Although it was never clearly stated as to what the lyrics to this song truly meant it’s hard to deny that truer words have never been spoken… at least when it comes to the weekend I spent with a Japanese host family. Now one of the nice options about a program like JCMU is that you are given a choice between signing on for a full time home stay or they have what’s called a weekend home stay. The weekend home stay entails of one weekend starting on Friday evening and lasting till Sunday at any given time designated by the host family and the hostee in which 2,000 odd yen (just over $25 in the US) will allow you the experience of a true Japanese family. In most cases this host family and the student get along well and meet up for lunch among other things on occasion, in my case however, I became Japanese if only for a little bit and received my very own Japanese family.
The weekend started off without a hitch. The family came to pick me up including host mother and the two boys, dad being a typical Japanese business man he was rarely seen at the house. The house was amazing, even more so by Japanese standards and I quickly found myself becoming at home as well as at ease with the family as we ate a dinner entitled “shabu shabu.”A dish hailing from Korea it is meat and veggies and noodles placed into a large pot of boiling water in the middle of the table and allows the whole family to participate as they uniquely create their own food with a choice of sauces and soups placed in front of them as well. We ate and chatted to our hearts content and afterwards we discussed plans for the weekend and ate the cake I’d bought as a souvenir/thank you gift for the family.
Saturday morning came and we discussed the day’s plans over breakfast. We decided we’d head over to a historical town nearby where we’d stop off at a famous café known for its amazing views as well as neat little pasta dishes for lunch before riding the rope train to the top of the mountain to view the castle ruins. Upon reaching the top of the mountain I was greeted with an amazing view of the Shiga prefecture and it’s surroundings as well as a step into the past with the ruins and the temple that lay there in its stead. After spending some time traversing the steps and taking in the great view we walked around the rest of the old merchant town which was like stepping back in time into a more historical Japan. A quick visit to another famous café known for its fresh banbuku pan and with a sweet treat in my stomach it was time to head home for a make your own sushi night comparable to that of taco night in the states.
Sunday included another look into a different time in history and a trip to a traditional Japanese onsen. Onsen translates to Japanese bath and for those of you who don’t know what a Japanese bathhouse is like let me give you a shortened and somewhat biased description. First you step into a locker room like that in any YMCA stateside where you will begin to take off all of your clothing. You are given a towel about the size of a hand towel for a purpose I never honestly figured out. We are greeted by showers and several other women sitting in about a foot or two of steaming hot water complete with birthday suits all bantering away happily. Now if you are Japanese you might get a glance from the other woman as you pass them by to first shower and then place yourself inside the warm waters to soak. If, however, you happen to be a lanky blonde like myself you will be greeted with gazes of awe struck silence upon your arrival. Welcome to Japan! Once they get used to your presence the stairs tend to die down and you too can enjoy the relaxed feeling that comes from being in two feet of water heated by volcanic rocks beneath the surface to such a degree that it will cause your skin to wrinkle within minutes and one must be weary of the fainting that is caused from overheating. Follow the Japanese lead correctly, though, and you are brought the relaxation of a lifetime as the stress and tension in your muscles literally melt away.
As my onsen experience ended my time with my family was slowly dwindling. Before I left them however I was told that I was always welcome back to visit that the boys had a blast I was even regarded as “onee-chan” once which in English translates to older sister. As I was saying goodbye I was told that this would always be my very own Japanese family…
Friday, November 5, 2010
Monday, October 4, 2010
Mountain Madness
We'd (somehow) made it through the monotony that was the week with only 3 days of classes and the struggle to focus in each one of them. It was finally the weekend. A time for relaxation, unwinding, catching up and just doing whatever. Friday night we decided to go out and have a sort of goodbye party for one of our good friends that would soon be leaving the dorms due to the fact that she was going to a home stay. It's not as if she was leaving us forever but we just wanted her to know that no matter where she went she was always welcome back to hang out. The night consisted of food, beer, and good friends. Saturday, however, is where the real adventure takes place.
