HEEEEEEEEEEEYYYY
Never fear loyal readers of my blog. I have neither forgotten nor abandoned you, I am just busy having fun, and collecting experiences to share. I am currently in a location with limited internet access, but I will have many exciting stories to share when I get back from golden week!!!!
xoxo
keri
Thursday, April 29, 2010
Saturday, April 17, 2010
Shibuya! buya! BOOYAH!
Hey! SO last week Wednesday was my first time REALLY going into Tokyo! Last time I went to Tokyo I only went to Ueno park which is a very different experience. So in this post I'm going to share a little about my time in Tokyo.
Ok so last week Wednesday I had decided to go into Tokyo because I don't have any classes on Wednesday nor do I do field placement (kind of like an internship via IES). A few other IES students also decided to come along, which was nice. Anyway, being my first time going into Tokyo I end up getting kind of lost in Tokyo station. (Note: kind of lost, which is different from lost)After getting off the train Ben (fellow IES-er) calls me and asks me where I am in Tokyo station so we can meet up while we wait for everyone else to arrive. I described where I was and....he had no idea where I was at...and to be fair I pretty much no clue as well. All I knew was that I had gotten off at Tokyo Station and walked out through the closest entrance, not actually leaving the building, but outside of the main terminal area. Ben ended up meeting with another IES-er and then we all commenced in an intense game of, Where the Heck is Keri Located. After a good 50 minutes or so Ben discovered where the Shin-Marunouchi (probably spelled this wrong) building was located (which is the building I was in). Turns out I had accidentally left the station and walked into this building which is connected to the station but located on the opposite side of the station from where my companions were. We later discovered that this happened because I had taken a subway line versus the JR lines.
Anyway we spent the day shopping and exploring in Shibuya and Harajuku.
In Shibuya we went to the store, Shibuya 109 which is a pretty famous store in Japan. All of the clothes were super cute かわいい but also very expensive たかい! So I window shopped.
Shibuya 109 looks like a giant tube of lipstick.
Harajuku
After Shibuya we hopped on the train to go to Harajuku. As it turns out Tokyo is a very strangely laid out city. It is pretty much impossible to walk from one district to the other due to the very strange street layout. Anyway, Harajuku was a lot of fun! There were a bunch of super cute stores and the prices were a lot happier!
Unfortunately since it was a weekday there weren't any Harajuku girls/cos-players but I did see one! I'm planning on going to Harajuku again on a Sunday so I can see the people all dressed up. I had a lot fun shopping around in Harajuku and ended up buying some cute stuff. Something interesting about shopping in Japan, when you go to use the fitting room it is customary to remove your footwear. I think this goes along with the whole uchi/soto concept I mentioned in a previous post. In some stores they offer you a special pair of slippers (or in some cases heels) to wear while in the fitting room. I've now learned to wear slip-ons whenever I might be trying on clothes, because I spent a WHOLE LOTTA time untying and retying my shoes. Something else I found very weird and at the time very very VERY irritating was that some shops won't let you try the clothes on. And I'm not talking about high end boutiques like Anna Sui or Prada. These are just your average shop with average quality clothing. It was very frustrating for me because there was a really cute shirt I wanted to try on but they told me, だめ。 At first I thought this was because I was going to try it on outside of the fitting room (not getting naked in the shop, but putting it over my own t-shirt) But it turned out that wasn't the case. They just have some strange policy that any clothing that is pull on cannot be tried on. Only zipper clothing it was okay. This incident really frustrated me because I really liked the shirt but didn't want to buy if I didn't know whether it would look good or not. Turned out another store down the street had the same shirt and I could try it on there. Turned out I liked it, but this store didn't have the color I wanted and HELL to the NOWAY was I going back to the dumb policy store, so I just ended up not getting the shirt.
After doing some light shopping in Harajuku we walked right up the hill to Meiji Shrine. It was a very beautiful shrine and it was hard to believe that about 90ft away was loud and crowded Harajuku.
This photo was taken by my friend Alex when he had gone to Harajuku on a weekend. Just to give everyone an idea of how crowded it can get.
