Tokyo life

Hey!
Sorry these posts have been so far between but I've been busy living the life of a typical Japanese student. First I would like to assure all of my readers that I am no longer in a "EFF Japan" kind of mood. But it still is a little bothersome to be on crowded trains, especially when you realize that the train isn't that crowded, but that the Japanese are just really poor utilizers of space. (They cram in the area right by the doors while the middle parts of the train are relatively empty) BUUUT otherwise I'm not hating so hard on Japan (not that I hated it earlier, but it drove me a little crazy). SO what have I been up to that makes me a typical Japanese student??? Well read on!

The first obvious answer is that I've been busy studying and doing homework. Lately my classes have decided to pile on the exams and assignments-probably because it's about that time for midterms. I just took my first major Kanji exam (Japanized Chinese characters- if that makes any sense), which was fairly easy for me since I have taken a few years of Chinese. Producing the Kanji was easy, but writing out the Kanjis in Hiragana was the difficult part.
Maybe I should briefly describe the craziness that is Japanese characters since I don't know how familiar people are with written Japanese. Okay, so Japanese has 3 (well technically 4) different written forms. Hiragana, Katakana, Kanji, and Romanji. Some of them are difficult to explain but I'll try my best.
Hiragana is the written form used for Japanese words...or basically any words not borrowed from the West. It is one of the more common character forms you'll see around Japan. Example of Hiragana: すごい！ (wow/amazing) ともだち(friend)
Katakana is a lot easier to explain. It is used for loanwords (most commonly loanwords from America or Europe). The only troublesome thing about them is when you are trying to write out the word because it sounds just like the American counterpart most of the time. Or else it sounds only vaguely like the original American word and you feel like your playing a game of Mad Gab. Katakana example: マラソン　(pronounced ma-ra-so-n which is marathon)　or　アクラセサリー(pronounced A-ku-ra-se-sa-ri which is accessory)
Kanji is considered to be the most difficult. These are the "Japanized" Chinese characters. They were characters borrowed from China and used for certain Japanese words or Chinese borrowed words. Kanji words can be written in Hiragana. In fact many Japanese are unfamiliar with many Kanji and can only produce the Hiragana of it. There are many tv game shows where Japanese are shown a Kanji character and must say what it means. I have no idea how you know if a Hiragana word has a corresponding Kanji, maybe it's just something you learn and must memorize.
Example of Kanji: 日 which has a variety of pronounciations. it can be り(ri) or　び(bi) and maybe others. Usually it means day. 金 can be pronounced かね(ka-ne) or　きん (kin) and means gold or money depending on the pronunciation (if spoken) or context (if written) Other example: 泳ぎます or およぎます to swim
Romaji kind of doesn't count as an actual Japanese writing form because it is just the romanization of Japanese words. So the words I wrote in parentheses. Most places in Japan have the Romanji of cities so foreigners can know when they have reached their train station or how to pronounce things. Example of Romanji: watashi no namae wa keri desu. (my name is keri)
What makes written Japanese even more difficult is that you can find all four of these different forms in one single sentence. EX:私の名前はケリです。私の大学わ kaihinmakuhari　にあります。(my name is keri. my university is in Kaihinmakuhari)
difficult.

Other than school I have been participating in a lot of typical Japanese practices, both traditional and modern.

One of the modern traditional cultural events I participated in is a festival called　sanja matsuri. Sanja Matsuri is one of the largest of the three shrine festivals in Tokyo prefecture. Its prominent parades revolve around three mikoshi (three portable shrines referenced in the festival's name), as well as traditional music and dancing. Sanja Matsuri is held every May for three days in Asakusa. Over the course of three days, the festival attracts 1.5 to 2 million people each year. The mikoshi are carried around by large groups of people and shaken/jostled around all over the city. This is because they want to bless the city, and so they must shake the shrine to wake up the deity inside of the mikoshi. Something really exciting about Sanja Matsuri is that the Japanese organized crime (Yakuza) participates with the local citizens. So this festival is a symbolic way of binding the community together. I was even lucky enough to see some of the Yakuza, which was a little scary, but really exciting and interesting.
Here are some photos.