That morning we woke up only slightly later than usual and decided to get ready for a long day of bike riding and mountain hiking. It took us a little longer than expected due to some minor set backs, being that one among us was not in the greatest of physical conditions and had never really ridden a bike so far before, but we made it 7 miles or so outside Hikone's city limits and into the mountain side. We stopped along the way at a rather large looking temple where we decided on a group shot. Afterwards we stumbled across an abandoned looking house with an old train car dumped in the field nearby. Being the explorer that I am, I went to go take a look at the rickety old thing. Inside was piled with countless old items that date back, if I had to guess, to the time during World War II. A few snapshots later and we were at a river with giant rocks poking out of its glistening clean and chilled waters. We climbed around on the rocks for a bit grabbing a quick bite of some snacks we'd brought with us for the trip and had a mini photo session with some of the better cameras. It was gorgeous to be able and enjoy what was the Disneyland of the natural world. After we'd had our fun it was time to head back and hit the books for the rough week ahead. But it was nice to put a small, costless adventure under our belts and we now had a spot in which we could easily visit anytime during the weekend and bring a picnic lunch and just enjoy the beauty and wonder of the Japanese natural world.
Sunday, September 26, 2010
If The Giant Tanuki Don't Get You, The Ninja's Will...
After our bout in Tokyo we were thankful for a short school week ahead since Thursday (after only two days of classes) was another National Holiday in Japan. We'd had a field trip planned for us by the staff here at JCMU to go to a pottery village to the East of Hikone called Shigarakeshi. So we were jostled from sleep at 7 that morning to board the bus and head an hour away to the village of the pottery artisans. Upon arriving we noticed a trend. Giant Tanuki statues. Tanuki are these raccoon looking animals that are believed to be guardian spirits of the Japanese faith. They were literally every where you looked in this village. You couldn't take two steps one way or another without seeing a line of Tanuki's, and giant one's at that, scattered about. As we reached our destination we were given the choice of cup or plate and a paintbrush with which to decorate with. I had quickly decided to paint mine with polka dots only to find that the curvature of a cup did not allow for the paint to settle and dots turned into streaks very quickly. So I gave up and smeared a wide array of colors around the surface and interior of the cup calling it my piece of modern art. After we finished decorating we were told we had until noon time to get some lunch and board the bus as we would head to our next destination. With next to nothing to see in the village we went to the gift shops and looked for what the Japanese call "Omiyage!!" Bought a small something, it's a pottery turtle and it's painted orange. I bought it for no other reason than that I thought it was cute and it was relatively cheap as well.
After shopping we went to a noodle stand to grab some lunch and wound up with the majority of our group crammed into this tiny little shop, possibly making the quota for the shop keepers for that day with how many people we'd brought. They looked a little frazzled but excited to have so many costumers in their shop as well since we took up all the seats available. After our meal there was nothing left to see or do so we boarded the bus and waited until the trip began for the next destination.
Half an hour drive later we arrived at the Ninjutsu village where we were greeted by men dressed in all black. The first one took our group over to the first house in the village where he began to explain about the ladders, weaponry, and all things that the ninjas of real day history used to use. We then went on to explore some of the traps they would've used and learned the history of what the village that we'd come to visit. Turns out ninja's really did exist and that was once a village in which they'd stayed. After that though things started to get what I'd refer to as touristy as we were told we were going to be put through ninja training. We were given three tasks to complete. The first scale a rock wall, easy done. Second: balance on a ledge and walk across it to the other side. Again not too difficult. Last task we were given was to climb the bamboo wall with hashed footholds in it. Also not too difficult. The difficulty came in on the "surprise" task that everyone had seen upon entering. Walk across water... If it sounds a little biblical than perhaps that will convey the shock on my face when I was told that is what we were going to do as their Japanese translated literally into "walking on water..." It was made a little more clearly and a little easier by that fact that we were given raft like foot holds in which we placed our feet and used a rope to glide across the water. After we'd completed all these tasks we were given little green scrolls and told these were our ninja certificates, many of us joked that we'd just been given a license to kill. We were sent to the gift shop and from there we called it a day, making a comical and exhausting end to our day off.
After shopping we went to a noodle stand to grab some lunch and wound up with the majority of our group crammed into this tiny little shop, possibly making the quota for the shop keepers for that day with how many people we'd brought. They looked a little frazzled but excited to have so many costumers in their shop as well since we took up all the seats available. After our meal there was nothing left to see or do so we boarded the bus and waited until the trip began for the next destination.