Sorry not so many pictures, but you can check out my photo album on facebook which has more photos from my trip to Tokyo and more recent photos of what I have been up to.
http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=501333832&ref=ts#!/album.php?aid=2056366&id=1130550099
おやすみなさい！
ケリ
Ok so last week Wednesday I had decided to go into Tokyo because I don't have any classes on Wednesday nor do I do field placement (kind of like an internship via IES). A few other IES students also decided to come along, which was nice. Anyway, being my first time going into Tokyo I end up getting kind of lost in Tokyo station. (Note: kind of lost, which is different from lost)After getting off the train Ben (fellow IES-er) calls me and asks me where I am in Tokyo station so we can meet up while we wait for everyone else to arrive. I described where I was and....he had no idea where I was at...and to be fair I pretty much no clue as well. All I knew was that I had gotten off at Tokyo Station and walked out through the closest entrance, not actually leaving the building, but outside of the main terminal area. Ben ended up meeting with another IES-er and then we all commenced in an intense game of, Where the Heck is Keri Located. After a good 50 minutes or so Ben discovered where the Shin-Marunouchi (probably spelled this wrong) building was located (which is the building I was in). Turns out I had accidentally left the station and walked into this building which is connected to the station but located on the opposite side of the station from where my companions were. We later discovered that this happened because I had taken a subway line versus the JR lines.
Anyway we spent the day shopping and exploring in Shibuya and Harajuku.
In Shibuya we went to the store, Shibuya 109 which is a pretty famous store in Japan. All of the clothes were super cute かわいい but also very expensive たかい! So I window shopped.
Shibuya 109 looks like a giant tube of lipstick.
Harajuku
After Shibuya we hopped on the train to go to Harajuku. As it turns out Tokyo is a very strangely laid out city. It is pretty much impossible to walk from one district to the other due to the very strange street layout. Anyway, Harajuku was a lot of fun! There were a bunch of super cute stores and the prices were a lot happier!
Unfortunately since it was a weekday there weren't any Harajuku girls/cos-players but I did see one! I'm planning on going to Harajuku again on a Sunday so I can see the people all dressed up. I had a lot fun shopping around in Harajuku and ended up buying some cute stuff. Something interesting about shopping in Japan, when you go to use the fitting room it is customary to remove your footwear. I think this goes along with the whole uchi/soto concept I mentioned in a previous post. In some stores they offer you a special pair of slippers (or in some cases heels) to wear while in the fitting room. I've now learned to wear slip-ons whenever I might be trying on clothes, because I spent a WHOLE LOTTA time untying and retying my shoes. Something else I found very weird and at the time very very VERY irritating was that some shops won't let you try the clothes on. And I'm not talking about high end boutiques like Anna Sui or Prada. These are just your average shop with average quality clothing. It was very frustrating for me because there was a really cute shirt I wanted to try on but they told me, だめ。 At first I thought this was because I was going to try it on outside of the fitting room (not getting naked in the shop, but putting it over my own t-shirt) But it turned out that wasn't the case. They just have some strange policy that any clothing that is pull on cannot be tried on. Only zipper clothing it was okay. This incident really frustrated me because I really liked the shirt but didn't want to buy if I didn't know whether it would look good or not. Turned out another store down the street had the same shirt and I could try it on there. Turned out I liked it, but this store didn't have the color I wanted and HELL to the NOWAY was I going back to the dumb policy store, so I just ended up not getting the shirt.
After doing some light shopping in Harajuku we walked right up the hill to Meiji Shrine. It was a very beautiful shrine and it was hard to believe that about 90ft away was loud and crowded Harajuku.
This photo was taken by my friend Alex when he had gone to Harajuku on a weekend. Just to give everyone an idea of how crowded it can get.
Sorry not so many pictures, but you can check out my photo album on facebook which has more photos from my trip to Tokyo and more recent photos of what I have been up to.
http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=501333832&ref=ts#!/album.php?aid=2056366&id=1130550099
おやすみなさい！
ケリ
Tuesday, April 13, 2010
Narita Drum Festival
A picture is worth a thousand words...so here ya go
ちょおいしい！Azuki bean snack
Super snazzy sushi. Also very expensive. around $9 for 1
Snooki would be in heaven. Pickles galore!
The final product! Super Oishii!
Me, Kazu, and Alex enjoying our sakura,blueberry, and green tea ice creams. There was a sesame flavored icecream but we weren't brave enough to try it.
Purification
さくら！
ちょおいしい！Azuki bean snack
Super snazzy sushi. Also very expensive. around $9 for 1
Snooki would be in heaven. Pickles galore!
The final product! Super Oishii!