Traditional Matsuri garb. One of the smaller mikoshi.


Enlarge this and check out the Yakuza on top of the mikoshi (the guy with the tattoo'd shoulder)


I really enjoyed Sanja Matsuri. But it was a really really hot day and it was made even hotter by the massive crowd of people at the event. But it was really exciting because all of the Japanese would dance, chant, and clap while the mikoshi was being carried around so it was really high energy and fun!

I meant to write more on this blog but it's getting late and I need to get up earlier tomorrow to go to Okinawa, so I'll save the rest for later. I will do massive blog updates when I get back!

Golden Week Part two: Osaka

More photos from my small break in Kansai!


Photos in Dotonbori a famous shopping/eating district in Osaka







Love Hotel in Dotonbori


Choosing my room ;D


At Nara








A very yummy drink I got at this really cool restaurant in Namba, Osaka.


Umeda sky building




View of Osaka from the sky garden




Sorry for the lack of commentary but I wasn't really in a writing mood.

A Stress, Confusion, and Frustration Filled Day.

*deep sigh* This seems to be the most fitting way to begin my post. I had been warned that while abroad I would feel a roller coaster of emotions. And it seems that I have officially hit those bumpy patches. For the past week I have had a slight feeling of...I'm not too sure what word can adequately describe it...maybe a mixture of depression and frustration. I didn't know and maybe still don't quite know the source of these feelings. Today was a very rough day that hit me with depression, confusion, stess, and frustration. And as much as I don't want to admit it I wasn't able to deal with all of these emotions and ended up breaking down in tears. I've decided to post about this hectic day because I think it could be insightful to others planning on traveling to Japan (some of the situations are very Japan specific) or to any foreign country.

Lately I've been feeling a little depressed, but I suppose the best word to explain it is: homesick. As all of my friends are getting ready to head home for the summer I realize that I'm going to be here for over another month. It's a little frustrating/depressing for me because I really want to be at home with my friends and be able to talk to them in person or go out and spend time with them. But instead I am here, which isn't horrible don't get me wrong, but it's certainly not the same. I've also been missing my mom and dad. It's really difficult for me because I get to talk to my mom maybe once a week if I'm lucky since the time difference is so different and we both have very busy schedules. Talking with my dad is just plain impossible. He doesn't use internet, so e-mails and skype are completely not an option. And I haven't sent him my phone number yet, so even phonecalls are not an option, since it will be too expensive for me to call from my foreign phone. So it has been very difficult for me the past couple of weeks to deal with being so isolated from my family.

So already feeling all of these emotions it was hard for me to deal with all the small frustrations that followed throughout the day. The following is one of the very small stressors that built on top of my pre-existing feelings. This morning I had my usual breakfast of toast, one egg over easy, and bacon. So, in America it's normal to eat eggs and bacon with a fork, some people (myself included) even find it acceptable to eat bacon as finger food. Well, in Japan this is not the case. Instead chopsticks are to be used! Hands are never to be used to touch food! If nothing else, you grab a piece of tissue and use that to pick up your food and eat. Normally I haven't been to stressed or irritated by this, but today seemed to be a BIG exception. I assume most people haven't eaten bacon with chopsticks before, so let me tell you this, it is extremely difficult to cut bacon using chopsticks (and yet that is what is expected). The fat on the bacon makes it near impossible, you really need to go to town sawing away with your chopsticks before you're bacon will separate. And I guess today I was in no mood to deal with it because I was silently cursing away at that bacon and those darned chopsticks. Why the heck do the Japanese insist on eating western food in an eastern method. They were just not meant to mash!