Half an hour drive later we arrived at the Ninjutsu village where we were greeted by men dressed in all black. The first one took our group over to the first house in the village where he began to explain about the ladders, weaponry, and all things that the ninjas of real day history used to use. We then went on to explore some of the traps they would've used and learned the history of what the village that we'd come to visit. Turns out ninja's really did exist and that was once a village in which they'd stayed. After that though things started to get what I'd refer to as touristy as we were told we were going to be put through ninja training. We were given three tasks to complete. The first scale a rock wall, easy done. Second: balance on a ledge and walk across it to the other side. Again not too difficult. Last task we were given was to climb the bamboo wall with hashed footholds in it. Also not too difficult. The difficulty came in on the "surprise" task that everyone had seen upon entering. Walk across water... If it sounds a little biblical than perhaps that will convey the shock on my face when I was told that is what we were going to do as their Japanese translated literally into "walking on water..." It was made a little more clearly and a little easier by that fact that we were given raft like foot holds in which we placed our feet and used a rope to glide across the water. After we'd completed all these tasks we were given little green scrolls and told these were our ninja certificates, many of us joked that we'd just been given a license to kill. We were sent to the gift shop and from there we called it a day, making a comical and exhausting end to our day off.
Saturday, September 25, 2010
Tokyo Nights
It was our first extended weekend vacation and we'd been thinking about what to do for several days in advance. My roommate Delia knew for fact that she was going to Tokyo to meet up with some of her friends from Ireland and I decided that it was a good opportunity for me to see the city lights and nights that were so infamous in Tokyo. So that Friday after our test we packed up our stuff and got ready for a four day vacation to what would soon become the biggest adventure of our lives. We grabbed a train ticket to Tokyo after explaining several times that we just wanted the rapid and not the bullet train to Tokyo since we didn't want to pay over $100 to get there. After we boarded our first train, then our second, then our third, and fourth and so on we soon realized we may not have been finding the rapids. Instead we had ridden the local access trains all the way to Tokyo. What should've only taken 5 odd hours or so to get there took us more around 12 hours instead. As we arrived sometime around midnight we tried to find our hostel which was located in the Asakusa prefecture, or no man's land Tokyo as I liked to refer to it. After walking in the wrong direction for a good 15 minutes our weakened bodies and minds decided it best to dish out an extra $12 and take a taxi to our destination. We grabbed our free welcome drink and chatted up with the locals hanging out at the bar in our hostel before using the computer to notify everyone that we'd arrived and going off to bed.
The next day consisted of a trip to the Imperial Palace in Tokyo. Local access is pretty much blocked off so we got a distant view of the place but an up close and personal with the gardens located around it. After watching Delia's Irish friend offend the Japanese people in some of the worst possible ways (Ie: walking in the little water streams with out his shoes on in a place that strictly forbids it) we decided to leave the Imperial palace and make our way over to Akihabara electronics capital of the world. Now for those who know a little about Japan and Akihabara you know it's infamous for a strip that contains nothing but an anime lovers, manga readers, gamers fantasy. A street designated to everything that is anime, manga, and gaming. We checked out the giant 9 level sega play house awed by the employees cosplay choices (of which we were not aloud to take pictures of) But to give you an image picture school girl uniform and blue hair (for some this may sound like the familiar vocaloid miku, you'd be correct) another with bright pink hair and a maid's costume on. In the gaming world this is acceptable just as it is accepted in the district of Harajuku (a place known for the people that come to dress up and hang out on a bridge, also known for it's incredible shopping, just ask Gwen Stefani, she rather liked it). As the night grew nearer we knew that we had wanted to go to a club in Japan, and not just any club, a club that had been rated in a magazine for it's infamy some time before according to Delia's friend Eoghen. So before we did that we met up with an old Japanese friend of Delia's that had studied abroad in Michigan during her high school years. We sat, ate and drank with Miri and her parents who had hosted Delia during a stay in Japan prior to this. We met the infamous bar owner Masta and ate some of the most delicious and wonderful Japanese food we'd ever tried before.None of it did we pay for as the Japanese way to be awesome hosts is to treat the guest so Miri's mother and Father fit the bill and we continued on with the night with the idea of going to Karaoke in mind. As we got to the Karaoke bar we were checking out prices when all of a sudden several of us were pulled into a room with a bunch of random strange Japanese people. All of which were pretty wasted out of their minds and blasting out notes to an unknown Japanese song. They passed around a giant bottle of sake and after about ten minutes or so we left because the karaoke bar people were getting agitated and wanted us to pay for our own room but we didn't want to spend several hours in a karaoke room since the others really wanted to go to a club. So we hopped on a train to Shibuya where we ran into an extremely unpleasant drunken Japanese man. After taking our friend Miri's can of Sapporo beer the boys stepped in to her aid and began ticking the man off. He spoke no English but that didn't stop Fionne from talking his ear off in his thick Irish accent. After several pictures with the man in which at one point he'd taken my camera and began snapping photos of me and my friends before he finally departed the train at his stop.