Me, Kazu, and Alex enjoying our sakura,blueberry, and green tea ice creams. There was a sesame flavored icecream but we weren't brave enough to try it.
Purification
さくら！
Saturday, April 10, 2010
The Japanese Way
Many people have heard stories about Japanese toilets, and so in this post I wanted to expand a little more on them as well as other typical/unique Japanese...things.
Okay, so I know that before coming to Japan I was warned that there would be squat toilets and also strange high tech toilets that would spray you after going to the bathroom. I don't know which one I was more wary of encountering. Squat toilets did not seem very enticing to me, even though I have had experience with them before from camping. Toilets that would spray me with water sounded a little more creepy!!!!!! Probably because I have never used one, and it just plain seems a little weird. I wasn't sure how accurate these stories would be. I thought it would be a lot more likely to encounter the "super toilets" than the squat toilets since Japan and especially the part of Japan I am in is really modern.
So here is the truth of it all (so far as I know from my own observation anyway).
Squat toilets are present EVERYWHERE! There was one in Narita airport, you'll find at least one in every bathroom in shopping malls, and in the restrooms of private companies. On my campus there are actually more squat toilets than regular toilets!!!!
When using the squat toilet you are supposed to face towards the flusher(?. I have not used a squat toilet yet. But maybe I will try it sometime....maybe.
Thankfully, in my homestay and I think in most Japanese homes they do not use squat toilets. Instead they seem to use the "super toilets". And the superness of these toilets vary depends on what type of super toilet the family decided to buy. In my current homestay we have a pretty decent "super toilet". Once you enter the bathroom the heater turns on automatically, so if it is a cold chilly night you will not freeze too much while taking care of business. (not a feature of the super toilet, but still a nice touch) The toilet seat is also heated, but it is heated always to ensure that you do not need to sit on a cold toilet. (Now when I use plain public bathrooms I am really not used to the cold toilet seat and actually find it really uncomfortable.)
Homestay bathroom number 1.
Next to the toilet there is a small control panel which offers a variety of additional toiletry options. Option one is called おしり (oshiri). Which i discovered (thanks to wikipedia, not actual use of it) that if pressed will spray you down after you use the toilet. It comes in a variety of settings, small spray, medium spray, and large spray. My host mom warned me that if I decide to use it I should set it on small, because even that setting is fairly strong. (ugh) Another option is the bidet, again thanks to wikipedia I know it's function. The bidet serves the exact same function as the oshiri and comes in the same varying spray pressures, except it is only used by women. I do not think I will use either of these bathroom functions.
The control panel for our toilet.
The blue button with the chinese/kanji that reads 小 and 大 can control the strength of the toilet flush. 小 for a small flush or 大 for a big flush. However, in my homestay it is not necessary to use this button because our toilet flushes automatically when done using the toilet.
Other strange toilet functions in Japan.
Some public toilets have a flushing noise option. At first I didn't really understand what it was for, but now I realize that you would press it to cover up the sound of using the restroom. In some bathrooms it is a button you can press, the bathrooms at our campus automatically make the flushing noise upon entering the stall. Some personal home toilets come with a massage option. Sounds a little strange/creepy.
Entering a Japanese House.
Uchi/Soto
Ok, so last semester Professor McConnell had taught the Japanese culture class about how there is a big distinction between Uchi and Soto (Inside and Outside respectively). In Japanese elementary schools there are different slippers to be worn inside than the ones worn outside. There is a similar distinction when entering a Japanese house. In Japan and Hawaii it is customary to remove your footwear upon entering the house. However, in Japan there is a special way of doing this.
In the above photos you can tell there is a small step/stoop which separates the Uchi and Soto. It is important to remove your shoes before crossing over to the Uchi. Once you remove your foot from the shoe/slipper/etc it is important to NOT put your foot down on the Soto side. Also, it is customary for the shoes to point out, so many Japanese tend to step into the house backwards. I made a simple and short video showing the do's and dont's of entering and leaving the house to give you a better idea.
Another interesting Japanese thing I wanted to share about are the vending machines. Check it out!
A beer vending machine. Which was out of order at the time.
And
A cigarette vending machine and to all you smokers back home, check the price.
About $3.50 for a pack. That is やすい！
Okay, that is all for today. I need to start doing some homework.
But I will be updating very soon about the Narita drum festival LOTS OF PHOTOS!
