Travel

I finished up my classes and program at the end of July where we had final projects, exams, and a closing ceremony. My brother and mom came to visit me at my university and then we traveled to many places in Japan as well as Hawaii and L.A..
For more information and pictures about what we did and where we went, check out my mom's blog! She wrote about everything we did with great detail here:

http://tarasekjapantour.blogspot.com/

We had a final graduation ceremony and after-party dinner where we said our goodbyes and took many pictures.



It was hard to say goodbye especially since we knew a lot of the people that we spent so much time with for those two months we might not ever see again. It was a great two months and I will always remember the great times I had with amazing people in Japan.

Taiko

Here is a video of the verse they taught us before we played it for everyone. Also the link is to a website where they wrote about us in the Bungotakada newspaper!


http://www.city.bungotakada.oita.jp/dekigoto/page_00320.html

(Here is the link to the online newspaper with the article about my program coming to visit Bungotakada city and I'm in some of the pictures!)

Bungotakada Farmstay

My program had a farm stay visit for this weekend and this was by far the best part of my trip here so far. We were split into groups of 2-4 for boys and girls and also depending on what level Japanese class. I was paired with a girl from my Japanese class and another girl from the A class. We had no clue what we were getting into since the only directions they gave us was to bring a bag of overnight clothes and a pair of clothes that we don't mind getting dirty since we would be working on the farm. We all packed onto a small bus that took us up to the top of Kyushu island about an hour away to the city of Bungotakada. We climbed off the bus mid afternoon on Saturday and walked into a small office building that was begging to be renovated. We walked up flight after flight of stairs until we came to an empty room with people sitting on the side of the room. They called out our names and told us where to sit- which was in a row next to our farm stay family members.
A Bungotakada resident tried his hand a speaking English to welcome us to their city and one of our students gave a speech as well. The family members then all stood up and introduced themselves to everyone. After that we all got up and left with our family members. We had a cute little man wearing a suit for our family member. We were so nervous and confused with everything that we just got into the car and just nodded our heads to everything he said. I for some reason didn't think that we would be completely on our own with these families but I was wrong. We drove a few miles down the road and through town until we came to a dirt road which was surrounded by rice fields. We had to drive slowly down the streets since the roads were so narrow and we could have easily fallen into the water filled rice fields.
We arrived at the house after about a 20 minute drive from the meeting place and walked inside the gates of the house. Waiting to greet us was their dog "Ryoo" which means dragon in Japanese- he was the cutest dog though and didn't look anywhere near scary enough to have a name like that. Mrs. Wakatake came and invited us in to put out things down in the tetami matted room and sit around the table in the room. We all sat down and introduced ourselves one by one. They said my name was the easiest which was awesome because it was the one they always remembered and said out of the three of us. They told us that they were the Wakatake family that has a plum farm in the backyard. They also said that they didn't speak any English so this would really be a test on how much we had learned since we could not communicate with them in any way but speaking Japanese.
They then showed us around the house and then told us that lunch was ready. I have never had such an extravagant meal and okaasan (which is what we called her) had been making it all day. There was all different kinds of food and everything was so delicious. We finished eating and were fully stuffed. They told us that for the day we would go to the ofuro, the Japanese public bath, and also go and meet some of their good friends. We went on a walk down the street and ended up at their friends house. The friend's house looked like something out of a book- it was so pretty and the inside looked like a museum with all of the beautiful artwork. They showed us around the house in the garden and then we went inside for a makeshift tea ceremony. Normally tea ceremonies are very serious but we were just practicing. The family that lived in the house had lived there for a long time and were a cute old couple. They showed us how to do everything in a tea ceremony and asked us questions about ourselves before we left.
We went back into the house to get our things to go to the ofuro but before we left, one of their neighbors came over. There must be a whole community that takes in different people all year for farmstays because the neighbor also had some students from my program staying with them. Them three and all of us went into the backyard to explore the farm. We walked up a small but steep hill before finding ourselves in a grove. The fruits they were growing tasted like they were a cross between plums and peaches but they were small like plums. We then walked by the plum trees. They use the plums to make plumed plums- which are very famous and liked here. They use some of the plums to make plum wine which I've tired and did not like very much since it is very bitter and what I think is an acquired taste. If they do not use them for wine, they use the other ones for making plum jam. We had a little during lunch and it was the best jam I have ever had. The taste is something that I have never tasted before where it is a little bitter yet sweet at the same time. They can and label their own jars of jam and plums before selling them. They gave us a jar each to take home with us which I was grateful for since I was planning on buying some if they hadn't. We then walked further into the garden/small farm where we tried blueberries, tomatoes, and some other fruits. The cherry tomatoes were the best I have ever had before. They were not too tangy like they are in America yet they were sweet which was a great surprise.
It then started to rain so ojiisan (Mr. Wakatake) drove us to the ofuro and dropped us off. I had never been to a real ofuro yet so it was definitely a great experience. Ofuros are designed so that you strip down in the locker room and then go into the bathing area. In the bathing area, there is a shower area where you must scrub yourself well-taking off all makeup and jewelry, and wash your hair if you want, and then you may enter the baths. There were about 4 baths in the whole area so we went into the big one first. The water is so hot that it gives you goosebumps but it feels so good to just be able to soak. We then moved outside where there was a nice rock bath with an open roof so we could feel the raindrops as we sat in the water.