We arrived at Shibuya and went to what was once called Club Pure, and what was once one of the most popular places in Shibuya, but no more as bigger better things had moved in to take it's place and Pure changed over to what it is now, but the sign for Pure still remains so the new name escapes me. We drank, we danced, and we stayed out until 5 in the morning as the trains stopped running at midnight and didn't start back up until that time. It was around that point that our group had gotten separated with Delia and I taking care of her drunken friend Fionne who was stationed outside the bar at one point asleep on some metallic stairs with a flow of drool coming from his mouth. The adventures ensued as we brought Fionne back to the hostel, one of the other Irish guys was aided by an Englishman to what the Engllishman thought was Asakusa, but was really Akasuka instead, the third Irish friend making it back with his seemingly impeccable skills of navigating the train but only while in a drunken state, our other friend from the JCMU program that we'd brought with us Taylor took Miri home and fell asleep on the train only to be awoken by the police telling him that the train goes no further and he has to get off all the while he'd somehow obtained my purse. So each of us had a story to tell from that night, Taylor's possibly being the most interesting of them all. I was thankful to have my purse back even though it contained nothing of value aside from a few bucks and my sunglasses since I had managed to take the camera and wallet out of there at some point during the night. Thus ending our Saturday night shenanigans.
Sunday rolled around and we woke up to spend the day in Harajuku where we shopped until we dropped. Literally. My feet were so sore from woken around the amazing Harajuku stores that I dropped to my seat on the train when we finally left. We saw costumes, music, clothing, Engrish and t-shirts galore as we looked through the back streets and alleyways of the Harajuku district. We took a few pictures with some people in costumes, watched some groups performing in the park some strange greaser themed dances as well as a group of 50's themed outfits and their choreography. We then headed back to the hostel to nap to prepare for another late night as we had planned to go to the original and best Irish pub in all of Tokyo to watch an Irish football game.
After a nap we headed over to the train station to meet Miri for some dinner and a drink or two. After several hours spent in a local Japanese joint we said our goodbye to Miri and made our way to Roppongi to watch the football match. As the match started at 11:30 we had once again to stay out until 5 in the morning. So we found a club in which we had the whole place all to ourselves and enjoyed spending the night their dancing away the morning. We left around the time the stations opened as we had scheduled an 8 am return bus to go back to Hikone and end our Tokyo Times. Once again we somehow got separated though because as Taylor and I had lead the way to the train station we'd bought and our tickets and as we'd turned around the rest of the group (of 4 people) had all somehow disappeared. One of the Irish guys made it back to the hostel shortly after Taylor and I and said the others were right behind him and should've been there any moment. So we packed up Taylors stuff and headed over to the girls hostel in hopes that Delia would be waiting there with the bus tickets and our luggage so that we could head back. As we got there it turns out no one was there and I was locked out of the room as Delia had the key and our roommate was asleep so Taylor and I sat out in the hall for a while waiting for Delia's arrival. After what was an hour or so of waiting our lack of sleep got to us and we fell asleep on the floor of the hostel hallway using the others shoulder as a pillow. We were woken up when Delia came back around 7:45 apologizing and saying they had gotten on the wrong train going the wrong way and wound up 30 minutes away from where they were supposed to be. As it was 15 minutes till our bus left we decided to go back to sleep in the beds and wait for the next bus around 11. As we got to the bus station we learned that the bus had been sold out until the night bus that evening and with the concern of time on our hands with class the next day at 8:50 we decided it best to just take the shinkansen or the bullet train back to JCMU and get there with plenty of time to nap/study and prepare ourselves for the school week ahead. Thus ending our adventures in Tokyo!