Okay, so I know that before coming to Japan I was warned that there would be squat toilets and also strange high tech toilets that would spray you after going to the bathroom. I don't know which one I was more wary of encountering. Squat toilets did not seem very enticing to me, even though I have had experience with them before from camping. Toilets that would spray me with water sounded a little more creepy!!!!!! Probably because I have never used one, and it just plain seems a little weird. I wasn't sure how accurate these stories would be. I thought it would be a lot more likely to encounter the "super toilets" than the squat toilets since Japan and especially the part of Japan I am in is really modern.
So here is the truth of it all (so far as I know from my own observation anyway).
Squat toilets are present EVERYWHERE! There was one in Narita airport, you'll find at least one in every bathroom in shopping malls, and in the restrooms of private companies. On my campus there are actually more squat toilets than regular toilets!!!!
When using the squat toilet you are supposed to face towards the flusher(?. I have not used a squat toilet yet. But maybe I will try it sometime....maybe.
Thankfully, in my homestay and I think in most Japanese homes they do not use squat toilets. Instead they seem to use the "super toilets". And the superness of these toilets vary depends on what type of super toilet the family decided to buy. In my current homestay we have a pretty decent "super toilet". Once you enter the bathroom the heater turns on automatically, so if it is a cold chilly night you will not freeze too much while taking care of business. (not a feature of the super toilet, but still a nice touch) The toilet seat is also heated, but it is heated always to ensure that you do not need to sit on a cold toilet. (Now when I use plain public bathrooms I am really not used to the cold toilet seat and actually find it really uncomfortable.)
Homestay bathroom number 1.
Next to the toilet there is a small control panel which offers a variety of additional toiletry options. Option one is called おしり (oshiri). Which i discovered (thanks to wikipedia, not actual use of it) that if pressed will spray you down after you use the toilet. It comes in a variety of settings, small spray, medium spray, and large spray. My host mom warned me that if I decide to use it I should set it on small, because even that setting is fairly strong. (ugh) Another option is the bidet, again thanks to wikipedia I know it's function. The bidet serves the exact same function as the oshiri and comes in the same varying spray pressures, except it is only used by women. I do not think I will use either of these bathroom functions.
The control panel for our toilet.
The blue button with the chinese/kanji that reads 小 and 大 can control the strength of the toilet flush. 小 for a small flush or 大 for a big flush. However, in my homestay it is not necessary to use this button because our toilet flushes automatically when done using the toilet.
Other strange toilet functions in Japan.
Some public toilets have a flushing noise option. At first I didn't really understand what it was for, but now I realize that you would press it to cover up the sound of using the restroom. In some bathrooms it is a button you can press, the bathrooms at our campus automatically make the flushing noise upon entering the stall. Some personal home toilets come with a massage option. Sounds a little strange/creepy.
Entering a Japanese House.
Uchi/Soto
Ok, so last semester Professor McConnell had taught the Japanese culture class about how there is a big distinction between Uchi and Soto (Inside and Outside respectively). In Japanese elementary schools there are different slippers to be worn inside than the ones worn outside. There is a similar distinction when entering a Japanese house. In Japan and Hawaii it is customary to remove your footwear upon entering the house. However, in Japan there is a special way of doing this.
In the above photos you can tell there is a small step/stoop which separates the Uchi and Soto. It is important to remove your shoes before crossing over to the Uchi. Once you remove your foot from the shoe/slipper/etc it is important to NOT put your foot down on the Soto side. Also, it is customary for the shoes to point out, so many Japanese tend to step into the house backwards. I made a simple and short video showing the do's and dont's of entering and leaving the house to give you a better idea.
Another interesting Japanese thing I wanted to share about are the vending machines. Check it out!
A beer vending machine. Which was out of order at the time.
And
A cigarette vending machine and to all you smokers back home, check the price.
About $3.50 for a pack. That is やすい！
Okay, that is all for today. I need to start doing some homework.
But I will be updating very soon about the Narita drum festival LOTS OF PHOTOS!
Wednesday, April 7, 2010
Mish mash of events.
Before I begin my new post I think I should first put up the photo of me and my new host family. (before I completely forget and never get around to uploading it)
I forgot to mention in my last post that this family has a pet cat and dog.