After a while we left the baths, got dressed, and got picked back up by ojiisan. Dinner was being prepared before we had left so preparation was just being finished when we got back. Dinner was tempura. Now I've had tempura before in America but it tasted nothing like this tempura. Okaasan made her own batter and dipped all of the shrimp, fish, and vegetables into it before placing them into the vat of oil. The tempura just tasted so fresh and there were so many different kinds of vegetables that I've never had before. My favorite was the sardines and the carrots. The carrots were almost shredded and they were just delicious. They gave us so many other things like cucumber soup and tofu for dinner as well. We were absolutely stuff after dinner since it was all so delicious and we couldn't stop eating. We sat around the table after clean up was over and okaasan brought out a bunch of different kinds of desserts while conversing. We had a couple types of plums- one kind was frozen and absolutely amazing. They did not look very appetizing but they were a sweet taste that I've never had before that was really good. We also had some peaches and some jello- the jello in Japan is really hard and a weird texture but not too bad. After dinner we gave them some thank you gifts for allowing us to stay in their house- since in Japan it is custom to bring a small present when visiting someones house.
After all of that, we all rested since we were so full from dinner and dessert. Ojiisan taught us how to play what looked like a guitar and piano combined. He played some songs before the other two girls tried it also. I tried it for a little but then realized how musically retarded I am so I just took pictures instead. We stayed up until around 11:30 before going to bed. Our beds were just makeshift futons on the ground which is the traditional sleeping arrangements in Japan. I have already gotten used to the feeling of sleeping on such hard surfaces due to my bed back at campus. We all got in bed and fell asleep pretty quickly after a long day of hard thinking- for translations and understanding each other.
In the morning we got up to the sweet smell of salmon for breakfast. Breakfast was almost as big a dinner which was amazing. By that time we were just stuffed with rich and delicious foods that we felt like we couldn't eat anymore but we did anyways. The specialty in Bungotakada is suika aka watermelon so we had some for breakfast. Near my school in Beppu, the prices of watermelon is almost $25 for one which was four times as much as they are in Bungotakada! After breakfast we got all of our things together and packed up the car to head to the meeting place. We stopped by a few shrines on the way to the elementary school which is where we were supposed to meet everyone for the closing ceremony. One of the shrines we stopped at had a huge bell that we got to ring. We then hopped back into the car and headed to the school. We arrived at an outside area where we were supposed to play some taiko drums but it started to rain so we went to the elementary school. Our host families and all of us students piled in and took our choice of a drum we wanted to play once they were all set up. I got to play on one of the medium drums that made a large booming sound. Taiko is a tradition kind of drum that the Japanese play which we all got to try. They taught us different verses of a song and then after about 20 minutes everyone had it figured out and we performed in front of everyone. It sounded really cool once it was all done. After we were done, the owners of the taiko company did a performance for everyone. They dressed up and played a bunch of different instruments for us.
After it was all over, we went back to the first place where were supposed to play. This was where we had to say goodbye to our host families. It was very sad because they were such a nice couple to us and I had such a great time while learning so many new things. They both said that they were happy to have us since they didn't know what to expect. We took some pictures and they gave us their information before leaving. After saying goodbye to our host families, all of the students got to have a huge lunch. It was catered by a group of old and adorable Japanese women that made traditional Bungotakada food. It all looked so delicious so I tried at least one of everything. I realized that I had had so much food in that one weekend that it was probably as much as I had eaten the two weeks before. We all hung out after eating for a little before getting back onto the bus to go to Beppu. We arrived in Beppu just in time to do our homework and get ready for the next week to come.

Handa Elementary School Visit

Instead of having class on Wednesday, we went as a program to visit a local Beppu elementary school. We were split up into four groups where each group got their own fourth grade class. We got to the school and walked into the gym where the bleachers were filled with smiling faces. They clapped every time someone entered the door which was very cute. They waited for everyone to sit down, the principal and other people talked before all of the kids stood up at the same time. The piano started to play and they all started singing- it was adorable. I was in awe at how cute they all were. After singing two little girls came up to the front for a recorder solo before everyone chimed in together. They were so cute because when ever the teacher would take a big breath, they would all do it at the same time to copy her. After they finished playing, two of our students got up to make a small speech and then we were split up into our groups.
I assumed that we were going to work with the classes as a whole but I soon found out that that wasn't the case. The kids were sitting in rows of four or five which each of us APU students were placed in front of each of the rows. I thought we could pick our rows so I was standing in front of a row that was filled with adorable kids- both boys and girls. After me reading all of their name tags and getting excited, I was pulled in front of a different, all girls line. I must admit that at first I was a little devistated because I really wanted a mix of boys and girls. The girls looked so scared also which made me nervous that they wouldn't be fun. After our teachers finished explaining everything to us, we walked through the school and to their classroom.