The next day consisted of a trip to the Imperial Palace in Tokyo. Local access is pretty much blocked off so we got a distant view of the place but an up close and personal with the gardens located around it. After watching Delia's Irish friend offend the Japanese people in some of the worst possible ways (Ie: walking in the little water streams with out his shoes on in a place that strictly forbids it) we decided to leave the Imperial palace and make our way over to Akihabara electronics capital of the world. Now for those who know a little about Japan and Akihabara you know it's infamous for a strip that contains nothing but an anime lovers, manga readers, gamers fantasy. A street designated to everything that is anime, manga, and gaming. We checked out the giant 9 level sega play house awed by the employees cosplay choices (of which we were not aloud to take pictures of) But to give you an image picture school girl uniform and blue hair (for some this may sound like the familiar vocaloid miku, you'd be correct) another with bright pink hair and a maid's costume on. In the gaming world this is acceptable just as it is accepted in the district of Harajuku (a place known for the people that come to dress up and hang out on a bridge, also known for it's incredible shopping, just ask Gwen Stefani, she rather liked it). As the night grew nearer we knew that we had wanted to go to a club in Japan, and not just any club, a club that had been rated in a magazine for it's infamy some time before according to Delia's friend Eoghen. So before we did that we met up with an old Japanese friend of Delia's that had studied abroad in Michigan during her high school years. We sat, ate and drank with Miri and her parents who had hosted Delia during a stay in Japan prior to this. We met the infamous bar owner Masta and ate some of the most delicious and wonderful Japanese food we'd ever tried before.None of it did we pay for as the Japanese way to be awesome hosts is to treat the guest so Miri's mother and Father fit the bill and we continued on with the night with the idea of going to Karaoke in mind. As we got to the Karaoke bar we were checking out prices when all of a sudden several of us were pulled into a room with a bunch of random strange Japanese people. All of which were pretty wasted out of their minds and blasting out notes to an unknown Japanese song. They passed around a giant bottle of sake and after about ten minutes or so we left because the karaoke bar people were getting agitated and wanted us to pay for our own room but we didn't want to spend several hours in a karaoke room since the others really wanted to go to a club. So we hopped on a train to Shibuya where we ran into an extremely unpleasant drunken Japanese man. After taking our friend Miri's can of Sapporo beer the boys stepped in to her aid and began ticking the man off. He spoke no English but that didn't stop Fionne from talking his ear off in his thick Irish accent. After several pictures with the man in which at one point he'd taken my camera and began snapping photos of me and my friends before he finally departed the train at his stop.
We arrived at Shibuya and went to what was once called Club Pure, and what was once one of the most popular places in Shibuya, but no more as bigger better things had moved in to take it's place and Pure changed over to what it is now, but the sign for Pure still remains so the new name escapes me. We drank, we danced, and we stayed out until 5 in the morning as the trains stopped running at midnight and didn't start back up until that time. It was around that point that our group had gotten separated with Delia and I taking care of her drunken friend Fionne who was stationed outside the bar at one point asleep on some metallic stairs with a flow of drool coming from his mouth. The adventures ensued as we brought Fionne back to the hostel, one of the other Irish guys was aided by an Englishman to what the Engllishman thought was Asakusa, but was really Akasuka instead, the third Irish friend making it back with his seemingly impeccable skills of navigating the train but only while in a drunken state, our other friend from the JCMU program that we'd brought with us Taylor took Miri home and fell asleep on the train only to be awoken by the police telling him that the train goes no further and he has to get off all the while he'd somehow obtained my purse. So each of us had a story to tell from that night, Taylor's possibly being the most interesting of them all. I was thankful to have my purse back even though it contained nothing of value aside from a few bucks and my sunglasses since I had managed to take the camera and wallet out of there at some point during the night. Thus ending our Saturday night shenanigans.
Sunday rolled around and we woke up to spend the day in Harajuku where we shopped until we dropped. Literally. My feet were so sore from woken around the amazing Harajuku stores that I dropped to my seat on the train when we finally left. We saw costumes, music, clothing, Engrish and t-shirts galore as we looked through the back streets and alleyways of the Harajuku district. We took a few pictures with some people in costumes, watched some groups performing in the park some strange greaser themed dances as well as a group of 50's themed outfits and their choreography. We then headed back to the hostel to nap to prepare for another late night as we had planned to go to the original and best Irish pub in all of Tokyo to watch an Irish football game.