Yesterday I was feeling very sick, so today I ended up staying home all day resting and recuperating. And naturally my body had picked the perfect time to rebel (*sarcasm*). Today many of the students in my study abroad program had decided to go to Ueno park for Hanami.
Hanami - traditional custom of enjoying the beauty of the sakura blossoms, which mostly consists of having an outdoor party/picnic beneath the sakura.
I had really wanted to go, because last time I went to Ueno park the cherry blossoms had not been in full bloom. :(
Although I missed out on the fun it does seem that maybe today was the perfect day for me to be sick since I do not have any classes on Wednesday so I didn't end up missing on any school work.
Since I didn't really have much fun today I will update you all on the fun I have been having during the past week or so.
On April 3 I went out to Karaoke for the first time while in Japan! I went with a rather large group of friends (15!!!!!!) that was a mix of IES students and our Japanese e-pals! It was sooo much fun! Our E-pals sang some Japanese songs while some of us attempted to sing along. The only words I was able to join in for were さくら (sakura) and Happy Birthday (which probably doesn't count since it was written in English).
Before going to Karaoke we had stopped by a convenience store to pick up some drinks, I decided to try some peach beverage and a lemon/grapefruit drink called, "Strong Zero". Of all of my friends I was the only one who was asked to be carded (since I look 15 to everyone) although some of my friends laughed (because I was the only one) I really couldn't care, I was happy to show my ID since my 21st birthday had just passed only a couple weeks ago.
While in Karaoke we had ended up getting caught with our smuggled in drinks, but thankfully we got off really lucky. The staff worker had simply asked us to please remove them ourselves when we were done with our Karaoke session.
The next day (Easter) my host family had invited one of my IES friends named JK (who is living on his own with the Independent housing option in our same city) to have dinner with us. It was really funny because both my host mom and host sister found JK to be very handsome. My host mom seemed to have a pretty big crush on him. After dinner and playing wii with my host siblings JK and I met up with our other friend Veronica to visit one of the sake bars near by.
The typical traditional bar (Izakaya) in Japan is way different from any other bar I have been to! Upon entering the bar we were asked to remove our footwear and place them in individual lockers near the entrance of the bar. I should probably mention that it is customary to completely remove your footwear before entering most private establishments in Japan. There is even a specific way in which you are expected to remove them (which I will explain in my next post). Then when you have only your socks on you and your party are guided to a compartment which upon entering and closing the door you are completely sectioned off from the main building in a private booth. The whole bar is set up like this, so originally upon entering you only see a narrow corridor with doors on each side. Once inside your booth you can peruse the menu and press a button to signal to the waiter that you are ready to order. The basic idea is to give everyone privacy, which I found to be really cool. So it seems like these Japanese bars serve to be a place to hang out with close friends/coworkers and not really a place to meet new people. I find the differences to be really interesting!
One concern I had about being only in my socks while at the bar was, what if I needed to use the restroom? I didn't want to walk into the bathroom in my socks...gross! Turned out that in the restroom they provide you with slippers to use. Which was pretty cool.
JK and Veronica
After having a small appetizer and a couple of drinks we ended up going to the arcade. Turned out JK is pretty talented at those claw machines and ended up winning all 3 of us a small prize. It also turns out that he is very determined to win, because he had spent $50 trying to win a small anime figurine for my host brother. Unfortunately he didn't win it, but he had gotten so close many times, but Veronica and I convinced him to stop.
Veronica, JK, and I with the cute prizes JK had won for us.
Strange prizes you could win. (*NOTE: These were not the anime figures JK was trying to win for my host brother)
I forgot to mention in my last post that this family has a pet cat and dog.
Yesterday I was feeling very sick, so today I ended up staying home all day resting and recuperating. And naturally my body had picked the perfect time to rebel (*sarcasm*). Today many of the students in my study abroad program had decided to go to Ueno park for Hanami.
Hanami - traditional custom of enjoying the beauty of the sakura blossoms, which mostly consists of having an outdoor party/picnic beneath the sakura.
I had really wanted to go, because last time I went to Ueno park the cherry blossoms had not been in full bloom. :(
Although I missed out on the fun it does seem that maybe today was the perfect day for me to be sick since I do not have any classes on Wednesday so I didn't end up missing on any school work.
Since I didn't really have much fun today I will update you all on the fun I have been having during the past week or so.