I sat with them at a vacant desk and they showed me how to make origami swans and boxes. They all started to open up and were very enthusiastic which made the day fun. After that, we took a break for lunch which was very interesting to watch. The students do everything in Japanese schools. They do not have janitors or other staff that serve food, just cooks. The prinicipal brings the food to each classroom and the children take turns monthly to serve the food. They get dressed up in aprons and hair nets to scoop, plate, and serve the food. We had a beef stew, corn, milk, and some other veggies.

After lunch, we cleaned up and had some extra time to play some games. They showed me how to play a traditional ball and cup game (which they were extemely good at) and a semi- hackey sack game. It was fun and interesting since we did not really speak to eachother but used our actions and facial expressions to communite. We finished up playing with teaching them how to play duck, duck, goose which they have never heard about. After that, it was time to clean. We sweeped the floors, put the desks back, washed the tables, and cleaned the bathrooms. The kids then took us on a tour of the school and then it was time to leave. We went into the auditorium to sit with the kids and have an ending ceremony with music and games. We left after a very entertaining day and went back to campus.

Calligraphy

Our program hosts weekly events for us like the Sports day etc. so this week was Calligraphy. We went to class for the first period and half of the second period on Wednesday and then then went to different room to learn how to write calligraphy. In Japanese calligraphy has many different names but the one they told us was shyodoo (書道）。We received all of the writing utensils, practice papers, ink, and everything else we needed. They told us to lay out the felt that was in the box and place a piece of paper over it. The felt is used to soak up any excess ink that seeps through the paper so it does not get on the table. They then showed us how to pour the ink and then gave us a directions sheet to practice our basic strokes with.
It is a lot harder than it looks- I knew I wouldn't be very good at it since I have terrible precision when doing anything that involves patience and commitment. I got the basic strokes down though and they then told us to write our favorite Kanji. Kanji is kind of like one of the Japanese alphabets. They have Katakana and Hiragana which are two ways to write the symbols but when Hiragana symbols are placed together, they make different symbols called Kanji. You have to be able to know over 5,000 Kanji to be able to read a Japanese newspaper- so most people cannot read a newspaper until after high school!
I wrote some Kanji and then they gave us cardboard sheets that we could write anything on and keep as a souvenir. Mine wasn't as bad as I thought it would be thank goodness but I would really like to keep working on my strokes. Calligraphy is a traditional way of writing and it is practiced by many people- even children in elementary school. It is hard to perfect but with practice, like anything, I can get better at it. We later wrote some of our wishes on pieces of paper that we hung from the bamboo tree that was in the room. Japanese do this to celebrate some of their holidays. It was a fun activity where I learned a lot about Japanese culture.

Indonesian Week and Oita

The week after Korean Week was Indonesian Week. They had the same things as everyone else with trying on clothes and great food in the cafeteria for lunch. They also had these little dough balls that had chocolate chips and honey inside that were a great ending to lunch(they made them in takoyaki pans which I talk about later on in this blog post). On Friday I waited in line with a couple of my friends so we could get a good seat. We waited for about 2 hours and then were finally let inside. We were near the front of the line but still had problems finding seats since everyone was saving seats for other people. We found a section that was still open thank goodness- since last time we had to sit on the ground which was not very comfortable. The show started and the audience got quiet. The story was about a boy who was very conseeded and obcessed with himself because he was the most attractive boy in the village. He had a stalker that desperately wanted to be his girlfriend so she set a spell on the girl that he actually liked. He asked for help from an old man to bring her back to normal which worked and they lived happily ever after.
In the middle of the story there was an act where about 16 girls came on stage and sat nealed in a row. They did amazing acts just by moving their arms in different sequences. It looked so awesome- and definitely made the whole play my favorite so far.
After we watched the show, a bunch of us went downtown to hang out at the beach before going to Beppu tower. It was ladies night so we all went to get in for free. Normally it isn't very much fun but that night was awesome. There were a ton of people there and almost all of our friends went also.
The next day, one of the other people in my program, my buddy, and I went to the next biggest town over called Oita. We went really early in the morning so I was pretty tired but I am glad I went. I expected the city to be similar to Beppu but it is completely different. There is so much more to do and it seems so much bigger. We went to two different 7 story department stores that day- where I had a problem of not being able to stop shopping. The style here is very different than America which I don't mind. Some of the things are very interesting, especially the shirts that are written in English but are completely incorrect. I've gotten myself some of those to take back to America.
We later stopped for lunch in a spaghetti bar. The spaghetti is a little different here since they use wheat noodles that are a little harder than what we have in America. All of the foods here are not nearly as processed as they are in America so they don't last as long but they taste so much fresher. I know that I am going to miss the fresh fruits and vegetables here when I leave.
After shopping we looked around the city a little more and then went back to APU.
Some of the people from my program were having a たこやき (takoyaki) party on the first floor of my building. Takoyaki octopus balls that are made in a certain kind of electric frying pan. There is a special way that they have to be turned so that it is cooked well all over. The outside is slightly crispy and the inside is doughy and has chewy pieces of octopus. I had some of that before taking a nap. When I woke up, a couple of us watched the semi-finals of the World Cup before doing my homework and going to bed. Then on Sunday I went to the Jigoku with some of my friends.