After miraculously being able to saw my bacon into bite size pieces I left the house and was on my way to school. While on the way to the station I had somehow amassed a large number of trash (from blowing my nose, and finishing some snacks). I was eager to throw these articles away because it was a little bit burdensome to be carrying them around. BUUUUT of course, since I am in Japan it meant there are NO trashcans to be found anywhere. And even if you do find a trashcan, more than likely the trash you are carrying cannot be thrown away in that particular trash can. Here is why. To begin with, for some strange unknown reason Japan does not believe in having trash cans on the street. You can walk for blocks and chances are you won't find a trash can. However, what you will find (and a LOT of these) is a CAN trash (word I made up for this thing). The CAN trash is a place where you may dispose of your plastic bottles ONLY! And you'll find these everywhere! From my homestay to the train station (about a 6-7 min walk) you'll find 5 CAN trash bins but not a single TRASH can. Now, maybe you are thinking that hey, if I was on my way to the station that means I could wait until I got there to get rid of my trash. Well, (pause) you'd be wrong. There are indeed some form of garbage depositories, but they are about as much use as one of those blasted CAN trash bins. Why is this you might ask?.... This would be because Japan finds it necessary to separate their trash into about 5 different bins. One for cans, plastic bottles, combustibles, non-combustibles, food, and newspapers (different from combustibles). And naturally the ones found at the train station are only for cans,bottles, and news papers. Very irritating! Even in the public restrooms you will not be able to find a sufficient trash can. The only trash can there is a very very very tiny one in each stall for sanitary products.

So carrying my trash in my pockets and bag I got onto the train. More frustrations to come. On the train it was crowded as ever (frustration occurred). But what I have found to be even more frustrating than the packed train ride are the packed stairwells once you reach your station. Whoever designed the train stations in Japan has done a terrible job. There are only 2 exits on each platform but what makes it worse it that one of the exits you can only enter/exit via a very narrow escalator. And considering how many people get off at my school station this means you could be waiting 10 mins just to get out of the terminal. If you use the other exit, maybe you have a slightly shorter wait. There is a wide stairwell, which is a plus, but due to the poor timing of the trains it makes it a little irritating. This is because while you are waiting in line to go down the stairs another train pulls up right next to the stairwell and a whole new rush of people get in front of you. So maybe it takes 8 minutes of crammed penguin walking to get off the dang platform.

At school I managed to avoid frustration and stress. What a nice break. But here comes the icing on the cake.

So after school I go to the post office to cash my postal money order because I have only 800yen to my name. I'd done this 2 times before and although it has been slightly obnoxious due to the staff not being accustomed to postal money orders it hasn't been a problem. Here comes the crazy. I will give a much more condensed version of what really went down but I think you'll still get the frustration. To begin with I had to write a whole bunch of kanji (very difficult Japanese characters) down, why...not too sure, never had to do that previously. After about 15 minutes of checking the guidebook and so the women finally gave me my money. Not too frustrating. However, 5 minutes later while at the IES center I get a call at the center and I'm told there was a problem with my transaction and that it wasn't valid. One of the IES staff and my language exchange pal went with me to the post office. Turned out my transaction was invalid because the address on the money order didn't match the address on my foreign student card. They told me I needed to give back the cash and send the money order back to my mom and have her resend it with the proper address. Here is where lots of frustration kicked in. Number one, I was stressed because I had 800yen, which is about $8. Sending the money order to my mom would take 1 week, for her to send it back at the fastest would take another 5 days. No way could I survive on $8 for a week and a half. Number two frustration, I had done this same transaction before at least 2 times with the same information and I had never once been told I was doing it incorrectly. And to put it simply I broke down. I broke down crying in the middle of the post office in front of my adviser, the postal workers, my language exchange pal, and any other Japanese person in the building at the time. My adviser tried to alleviate my stress by assuring me IES could loan me money while I waited for my postal money order to be fixed. However, I just continued to cry; I was experiencing to many emotions at once I really couldn't handle it. I was confused why I couldn't get my money, I was frustrated that my ATM cards don't work in Japan, I was embarrassed for breaking down in front of everyone and so the tears just kept coming. Cutting the story short, the post office let me keep my money. They had called the head department and after almost an hour of talking (and me crying) they decided it was embarrassing to take back the money (only in Japan would they be so embarrassed by a mistake that they would let it slide like this) and I am sure my crying had actually helped me in this situation. But I want to qualify that I by no means cried on purpose, in fact I felt really bad for crying and had been trying to stop because I could tell that the postal staff felt very bad for and I'm sure it had made them sad that I was so distraught. I made sure to thank my adviser very profusely as well as my language exchange pal. And I thanked the postal staff over and over and tried to assure them that it was okay and I wasn't angry or upset but just very thankful as they repeatedly told me sorry.