On April 3 I went out to Karaoke for the first time while in Japan! I went with a rather large group of friends (15!!!!!!) that was a mix of IES students and our Japanese e-pals! It was sooo much fun! Our E-pals sang some Japanese songs while some of us attempted to sing along. The only words I was able to join in for were さくら (sakura) and Happy Birthday (which probably doesn't count since it was written in English).
Before going to Karaoke we had stopped by a convenience store to pick up some drinks, I decided to try some peach beverage and a lemon/grapefruit drink called, "Strong Zero". Of all of my friends I was the only one who was asked to be carded (since I look 15 to everyone) although some of my friends laughed (because I was the only one) I really couldn't care, I was happy to show my ID since my 21st birthday had just passed only a couple weeks ago.
While in Karaoke we had ended up getting caught with our smuggled in drinks, but thankfully we got off really lucky. The staff worker had simply asked us to please remove them ourselves when we were done with our Karaoke session.
The next day (Easter) my host family had invited one of my IES friends named JK (who is living on his own with the Independent housing option in our same city) to have dinner with us. It was really funny because both my host mom and host sister found JK to be very handsome. My host mom seemed to have a pretty big crush on him. After dinner and playing wii with my host siblings JK and I met up with our other friend Veronica to visit one of the sake bars near by.
The typical traditional bar (Izakaya) in Japan is way different from any other bar I have been to! Upon entering the bar we were asked to remove our footwear and place them in individual lockers near the entrance of the bar. I should probably mention that it is customary to completely remove your footwear before entering most private establishments in Japan. There is even a specific way in which you are expected to remove them (which I will explain in my next post). Then when you have only your socks on you and your party are guided to a compartment which upon entering and closing the door you are completely sectioned off from the main building in a private booth. The whole bar is set up like this, so originally upon entering you only see a narrow corridor with doors on each side. Once inside your booth you can peruse the menu and press a button to signal to the waiter that you are ready to order. The basic idea is to give everyone privacy, which I found to be really cool. So it seems like these Japanese bars serve to be a place to hang out with close friends/coworkers and not really a place to meet new people. I find the differences to be really interesting!
One concern I had about being only in my socks while at the bar was, what if I needed to use the restroom? I didn't want to walk into the bathroom in my socks...gross! Turned out that in the restroom they provide you with slippers to use. Which was pretty cool.
JK and Veronica
After having a small appetizer and a couple of drinks we ended up going to the arcade. Turned out JK is pretty talented at those claw machines and ended up winning all 3 of us a small prize. It also turns out that he is very determined to win, because he had spent $50 trying to win a small anime figurine for my host brother. Unfortunately he didn't win it, but he had gotten so close many times, but Veronica and I convinced him to stop.
Veronica, JK, and I with the cute prizes JK had won for us.
Strange prizes you could win. (*NOTE: These were not the anime figures JK was trying to win for my host brother)
Sunday, April 4, 2010
photos of my new homestay
My homestay
My room
:: I WILL GET SOME PHOTOS OF MY HOST FAMILY ON THIS POST SOON ::
Friday, April 2, 2010
Firsts
こんばんは！
It has been awhile since my last update and there is a lot I want to catch everyone up with as well as mention some things I failed to mention in my previous posts.
*Warning this will be a long post*
I am now living with my new long term host family. (Pictures will be coming soon)
This host family is a lot bigger than the last family I was staying with.
Natsuko-san my host mother speaks very good English which makes it very easy to communicate with everyone else in the family. She currently works once a week as a English translator and instructor. However the rest of her week is also very busy because she also works once a week as a sewing instructor, attends a japanese calligraphy class, and two different painting classes. Natsuko-san is very fun and friendly and I really enjoy talking with her. She also is helping me everyday to learn new Japanese.
Makoto-san is my host papa (as I call him). His English appears to be non-existant, but I think it is more that he is shy to speak it. He is a rather silent papa, but he always asks me a few questions (in Japanese which Natsuko-san translates) and enjoys seeing when I am amused by something as well as when I speak the limited Japanese I know. Something I find interesting is that unlike my last host father (who I still like to refer to as お父さん) he always comes home in time for dinner with the family. However, I have only been with this family for 3 dinners, so maybe this will change? But I think since he is a Doctor and not a businessman he does not follow the same tradition/custom of going out and drinking after work with co-workers. (Don't mistake this for meaning he has not drank after work, because he does, but at home)
Julie is my 15 year old host sister. Her English is about the same as Miki's (my other host sister from my previous family) Although Julie and Miki are the same age they are both very different types of girls. She is very sweet and I enjoy spending time with her even though our communication is sometimes limited due to the language barrier.