This is the finished product- from pancake like batter with octopus pieces to small dough balls. Yes that is large amounts of mayonnaise on it. This is the traditional Fukuoka way of eating takoyaki.

Sports Day

This was one of my favorite days at this point. They shoved us all on a bus that held our program and another smaller program of students that got here a couple of weeks earlier than us. Everyone in my program has buddies and we actually share some of them with this other program which is why they came to Sports Day with us. The other program is a group of 8 guys who are all from Georgia Tech that are all engineers and came here to learn business Japanese. I saw some of the things they were working on and it was really intense (I'm glad I'm not in that program). For sports day they told us to bring some indoor shoes and get ready for some competition so we were all in the dark for what was going to happen. This day was run not by the academic workers or program leaders but solely by the buddies which I was excited to see. We took the bus downtown to a small little side road that I've never been to and we all got off and walked inside.Can you find me?

Now almost everywhere you go in Japan you are probably going to have to remove your shoes before entering- which I am already used to. We got to the neighborhood gym and of course removed our shoes before entering. There is a difference between indoor shoes and outdoor shoes here also. Indoor shoes are shoes that you only wear inside places like gyms where as outdoor shoes are for everywhere else. There are also normally little slippers in the bathroom that you use so you don't wear your indoor shoes into the bathroom. Hence, get shoes that are easy to take off and put back on multiple times if you are planning on coming to Japan.
We got inside after changing shoes and were split into teams. I was on the みどり (green) team and there was also a yellow, blue, and red team. With each team was a few buddies that were leaders of the team as well. We first started with the traditional way of Japanese stretching which is done to music- I've already done it twice since being here and it seems like they use it for most warm-ups. After the warm-up we jumped straight into the sports. The first one was the tug of war competition. Looking at all of the teams, I couldn't really tell who I thought was the best and worst but after the tug of war I quickly determined who I thought would get first and last. My team won the tug of war easily and so we got the maximum points for that and then moved on. Next was a tail catching game. Everyone put their headbands (that were given to us at the beginning) into the back of their pants like tails. The object was to get as many as you can for your team. We ended up getting last so it made me a little nervous about the rest of the games. The next one was a jump rope game which I really liked. Everyone on the team had to jump in and out of the jump rope once. It was a little difficult but I used my jump roping skills from childhood to perfect it. We ended up getting second in the game which meant we were second overall.
The last event was the three legged race. In order to win the whole thing, we had to win this event. I was first paired with one of the tallest kids who was planning on carrying me through the race but we decided that we might get disqualified if we did that and didn't want to risk it so I was then paired with one of the guys from the Georgia Tech program. Everyone on our team had to go at least once through the race. We started quickly, kept up with everyone, and ended up winning by a landslide. This pushed us into first place! We all sat down at the end of the day and they talked about the places of the teams and handed out prizes. For our team, we all got a huge bag of Japanese snacks and our leader gave us all chocolate ice cream balls that were delicious. I was just glad that we didn't lose because the losers had to help clean everything up.
Overall it was a very fun day and I got to hang out with people that I wouldn't have normally hung out with. I also got to know some of the buddies better which was fun. After Sports Day, we had the choice of either going back to school or staying in town. A bunch of us decided to stay in town and I was one of them. It takes about 45 minutes from APU to get down to the middle of town and it also costs almost $5 every time so whenever we get a free ride downtown, we take advantage of it. One of my friends, Connor, and I went to a local rental store called つたや(Tsutaya). They sell and rent CDs, magazines, videos, and so many other things. We picked out about 5 movies and went to go check out. Before we got to Tsutaya someone told us that we needed to get a membership card so we attempted talking to one of the workers to tell him that we didn't have one. It took twice as long as it should have because of how polite Japanese people are. We assumed that what he was saying was telling us what we needed but it was actually like he was telling us that what we had was alright- or something. I'm not really sure what was going on but we ended up successfully getting a membership card and renting the movies. They were only 100 yen each for a week which is about $1! It was pretty cool.
We went further into town and played some Pachinko at one of the arcades before going to dinner at a Korean BBQ place. The food was so good and I've realized that I have fallen in love with the sauce they put on the lettuce wraps that come with the meat. The only that sucks is that it is normally refrigerated so there is no way to bring it home- my goal is to find it somewhere in America though.
We went back to campus after that and I finished the day by working on my homework. I realized that things in Japan seem to be completely opposite than in America sometimes. I learned that their rest day in Japan is normally Wednesdays rather than Fridays like it is in America. Most upperclassmen don't have classes on Wednesdays because it is a little break in the middle of the week which is pretty nice- but of course my program still has classes on Wednesdays. They also focus much more on academics and a lot less on sports. APU, even though it is only 10 years old, doesn't have any varsity sports- they only have circles which are like clubs in America. The facilities here are also very minuscule which is definitely the opposite of America. The soccer field is actually in better condition than the baseball field which surprised me. It was my first time seeing an all dirt baseball field because I am so used to seeing beautiful green grass at UNCW and my high school- where they worship the ground where the baseball players play. The sports gyms are very different here also. They look about the same size as my elementary school and they are used for sports as well as a stage. They are all the same here but they look so different than the ones in America- it's just weird to see people care about other things that don't involve sports.