After a nap we headed over to the train station to meet Miri for some dinner and a drink or two. After several hours spent in a local Japanese joint we said our goodbye to Miri and made our way to Roppongi to watch the football match. As the match started at 11:30 we had once again to stay out until 5 in the morning. So we found a club in which we had the whole place all to ourselves and enjoyed spending the night their dancing away the morning. We left around the time the stations opened as we had scheduled an 8 am return bus to go back to Hikone and end our Tokyo Times. Once again we somehow got separated though because as Taylor and I had lead the way to the train station we'd bought and our tickets and as we'd turned around the rest of the group (of 4 people) had all somehow disappeared. One of the Irish guys made it back to the hostel shortly after Taylor and I and said the others were right behind him and should've been there any moment. So we packed up Taylors stuff and headed over to the girls hostel in hopes that Delia would be waiting there with the bus tickets and our luggage so that we could head back. As we got there it turns out no one was there and I was locked out of the room as Delia had the key and our roommate was asleep so Taylor and I sat out in the hall for a while waiting for Delia's arrival. After what was an hour or so of waiting our lack of sleep got to us and we fell asleep on the floor of the hostel hallway using the others shoulder as a pillow. We were woken up when Delia came back around 7:45 apologizing and saying they had gotten on the wrong train going the wrong way and wound up 30 minutes away from where they were supposed to be. As it was 15 minutes till our bus left we decided to go back to sleep in the beds and wait for the next bus around 11. As we got to the bus station we learned that the bus had been sold out until the night bus that evening and with the concern of time on our hands with class the next day at 8:50 we decided it best to just take the shinkansen or the bullet train back to JCMU and get there with plenty of time to nap/study and prepare ourselves for the school week ahead. Thus ending our adventures in Tokyo!
Tuesday, September 14, 2010
The Road to Adventure...
The weekend began with an opening ceremony in which we were forced to stand in front of several prestigious members of the Hikone community and introduce ourselves in what measly Japanese we could muster. Name, major, school and hobby we'd done it all before and all that after sitting through the warmest and longest speeches ever given. Afterwards though at the reception we were shown a slide show from a pottery artisan that we are to be visiting on our very first group field trip. We were also given a chance to try our hand at the pottery in which I was told that I was quite skilled and had very soft hands and made a pretty little rice bowl. The where abouts of this bowl are unknown as I'm unsure as to what he was planning to do with the things we made afterwards but I suppose I will have to find out on our visit to his shop and the local ninja house nearby.
It was after a delicious shrimp dinner in which the real fun began. A few drinks with friends and we were off on our bikes to find Japan's infamous past time... karaoke. We stopped by an extremely chill bar first for some of those in the group who hadn't brought a drink along with them (as the karaoke places in Hikone don't serve alcohol , just soda) and after a few rounds it was off to two hours worth of singing our hearts and lungs out at the karaoke place next to the train station. After we'd gotten back it was a free for all in our room in which several others from the dorms decided to hang out with us until 4 in the morning.
Saturday everyone met up for a group picnic with some local Japanese friends on the beach. We played a few rounds of ultimate Frisbee, ate to our stomach's content and then swam for a little before the sun began to set and it was time to return to the dormitories. Off to bed early as we awoke early the next morning only to start out on what would turn into a 40 mile bike ride to the northern side of the lake. I soon learned that 40 miles of road, added with a one speed Japanese bike, makes for an intense work out as well as a literal pain in the ass. If I'd thought our 3 hour tour of Hikone was bad, that was just a drop in the bucket compared to what we experienced on Sunday. But along the way of our trip we were able to see so many things that we'd never had the chance to see had we stayed in that day. In the beginning we stumbled across a large statue of Buddha as well as a zen garden decorated with other statues and what looked to be a temple of sorts. The only thing missing were the monks, but it was a surprisingly large piece of serenity in an outer city.
