand. He assisted me in learning some of the slang that other student where using. After going to a few classes, we had to give our presentation to the ~60 KJ students. I was not that worried since I had my brother read through my script and correct a few small errors to make it sound more natural.

After all of the presentations have ended, I went to English class. While the KJ students talked in English, I spoke in Japanese, and I found that after spending over a week in my ability to think and speak in Japanese had drastically increased.

Upon arriving from school, my host mother told me that we were going out to eat. We went to go eat Japanese BBQ and it was delicious. There we conversed about the foods I eat in the U.S. They were astounded by the idea of me having tried eating cactus before.

2/22/17

I woke up to find Shiro, the dog, licking my face. I like dogs very much and enjoyed the sensation. My host mother told me that Shiro loves me very much and spent the entire night crying outside of my room.

Later, the other trippers and I finally went to the elusive KJ. I spent most of the day shadowing my host brother throughout the day. My favorite class was obviously math. Because of my strong foundation in math, I could focus less on the actual math and more on the language being used to describe the math. It was interesting to witness their focus on quick mental math.

After school, my brother showed me around the school to look at the various clubs. We met up with some of friends at the kendo practice and Noah, Jeff, and I learned a bit. On our way back home, I conversed with my brothers group of friends and I myself felt like I had become their friends as we began joking around and and sharing personal information as I do with my friends back at home. As we walked from the train station home, my host brother and I talked about college and the ridiculousness that is college prices in the U.S.

2/21/17

I finally met my host family today. At first I was quite saddened by the idea of leaving the other trippers as we had formed close bonds for the past week, and I was worried because of the fact that I would speak little to no English for the next few days but I then realized that I was going to be part of a new family, my host family.

They made a sign for me so I knew who they were and they are some of the kindest people I have ever met. My host brother, Daisuke and his younger brother Yuuki taught me how to play call of duty, a little bit western, but still a great experience to share with them and a great bonding opportunity. As we were finishing playing, my host mother asked me if I had any siblings. This transitioned to me giving them my photo album as she wanted to see a picture of them after I told them that they are twins. After spending some time showing my host family my photo album, I told them that it was a gift for them to keep and that I had other gifts to give them. I proceeded to give them the candy and key chains that I brought for them and found out that my host mother loves the chocolates I brought for her.

As we were eating dinner, my host mother wanted to know more about my family back in the U.S. As soon as I told her that they are from Mexico, she brought up Donald Trump and we bonded over the fact that Japanese people and Mexicans both dislike him very much.

P.S. I might not be taking and posting as many pictures as I find it awkward to pull out my camera and would rather spend time talking and interacting with them.

2/20/17

Will add info soon

2/19/17

Today was all about traveling around Kyoto. We started our day by visiting the To-Ji temple. Here we met up with Mary Ann, an ex tripper from 2007.

We then went to Kitano Tenmangu Shrine. Here we got to rub the nose of stone bull, which according to locals, brings good fortune.

Our next stop was Nijo-jinya and Nijo Castle. We were not allowed to take pictures inside of either so, no pics for you.

Our last sight seeing location was Fushimi Inari Shrine.

2/18/17

Today we took a day trip to Nagoya. We first went to Shirakawa-go, the World Heritage Site and from there we went to Gokayama to see a night light-up.

At Gokayama, we not only saw the light-up display, but we also saw a traditional dance and music performance.

2/17/17

Trains! Most of the day today was used to travel via 4 different trains from Nagano to Kyoto.

After we dropped out bags at the ryokan, we took a train to kyoto station to go around and walked around The CUBE, a shopping mall right outside the station.

2/16/17

Today was a relaxing day. After having breakfast provided by the ryokan we set out on an amazing journey... to take baths. The hotel gave us all access to the 9 onsens, Japanese hot spring baths, so we went around and tried them all.

2/15/17

Today was moving say as we had to leave the youth hostile and take a few trains to a Ryokan in Nagano. At the station I bought my first Bento Box, a simmered clam rice bento, to eat in the Shinkansen(Bullet Train) .

After leaving our bags at the Ryokan we left to the Jigokudani Monkey Park to see the monkeys!!! I got some great pictures of Victor especially in which it looks like that there is a monkey on top of his head.

At the ryokan, we wonder around traditional yukata. We ended the day by eating a giant multi course meal provided by the hotel and afterwards my roommates and I ended the day by watching some weird Japanese television.

2/14/17

Today we saw more of the historical and culturally significant parts of Tokyo. We started our day by taking a few trains to Ueno Park. The first thing we did here was look at the Tokyo National Museum and we were given the task of finding a piece of work that we connect to. I found a set of rocks titled "Stones with Sutra Text". I connected to this one because it reminded me of my childhood as me and my cousins in Mexico would go into a grove, write on rocks with sharpie and then hide them around. We then went to the Toshogu shrine and the Botan Garden, which were also in the park.

After this we were given the opportunity to explore around Ueno station saw some very interesting street vendors. Afterwards we took a train to go see Sensou-ji, a large temple, as well as explore that area.

After dinner at the Hostel, we went to the top of the Tokyo and got attuning view of the city.

2/13/17

My day started at 5:30 am as that was when my internal clock decided to wake me up. Breakfast didn't begin until 7 am. After eating, eggs, nado, rice, and croquette we headed out to see a park to see plum blossoms. At the station of our destination we stopped to get some delicious roasted sweet potato from a street vendor.

The entire park was beautiful and had a strong scent of plums. At the park we got a free sample of plum tea and a few classmates ended up getting interviewed for Japanese national television.

Our next stop was the Harajuku, a shopping district in Tokyo. Here we split up into small groups and got to explore the area. Some of us went to to the go see the Meiji shrine while others chose to spend more time shopping. As we were leaving, we found a wig shop where Mr. Vankrey was convinced to buy a wig. We then took a train to LaQua, a small amusement park located in the middle of Tokyo, and rode a on a Ferris wheel, giving us an amazing view of the city.

After dinner at the Youth Hostile, final event of the day was viewing an evening light up at Caretta Illuminations.

2/11/17-2/12/17

Today is the daylong awaited day. I stayed up fairly late last night to make sure I was fully prepared for the trip as well as work on my site report and photo album for my host family. I ran into some trouble this morning as I could not find my passport and scrambled last minutes to find it, causing me to arrive at the airport right at 9, the schedule meet up time. At the airport I was one of the lucky trippers who received TSA pre-check and thus had a smooth entering into the airport. I got some amazing pictures of Evan and Katie Jane at the gate.

Two hours into flight I finished Kurt Vonnegut’s Cat’s Cradle and began to play with the in-flight entertainment system. I found a really weird iteration of checkers called Jelly checkers and played it for a bit with Daniel(I won). At around hour 4 of the flight of the thirteen hour flight I began to do a bit of the work I need to make up for the classes I am missing, totally worth it though.

Once at the airport we were left in awe at the sight of the amount of kanji all around. We had to wait for a bit and in this time we found some vending machines to begin our snacking. Bellow is a picture of Victor with a corn flavored soda. It was surprisingly delicious.

We changed our money to yen at the currency exchange location in the airport and there, we were offered pre-made origami. It was in the airport that I ate my first Japanese meal... from 711. It wasn't much, but it was quite delicious.

2/1/2017

There are 10 days left until the trip and my excitement continues to grow. I have already packed most of my own belongings, but still need to figure out what I am going to give the people I meet such as my host family.