Yudai or Yu-chan as he is fondly called is my 13 year old host brother. His English is very very limited but he seems to enjoy speaking the little bit of english he does know to me. He is so cute and very friendly.
Today was my first official day of school so I will briefly give you a rundown of my day (which had turned out to be more hectic than originally expected)
In the morning I had woken up around 7 because I had my Kanda entrance ceremony at 9:30 and wanted to have plenty of time for breakfast,getting dressed, and the commute. At 7:30 my host mother informed me that the Keiyo line (train) was down due to strong winds. And she said that the Musashino line would probably running slower also due to high winds and gave me a alternative route to take. However, both of the Musashino and Keiyo lines are the regular, fastest, and cheapest routes of getting to school. So I met my commuting buddy, veronica at Myoden station 20mins earlier than we would have normally left. Our first train commute was fine, because we were riding the Tozai line which isn't as affected as the other rail lines. Once we arrived at Nishi Funabashi (our transfer station) we began to experience the chaos of the shutdown trains. Nishi Funabashi station was completely jammed with people trying to figure out how they could get to their destination. The pay machines had been turned off due to the overcrowding of people, so everyone ended up getting a free ride. Once on the train that we needed we were slightly crammed due to it being one of the only lines running. It turned out we needed to transfer at another station due to the high winds and our next train was unbelievably packed! The train was stalled sitting on the tracks for 20 minutes waiting to see if the winds would die down. From the moment we had stepped onto the train it had already been packed, and during those 20 minutes more people kept crowding onto the train! It was a very crazy experience to be on such a crowded train. After 1.5 hours of commuting (which normally is done in 35 minutes) we arrived at school exactly on time for the entrance ceremony.
The entrance ceremony wasn't too interesting so I will not bother writing about it. After the entrance ceremony it was time for the Japanese placement exam. Since I am a very beginner I only had to take the katakana/hiragana test, which wasn't too awful. Following this I went to my Kana class, which turned out to be not as useful as I had hopped for it to be. But this was only because we were going over what I was already familiar with, the next two classes however will be more useful since we will go over things I am not as confident with. After Kana class I ate a yummy Udon lunch, then went to Japanese pop culture class. It is a 2hour 40minute class. Today we didn't do much for the class so there is not much for me to write about, so this pretty much summarizes the highlights of my day.
Ok so something I wanted to share about earlier but had forgotten to is in regards to the Japanese bath. Here in Japan it is customary for everyone to bathe at the end of the day. However, bathing means something quite different in Japan than in America. In Japan before bathing you first shower off, shampoo/condition, and wash the body with soap. Only once you are completely clean is it okay to enter the bath. Not anything too unusual yet. What makes Japanese bath unique is that all members of the family bath in the same bathwater. So once you are done soaking you get out of the tub, but DO NOT drain the water because the same water will be used by everyone.
I have to admit that I had originally been very opposed to the idea of the Japanese bath. In my first homestay my お母さん drew up the bath and had asked me to go ahead and bathe first. Since I was bathing first i thought okay it should be fine. So I went ahead and soaked in the tub. However the following night お父さん bathed first and so I did not really feel like using the bath after, I just wasn't comfortable with the idea yet.
Now in my new homestay I am always the second to bath and I actually have used the bath after my host sister (Julie) has bathed. It is not so terrifying as I thought it would be, but it is definitely still quite out of my comfort zone. Some days I choose not to bath and only shower. But it really is a unique/interesting experience.
おやすみなさい！
ケリ
It has been awhile since my last update and there is a lot I want to catch everyone up with as well as mention some things I failed to mention in my previous posts.
*Warning this will be a long post*
I am now living with my new long term host family. (Pictures will be coming soon)
This host family is a lot bigger than the last family I was staying with.
Natsuko-san my host mother speaks very good English which makes it very easy to communicate with everyone else in the family. She currently works once a week as a English translator and instructor. However the rest of her week is also very busy because she also works once a week as a sewing instructor, attends a japanese calligraphy class, and two different painting classes. Natsuko-san is very fun and friendly and I really enjoy talking with her. She also is helping me everyday to learn new Japanese.