Writing all of this down has helped a little by letting me reflect on these situations, but now I just want to watch a movie and try to relax. I'm sure I will be ready to deal with these emotions should they rear up again, and I most certainly will make sure any new money orders are filled out appropriately.

*small sigh of relief*
Keri

Golden week Part one: Kyoto.

Hey! So I have finally gotten back from Golden week. For those of you of you who aren't familiar with golden week I'll explain. It is from April 29th until May 5th. This week is when major national holidays fall. Golden week is also when everyone decides to travel. So attempting to be as Japanese as possible I decided to do as the Japanese do and go on a trip to the Kansai area, Kyoto, Osaka, and Nara to be exact. I had so much fun! I really loved Kyoto, so much in fact that I wouldn't mind living there in the future. There is too much for me to actually write about everything, so instead I will post pictures with brief descriptions. (Click on any of the photos to enlarge)

Sanjusangendo Temple: The temple name literally means Hall with thirty three spaces between columns, describing the architecture of the long main hall of the temple. The main deity of the temple is Sahasrabhuja-arya-avalokiteśvara or the Thousand Armed Kannon, a National Treasure of Japan. The temple also contains one thousand life-size statues of the Thousand Armed Kannon which stand on both the right and left sides of the main statue in 10 rows and 50 columns.

One of the main gates (which is no longer used)


That is a very long building.


Some of the 1,000 Kannons. (Pictures were not allowed inside, so this image is courtesy of google)

Nijo-jo Castle : built in 1603. Famed for its painted screens from the Kano school and the “Nightingale” floor that “chirps” when you walk on it (to warn of possible intruders, i.e. Ninjas).
Again, pictures were not allowed inside.


Ceiling paintings (courtesy of google images.)


Wall paintings (courtesy of google images)


Alex standing outside the main gates of the castle.


The outer walls protecting the castle.


The entrance into the main courtyard which leads to the entrance of the actual castle.


A side of Nijo Castle.


One section of the beautiful gardens at Nijo.


An older Japanese woman enjoying the view of Nijo castle.

Nishiki Market:In existence since the seventeenth century Nishiki, with over a hundred vendors, is one of Kyoto's main fish and vegetable markets.


Mariko and I eating soy icecream. Very delicious! We also had soy doughnuts, Super delicious!


Some vendors, luckily this day wasn't very crowded because golden week hadn't officially started. I went back later during golden week and it was PACKED!


Hmmm, interesting. But no, I was not brave enough to try. They stuck a small hard boiled egg into the octopus' head.

Dinner with Mariko (not a sight, but it was very fun and the food was really good and interesting, so I wanted to share.)


Mariko, Hiroki, Alex, and I.


A boiled fish. It looked pretty intimidating, but turned out to be SUPER おいしい！


The rest of our super delicious meal!

Kiyomizu Dera Temple:"Pure Water Temple". It was founded in 780 on the site of the Otowa Waterfall in the wooded hills east of Kyoto, and derives its name from the fall's pure waters. It is best known for its wooden stage that juts out from its main hall, 13 meters above the hillside below. The main hall and the stage were built without the use of nails or other adhesives. The Otowa Waterfall is located at the base of Kiyomizudera's main hall. Its waters are divided into three separate streams, each stream's water is said to have a different benefit, longevity, success at school, or a fortunate love life. However, is is considered greedy to drink from all three fountains, so you must choose one, and they don't specify which fountain is which. This was my favorite place of the whole trip!


Me standing outside the entrance gates of the temple.


A beautifully painted pagoda at the entrance of the temple.





Me doing one of the many purification/goodluck rituals.






The main temple and the hillside surrounding. It is such a beautiful sight. (These structures were built without the use of nails)


The Otowa Waterfall. I drank from one of the fountains for goodluck.