Long Weekend Out

The night after the tea ceremony, a couple of my friends and I went to the Korean week event. It wasn't very exciting so we left early and went grocery shopping at the closest grocery store which is at the bottom of the hill. The drinking age here is 20 but they most rely on honesty so I haven't heard of anyone getting carded for buying alcohol yet- also some Japanese people told me that all "gaijin," what they call foreigners, always look older. We bought some alcohol and groceries and then went back to AP House to watch a weird movie. The next day we all hung out and then went to Karaoke in town. The Karaoke in Japan is so different than in America. A lot of people do it here and you actually go and rent a room at a Karaoke bar. There are big and small rooms depending on how many people are in your group and they have huge projectors that play the song lyrics and funny videos that play in the background. There were a bunch of us so we got two rooms and sang for a couple of hours. They have a remote controlled touch screen where you pick all of the songs and then can also skip songs from it. It was a lot better than just doing karaoke in someone's basement in America.
After karaoke, a couple of us went to go play Pachinko for a little and then everyone was planning on going to a bar after that. We met up with some of the buddies on the way back from Pachinko and went to a bad with them. There were some of their friends hanging out at a small bar that was having its grand opening that night. We went in and sat down in the back where we ordered drinks. The bartender than came over and asked us if we wanted to do Karaoke- we asked how much and he told us it would be 1000 yen a person- which is a little more than $10. We told him no thanks since we had just finished doing it before and we also only paid $4 before. He came back with our drinks and told us we could now do it for free. So we did it for a couple of songs before he came back and told us that if we did anymore than he would have to charge us- so we stopped. We hung out in the bar for a while and there was a crazy man there from "NATO" who was having a heated conversation with one of the people we came with. He then proceeded to talk to our group at the table and started throwing out insults left and right. We then decided that it was time to leave so we went to pay for our drinks. My bill ended up being 1800 yen- almost $20! He told me that there was an "entrance fee" that we had to pay- but of course they didn't tell us about it until it was time to leave so it was really like and exit fee. I was so mad because my drink was only 600 yen and I didn't know I had to pay triple that to come to some random bar and sing a few karaoke songs. He ended up giving me a "discount" but then told our Japanese friends that the price for foreigners is different then Japanese people- so they wouldn't have to pay as much as us later.
We ended up paying and leaving but this made us so mad. We met up with the other people we came downtown with and went to an all night diner that sells American food. I wasn't very hungry so I got some corn soup- which was not very good. We then went to the bar called 68 where we watched the American World Cup game- so sad that they lost. By the time the game was over, we were able to watch the sunrise from the taxi ride home. It was a very exhausting weekend with not much fun involved but that is the only time of the trip that I wasn't very happy about, so it's fine. Moral of the story, in Japan- ask how much you have to pay before you get into the bar so you don't get surprised with a huge bill before you leave.