After that we made several stops along the way until we found a secluded spot of beach where we took a refreshing swim in the lake to wash away some of that days sweat. By that time we'd been on the road for several hours and everyone agreed it was time to head back the 20 some odd miles to home. We stopped and ate a delicious meal at what I would guess was Japan's idea of a rest stop and then made it home. Dragging my tired body up the stairs I took a refreshingly cold shower and curled up in bed to finish some homework and prepare for the strenuous week of classes ahead...
It was after a delicious shrimp dinner in which the real fun began. A few drinks with friends and we were off on our bikes to find Japan's infamous past time... karaoke. We stopped by an extremely chill bar first for some of those in the group who hadn't brought a drink along with them (as the karaoke places in Hikone don't serve alcohol , just soda) and after a few rounds it was off to two hours worth of singing our hearts and lungs out at the karaoke place next to the train station. After we'd gotten back it was a free for all in our room in which several others from the dorms decided to hang out with us until 4 in the morning.
Saturday everyone met up for a group picnic with some local Japanese friends on the beach. We played a few rounds of ultimate Frisbee, ate to our stomach's content and then swam for a little before the sun began to set and it was time to return to the dormitories. Off to bed early as we awoke early the next morning only to start out on what would turn into a 40 mile bike ride to the northern side of the lake. I soon learned that 40 miles of road, added with a one speed Japanese bike, makes for an intense work out as well as a literal pain in the ass. If I'd thought our 3 hour tour of Hikone was bad, that was just a drop in the bucket compared to what we experienced on Sunday. But along the way of our trip we were able to see so many things that we'd never had the chance to see had we stayed in that day. In the beginning we stumbled across a large statue of Buddha as well as a zen garden decorated with other statues and what looked to be a temple of sorts. The only thing missing were the monks, but it was a surprisingly large piece of serenity in an outer city.
After that we made several stops along the way until we found a secluded spot of beach where we took a refreshing swim in the lake to wash away some of that days sweat. By that time we'd been on the road for several hours and everyone agreed it was time to head back the 20 some odd miles to home. We stopped and ate a delicious meal at what I would guess was Japan's idea of a rest stop and then made it home. Dragging my tired body up the stairs I took a refreshingly cold shower and curled up in bed to finish some homework and prepare for the strenuous week of classes ahead...
Tuesday, September 7, 2010
Sunday, Monday, Tuesday and so it begins...
Sunday proved rather uneventful as far as a weekend is concerned. It was spent by many, recovering from the drunken endeavors of the night before and trying not to procrastinate the pile of homework and preparation work for the next day. Monday, however, had its own up's and downs as the first day of classes quickly came upon us.
Classes begin at 8:50 in the morning Japan time, which is the earliest I've ever had a class in my entire college career. Not to say that this is a problem, but with the time it normally takes for one to get over problems and such with jet lag, it's not surprising that waking up at this time would prove rather difficult for most if not all the students here. We were required to complete a long list of work in order to prepare for the three hours of class time that day in which we would be reviewing several chapters from the beginning level textbook. Having already completed this book sometime before and being overly familiar with it I was not keen to study which made forcing myself to do so Sunday evening a rather difficult task. But I had easily prepared enough for Monday's class as I did my part in participation.
After class there was another round of orientation scheduled for us to attend, so we ate a quick lunch before heading out the door to meet back in the big room where I couldn't have fathomed they'd possibly have any more information to tell us. We discussed things like club activities and internships both of which I have signed up to do. As well as various other information I'd heard before and thusly I quit paying attention. One the orientation crap was finally over we had another hour or so before those of us who had signed up to were taken on a tour of the mall/shopping plaza nearby called Viva City. Our tour guides took us on a bike ride over to the train station in the city and from there we made a quick hop skip and a jump over to another part of the city via train to where the giant shopping center was located.
Three levels of insanity with the upper most level containing a large karaoke place, as well as a bowling ally. The middle, a labyrinth of crane games and whirring games and machines to capture the eye and boggle the mind. A fantasy land set among the various clothing, music, and general shops through out the rest of the building. The bottom a trap to one's sense of smell as it's filled with restaurant after restaurant a feast for the eyes and the taste buds alike. It was an amusement park for the wallet that I was only capable of experiencing for 40 minutes as my tour guide set a meeting time to go back as he had to get home due to prior arrangements. After that a quick trip to the grocery store to end the night with a mound of homework for the next day.