Makoto-san is my host papa (as I call him). His English appears to be non-existant, but I think it is more that he is shy to speak it. He is a rather silent papa, but he always asks me a few questions (in Japanese which Natsuko-san translates) and enjoys seeing when I am amused by something as well as when I speak the limited Japanese I know. Something I find interesting is that unlike my last host father (who I still like to refer to as お父さん) he always comes home in time for dinner with the family. However, I have only been with this family for 3 dinners, so maybe this will change? But I think since he is a Doctor and not a businessman he does not follow the same tradition/custom of going out and drinking after work with co-workers. (Don't mistake this for meaning he has not drank after work, because he does, but at home)
Julie is my 15 year old host sister. Her English is about the same as Miki's (my other host sister from my previous family) Although Julie and Miki are the same age they are both very different types of girls. She is very sweet and I enjoy spending time with her even though our communication is sometimes limited due to the language barrier.
Yudai or Yu-chan as he is fondly called is my 13 year old host brother. His English is very very limited but he seems to enjoy speaking the little bit of english he does know to me. He is so cute and very friendly.
Today was my first official day of school so I will briefly give you a rundown of my day (which had turned out to be more hectic than originally expected)
In the morning I had woken up around 7 because I had my Kanda entrance ceremony at 9:30 and wanted to have plenty of time for breakfast,getting dressed, and the commute. At 7:30 my host mother informed me that the Keiyo line (train) was down due to strong winds. And she said that the Musashino line would probably running slower also due to high winds and gave me a alternative route to take. However, both of the Musashino and Keiyo lines are the regular, fastest, and cheapest routes of getting to school. So I met my commuting buddy, veronica at Myoden station 20mins earlier than we would have normally left. Our first train commute was fine, because we were riding the Tozai line which isn't as affected as the other rail lines. Once we arrived at Nishi Funabashi (our transfer station) we began to experience the chaos of the shutdown trains. Nishi Funabashi station was completely jammed with people trying to figure out how they could get to their destination. The pay machines had been turned off due to the overcrowding of people, so everyone ended up getting a free ride. Once on the train that we needed we were slightly crammed due to it being one of the only lines running. It turned out we needed to transfer at another station due to the high winds and our next train was unbelievably packed! The train was stalled sitting on the tracks for 20 minutes waiting to see if the winds would die down. From the moment we had stepped onto the train it had already been packed, and during those 20 minutes more people kept crowding onto the train! It was a very crazy experience to be on such a crowded train. After 1.5 hours of commuting (which normally is done in 35 minutes) we arrived at school exactly on time for the entrance ceremony.
The entrance ceremony wasn't too interesting so I will not bother writing about it. After the entrance ceremony it was time for the Japanese placement exam. Since I am a very beginner I only had to take the katakana/hiragana test, which wasn't too awful. Following this I went to my Kana class, which turned out to be not as useful as I had hopped for it to be. But this was only because we were going over what I was already familiar with, the next two classes however will be more useful since we will go over things I am not as confident with. After Kana class I ate a yummy Udon lunch, then went to Japanese pop culture class. It is a 2hour 40minute class. Today we didn't do much for the class so there is not much for me to write about, so this pretty much summarizes the highlights of my day.
Ok so something I wanted to share about earlier but had forgotten to is in regards to the Japanese bath. Here in Japan it is customary for everyone to bathe at the end of the day. However, bathing means something quite different in Japan than in America. In Japan before bathing you first shower off, shampoo/condition, and wash the body with soap. Only once you are completely clean is it okay to enter the bath. Not anything too unusual yet. What makes Japanese bath unique is that all members of the family bath in the same bathwater. So once you are done soaking you get out of the tub, but DO NOT drain the water because the same water will be used by everyone.
I have to admit that I had originally been very opposed to the idea of the Japanese bath. In my first homestay my お母さん drew up the bath and had asked me to go ahead and bathe first. Since I was bathing first i thought okay it should be fine. So I went ahead and soaked in the tub. However the following night お父さん bathed first and so I did not really feel like using the bath after, I just wasn't comfortable with the idea yet.
Now in my new homestay I am always the second to bath and I actually have used the bath after my host sister (Julie) has bathed. It is not so terrifying as I thought it would be, but it is definitely still quite out of my comfort zone. Some days I choose not to bath and only shower. But it really is a unique/interesting experience.
おやすみなさい！
ケリ
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)