Tea Ceremony

Wow. I've been so busy with school work that I haven't gotten a chance to write in this for a while. I'll start from where I last stopped though. My program was randomly split into two groups where for a traditional Japanese tea ceremony. The first group had their tea ceremony the week before and I had mine on Friday. I didn't feel well that day so I didn't go to class but I forgot to set an alarm so I somehow woke myself up just in time to run to the tea ceremony. It was pouring down rain and I didn't bring an umbrella with me when I was running there so I showed up soaking wet. That is why I look like a wet rat in all the pictures :(
The ceremony took place in a tea room that is randomly placed in the middle of our classroom building. There is an open space near the door and then a platform filled with tatami mats and paper doors around the vicinity. I walked in and sat down with everyone else who was sitting around the edges of the room. They all had fans so I grabbed one when I walked in.
Once everyone was there, the sensei came out and showed us all where to sit. Tea ceremonies are probably one of the most traditional things in Japanese culture- in my opinion. There are rules/ ways of doing things for everything. The way you enter the room, what you say, how you sit etc. We were all placed in our respective places and showed how to sit as well. Japanese people sit with their legs underneath them and their bottom resting on their heels or in between their heels. We learned this way before but soon realized that it is a lot harder than it looks. The teacher showed us and then told us that is was alright to sit normally when we were resting. She told us all about some of the history in tea ceremonies and what you should and should not do. We then split up into two groups- the tea makers and tea drinkers. We ate our tea treats first- which you always eat before you drink during a tea ceremony. There is a special way to hold the chopsticks when picking up the treat and also a way to fold your napkin (let alone a different size napkin for men than there are for women- crazy huh). The sensei then showed us how to make tea. My group was the first to make it and it was a pretty awesome experience. We had a bowl, powdered tea, hot water, and a wooden whisk that looked like a BBQ brush and a whisk put together, just small enough to fit in your hand. You had to whisk the tea in a back and fourth motion until it frothed- which was a huge arm workout. Then it is handed to the other people to drink. You are supposed to drink it in three sips and hold it with the label of the bowl facing the outside. You then sip to the last drop and move it counterclockwise back to where the label is facing you. Then it is placed on the ground where you place your elbows onto your thighs and you examine the pretty art and who crafted the bowl.
We then switched where the other group made the tea and my group drank it. The tea was pretty strong but I thought it was delicious. We then practiced entering the room and waiting for the host to serve us tea. You have to say "sorry for entering/doing before you" and time you eat or go somewhere before the person behind. Then you walk into the room by scooting in and bowing. You then get up and walk but not picking up your feet so it makes a swooshing sound- meant for the owners to know you have arrived. You look at the artwork, flowers, things to make the tea with, and then wait for everyone else to enter the room and do the same. Then the tea ceremony can begin. It was a great experience and I learned so much about the culture from just a small event we had. I liked it a lot but I heard that sometimes they can take as much as 2 hours! People have even majored in tea ceremonies- so they definitely take it seriously here. That is one thing that I know I will miss in America- they have so many traditions and cultural events here that we don't seem to have in America which is too bad.

Onsen and Korean Week

I've realized that I barely have any time these days for free time with all of the studying I'm doing after my long classes. We have our midterm on Monday which came so quickly!! I am really nervous!
Last week was Korean week for the cultural weeks and I went to some of the events. It rained for most of the week so most of their events got pushed back but we went to the "Korean Idol" event on Thursday. I swear all Asians have beautiful voices because there were so many of them on stage and they could all sing so well. There was singing and dancing on the outside stadium here between the buildings. I stayed for a while before I had to go back and study so it was a good break from the day. I also learned how to make Korean food one of the days! There was a dessert pancake, spicy soup, mochi balls (a gooey ball made from pounded rice), and a rice snack square. I got the recipe for the dessert pancakes because they were absolutely delicious. This is one thing I love about living in the dorm on this campus- I am so involved in every event they have and I have learned so much about out countries and their cultures. Every Friday night is the final show which I went to with a couple of friends and it was very interesting. I learned that the Korean alphabet is made up of only three symbols- that's it! すごい！(cool!)
On Wednesday, a couple of the people in my program, one of their buddies, and I went to a "secret onsen." An onsen is a natural bath made of hot water that comes out of the ground. The locals use the hot steam that comes up from the earth as a natural bath and steam room. They make mini huts from reeds to keep the smoke in and either go in there or even cook things- we had pudding cooked by the steam of the earth! The only problem is it smells pretty bad from the sulfur but once you get used to it then it isn't that bad. We had to hike up a hill for about an hour- realized that we went the wrong way and hiked about half way back down before finding the right way. It was definitely a long walk and I felt the pain the next day but it was well worth the trip. It was a small area tucked away on the middle of the hill. There were a bunch of tubs there that were all different temperatures which was awesome- we went from one to another a few times before leaving. Beppu, the city I am in, is considered the capital of onsens in Japan which is pretty interesting and I'm glad I got to experience it. After soaking in the onsens, we went and got homemade udon noodles from a small restaurant on the way to the bus stop. I got home and passed out from the amazing bath and it made my skin feel so smooth. After the onsen we were supposed to go to a karoke party but it got rescheduled due to everyone having too much homework that day. I was looking forward to it though because karoke in Japan is very different than in America!

Weekend Nagasaki Trip!