That night brought the first full night of sleep since my arrival in Japan. Although I still woke in the morning feeling as if I'd been run over by a large semi truck, possibly worse than the days when I hadn't slept nearly as much, but I went to class and sat through 3 hours of sincere boredom. It only took a day of review for my frustration levels to rise as I noticed more and more of my classmates were not on the same page and were learning old material rather than reviewing said materials. Material that was supposed to have been learned in the first book, material which I could recite without a second thought as to right or wrong. I calmed knowing that the review process was to come to an end after the following week and continued with the lesson. Classes were followed up with a fire drill in which the local fire department paid us a visit in order to explain what to do if there's a fire in the dorm building and how to use the fire extinguishers properly. Things I was pretty sure we had already familiarized ourselves with in Elementary school, but perhaps Japanese fire extinguishers were different?... Or not so much. But we did get to play around with an over sized super soaker for a bit as they let us practice with extinguishers filled with water so that we be properly prepared in case of a small apartment fire. As if anyone experiencing such a thing is going to stay calm enough to remember that, but my concerns laid not in fires but what I was going to make for lunch that day instead. After a short nap and some lunch it was time for a visit to the dollar store for some supplies. Thus ending the beginning of my week as now all that's left is to finish another mound of prep work for tomorrow's "review."
Classes begin at 8:50 in the morning Japan time, which is the earliest I've ever had a class in my entire college career. Not to say that this is a problem, but with the time it normally takes for one to get over problems and such with jet lag, it's not surprising that waking up at this time would prove rather difficult for most if not all the students here. We were required to complete a long list of work in order to prepare for the three hours of class time that day in which we would be reviewing several chapters from the beginning level textbook. Having already completed this book sometime before and being overly familiar with it I was not keen to study which made forcing myself to do so Sunday evening a rather difficult task. But I had easily prepared enough for Monday's class as I did my part in participation.
After class there was another round of orientation scheduled for us to attend, so we ate a quick lunch before heading out the door to meet back in the big room where I couldn't have fathomed they'd possibly have any more information to tell us. We discussed things like club activities and internships both of which I have signed up to do. As well as various other information I'd heard before and thusly I quit paying attention. One the orientation crap was finally over we had another hour or so before those of us who had signed up to were taken on a tour of the mall/shopping plaza nearby called Viva City. Our tour guides took us on a bike ride over to the train station in the city and from there we made a quick hop skip and a jump over to another part of the city via train to where the giant shopping center was located.
Three levels of insanity with the upper most level containing a large karaoke place, as well as a bowling ally. The middle, a labyrinth of crane games and whirring games and machines to capture the eye and boggle the mind. A fantasy land set among the various clothing, music, and general shops through out the rest of the building. The bottom a trap to one's sense of smell as it's filled with restaurant after restaurant a feast for the eyes and the taste buds alike. It was an amusement park for the wallet that I was only capable of experiencing for 40 minutes as my tour guide set a meeting time to go back as he had to get home due to prior arrangements. After that a quick trip to the grocery store to end the night with a mound of homework for the next day.
That night brought the first full night of sleep since my arrival in Japan. Although I still woke in the morning feeling as if I'd been run over by a large semi truck, possibly worse than the days when I hadn't slept nearly as much, but I went to class and sat through 3 hours of sincere boredom. It only took a day of review for my frustration levels to rise as I noticed more and more of my classmates were not on the same page and were learning old material rather than reviewing said materials. Material that was supposed to have been learned in the first book, material which I could recite without a second thought as to right or wrong. I calmed knowing that the review process was to come to an end after the following week and continued with the lesson. Classes were followed up with a fire drill in which the local fire department paid us a visit in order to explain what to do if there's a fire in the dorm building and how to use the fire extinguishers properly. Things I was pretty sure we had already familiarized ourselves with in Elementary school, but perhaps Japanese fire extinguishers were different?... Or not so much. But we did get to play around with an over sized super soaker for a bit as they let us practice with extinguishers filled with water so that we be properly prepared in case of a small apartment fire. As if anyone experiencing such a thing is going to stay calm enough to remember that, but my concerns laid not in fires but what I was going to make for lunch that day instead. After a short nap and some lunch it was time for a visit to the dollar store for some supplies. Thus ending the beginning of my week as now all that's left is to finish another mound of prep work for tomorrow's "review."
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