Everyone in my program went on a trip to Nagasaki through the school. We left at 8:15 on Saturday morning on a charter bus that came equipped with our personal tour guide for the weekend! We got there in about 3 1/2 hours which I definitely slept through. Upon arriving, we ate dinner at a really nice hotel restaurant and then had a couple of minutes to explore so we toured the oldest Chinatown in Japan- which happen to be right next door. It was such a beautiful day and we all hopped back on the bus and headed to our next destination- Dejima.
Dejima is an artifical island built a lonnng time ago for trading purposes. I have never heard about this place before so it was a great learning experience. The Dutch were the last to own it so the whole island was very European.
The Dutch traders used the island as a trading post because it was the furthest point off Nagasaki so everyone who was dropping off cargo would post up at the island. They also were not allowed to have their families live on the island so the Japanese would supply them with Geisha Girls!! We walked around there and learned some pretty neat things about the area and the island (which actually isn't an island anymore since the Japanese expanded past it and further into the ocean).
Afterwords we got back on the bus and headed to our next stop, the Nagasaki Atomic Bomb Museum and the Peace Park. It was a quick ride to the museum and a couple of sightseeing spots on the way so it went quickly. All 34 of us stumbled out of the bus and entered the museum. They did not allow any pictures to be taken inside- like most museums, so all I did was take in all of the information. I learned so much about the atomic bombing like how the bomb was detonated before it hit the ground for it to have a bigger impact and that 100% of the people in 3ish km died from the bombing. It was a pretty intense museum but I feel like going to the Holocaust museum before coming to Japan helped a little. They had piles and piles of paper cranes all around the museum and park. They told us that 1,000 cranes represent getting well if you are sick and also represents peace. Children that would come and visit the park with their schools would make 1,000 cranes and donate them to the museum for peace (these are some of the cranes that students have made on chains). The Japanese do not necessarily have an army anymore because they do not have a draft so they only have a safety group that people can volunteer their time to help in crisis. They focus heavily on peace and no war instead.









After the museum we went to the Peace Park which was just a few streets away. The Peace Park was built to house sculptures that are representative of the bombing as well as ground zero. They have a famous statue of a blue man who is holding his hands and placing his feet in certain places to represent different symbols like peace and meditation (The picture above is me standing in front of the statue, being a crazy tourist). There was also a beautiful fountain and a memorial for those who have died from the bombing as well as related causes to the bombing. The number is around 150,000 and is still growing today- fascinating!!
We got some ice cream while there and then got on the bus for our next destination, Glover Garden.


Glover Garden was named after Thomas Glover since his house is located in the garden. It is located at the top of the hill so we worked our way up the hill passing dozens of small souviener shops that sold a lot of the casella- the Spanish bread that Nagasaki is famous for that has been around for years. We reached the top after a steep hill, stairs, and two moving walkways to find ourselves with a beautiful view of all of Nagasaki. There was a coi pond at the top of the hill that was filled with huge coi that just swam around eating the food that was given to them by tourist- I of course joined in. There were pigeons there also that learned to sit in your hand and ate the fish food also. We walked around the plantation and his house that was located a little ways down the hill. There was coi fish all along the way down to the bottom of the hill so we stopped to feed them a couple of times. Thomas Glover was not only a famous entreprenuer but also the creator of Kirin beer- a famous Japanese beer, which I've tried and liked!

After Glover Park we went shopping in the shops on the way down to the bus, I surprisingly didn't get anything- just taste tested foods and pet some tailless kitties on they way down. We got back on the bus and by this time it was 5:30. We checked into our hotel and had half an hour before dinner and then going out- and the hotel had real beds thank goodness, I'm so used to sleeping on a Japanese bed which is practically a board with a thin futon mattress that I slept like a baby when we got back. Our tour guide took us to a traditional dinner place in the middle of Nagasaki that was hard to find- she even had to ask for directions a couple of times. We got a set dinner that was filled with rice that had egg noodles- real eggs made into noodles, fish soup that was solid, daikon- pickled radish, pickled cucumbers- that were definitely not American pickles, a slice of beef in a sauce, and some watermelon. It was actually all very good but I was one of the few that ate or tried everything and liked it. Some people stopped at our now favorite Japanese burger joint called Mos Burger. They have delicious burgers that are healthy and some even have rice patties for buns. I didn't eat anything because I was so stuffed from dinner but I joined the crowd for the conversation. We then hit the town to find a local bar or some place that was playing the World Cup game. We ended up stopping at an outside bar to watch the game and it was across from a pachinko parlor!! We all just hung out during the night and drank while exploring this unknown city. We actually found Nagasaki's makeshift red light district that they call the pink district. The girls here wear business suits and prom dresses here though if they are "workers"- Japanese style is so confusing. Some of us retired back to the hotel later and went to bed so we would be ready for day two. (The picture to the right is one of the many Japanese people we met during the night).
We got up in the morning and had breakfast at the hotel restaurant before hitting the town- and of course it was pouring down rain. We split up into different groups and my group decided to head to a famous shrine. It was located right in the middle of houses and shops in the city. It seemed to fit perfectly even though it was an old shrine that did not belong with the modern buildings standing around it. We walked up the many flights of stairs to find us at the top of the hill in front of the main building. We washed our hands in the communal pool before entering the shrine. There was a wedding taking place in one of the buildings so we could not enter but we walked around outside and found many different places to explore. There were shrines hidden in many different places in the yard but we managed to find some of the pretty ones including a beautiful wishing pond. After exploring some cultural aspects of Nagasaki, we headed over to the local mall. We took the street cars to get from place to place which reminded me so much of Amsterdam. If there wasn't as many cars on the road and no Japanese characters on the buildings then I would have sworn I was still in Amsterdam from looking at everything.
Most of the mall was expensive but it was a good break to be able to shop after all of the walking we had done before. We met up with a couple of other groups and hung out before getting back on the bus. The bus ride home I fell asleep for most of the time also and we then arrived back at APU. We were all exhausted so we all managed to get to our rooms and take naps before we had to work on our homework and get ready for school the next day. It was an interesting and informational weekend to say the least but I had a blast!

This week is mostly going to class everyday and doing homework. We are going to all go to karaoke on Wednesday and then many a public onsen (public bath) and dinner while in the city. It should be a fun day!

Pachinko!

A couple of us went on the Friday night before our trip to Nagasaki to go play pachinko. Pachinko is a gambling game that is somewhat like pinball but also deals mostly with luck. There are pachinko parlors everywhere in Japan and they look exactly like casinos would in America. You sit in front of a machine and try to manover the balls that are being shot out of the side down the pegs and into the cup. Every ball you shoot is minus one but every ball you make in the small cup/slot is plus 2 or 3. The more balls you have at the end of the night, the more money you win. The only thing weird about pachinko is that gambling is illegal in Japan. People have worked out a system though to get around the rules. After winning the game, you turn in all the balls that you have won and get a card with the amount you have received. From there you can choose to get a prize that they have at the counter (things like purses, cameras etc.) or you can ask for money. One of the people in my program asked for money and told me about his experience. He said that they gave him a card with the amount of money he was to receive and they told him he needed to collect his winnings across the street. He was escorted out of the building and into a small shack directly across the street. In there was a man sitting at a desk who took his card and gave him money in return.
What they were doing was a completely different business that happen to accept the cards that the pachinko parlors had, in exchange for money. The "other businesses" are owned by Japanese gangsters called yakuza. It is a pretty interesting concept.
A few people and I went to go play the other night and realized that since everything is in Japanese- it's harder to play then we had expected but we still gave it a try. We didn't end up winning anything but it was a fun and interesting experience. I definitely plan on going back after I am more experienced and hopefully winning some money!!!

World Festival Dance

Here are some of the RA's dancing at the World Festival on stage. They had a long dance that was all so cool!

天気 (Weather)

As you might be able to tell, I've been working on my peace signs since arriving in Japan. I noticed that most of the girls here do it so I've been trying to fit in. Some of the girls here and I went shopping the other day and I got some Japanese clothes so hopefully I will fit in a little more.
Every day we have classes and then we have a group study session after classes with our buddies. Our buddies are Japanese students that we are paired up with to help us out whenever we need it. They help us all with our homework at these sessions and then we have a fun game to end the period with. Yesterday we taught all of the Japanese students "Duck, duck, goose!" which we played in the lawn in between the buildings. It was extremely funny to play because they were getting a kick out of it and it had rained the day before so the ground was a little slippery and everyone kept falling when running around the circle.
The weather has been pretty crazy the last couple of days here. Since we are on top of a hill, the clouds sometimes loom over the school. The day that we were supposed to go to Monkey Mountain- I opened my window and could barely see the ground that was 4 stories below. It is either really nice and hot here or it is cold and really foggy. This is the tower that we have to climb everyday to get from our dorms to the campus which is slightly higher up the hill.
This is a picture of my dorm hallway. I live on the 4th floor and almost all of the students on my floor are from an Asian country- most being from Japan. I've been working hard on my speaking skills which have already improved a lot since being here for only two weeks. I feel like when I was in America I would never practice my speaking skills and since I am forced to talk in class and with my friends here then I am progressively improving. I've actually met a lot of people even though I haven't been here for that long. Every time we go out, most of the students gather at the beach before going out to the bars so that is where we meet so many different people. I met a lot of people who are from a different American program that started a couple of weeks before ours did. I've also met a lot of Japanese students that live on the floor above me and on my floor as well.




The sunrise from my room and at the beach: