Alright, the bathrooms here in Japan are really whacked out. At home we have one room with a urinal in it, which I never enter and therefore know nothing about. But in another room we have the toilet that everybody can use. Thankfully it's a western style toilet instead of a squat toilet. In fact it's a really nice western style toilet. The seat is always warm and it has a panel of buttons on the side that you can choose from. For example one button makes it shoot water at you so you don't have to wipe yourself. Another button plays music while you do your business. And when you're done you can push the flusher two ways. If you press the one at my house down, then it does a small flush and if you press it up it does a big flush. So, basically, if you do a number 2 you press up. And when you press it, while it flushes, water will come out of the faucet in the mini sink that is on top of the tank.
At school we have some nice bathrooms, but the toilet seats aren't warmed, which is kinda not nice in winter. But they have these nice little boxes in every stall attached to the wall that has a sensor. And if you stick your palm up in front of the sensor it'll start playing this flushing sound for about 25 seconds while you do your business. Every stall also comes equipped with toilet seat sanitizer.
However, most public restrooms have a majority of squat toilets, which I absolutely refuse to use. I've been into those bathrooms and they smell absolutely horrible. There's always urine all over the floor, too, which is just gross.
But some of the buildings have these little areas of bumps on the floors. At first I thought they were just random, but it turns out they are sensors too. Like in one of the building's stair wells they have the bumpy things at the top and bottom of each set of stairs. When you step on them the lights come on either downstairs or upstairs, wherever you're headed. They also have those for the bathrooms as well as the escalators. The escalators are always working, but when you step on the bumps they speed up.
Another convenience about Japan is that you pay your insurance and other bills at the convenience stores! Any convenience store, you show them the paper, they stamp it, you pay it. It's kind of cool, except you have to pay in cash. That's one bad thing about living here, you have to pay with cash at most places.
Tuesday, November 27, 2007
Monday, November 19, 2007
Daily Life Part 5
Alright, winding down the weekday.
Once I get home I park my bike on this mini walkway between the house and the gravel driveway. That's one thing I kind of miss about Texas, I rarely see any sort of stretch of grass here. Most gardens just have rocks and gravel. Then I walk around to the front door and unlock it. I take off my shoes, put on my slippers and shuffle on down the hall to my room where I set my bag down and then I go to the kitchen/dining/den where my host mom waits up for me while watching TV. Usually I'm the last one home at night so the shower is pretty much always free. That's one drawback to only having one bathroom, one shower, and one sink area between four people. It takes a lot of time for everybody to use them, especially the shower.
I go back to my room, grab my towels and night clothes and hygiene bag and proceed to shower. Whenever I come home late during the week I don't get to soak in the bath, which kind of sucks. On Wednesdays and the weekends, however, I get to soak in the bath like the rest of the family. It feels so good! See, we have to take a thorough shower and wash our hair before we can get in the bath. Before dinner my host mom fills the tub with hot water and puts some sort of liquid thing in it so that it's this faint green color and it smells really good. Once the tub is three quarters full she uses this mat to cover the bath so that it stays warm. One time the water was exceptionally hot. It left a distinct line across my shoulders! From the shoulders down I was bright red for about half an hour after I got out of the bath! I thought I had burned myself.
But once I'm done showering I go back to my room, put up my towels, get out my futon and go to sleep.
I'm out of time now, so I'll go into the weekend next time.
Once I get home I park my bike on this mini walkway between the house and the gravel driveway. That's one thing I kind of miss about Texas, I rarely see any sort of stretch of grass here. Most gardens just have rocks and gravel. Then I walk around to the front door and unlock it. I take off my shoes, put on my slippers and shuffle on down the hall to my room where I set my bag down and then I go to the kitchen/dining/den where my host mom waits up for me while watching TV. Usually I'm the last one home at night so the shower is pretty much always free. That's one drawback to only having one bathroom, one shower, and one sink area between four people. It takes a lot of time for everybody to use them, especially the shower.
I go back to my room, grab my towels and night clothes and hygiene bag and proceed to shower. Whenever I come home late during the week I don't get to soak in the bath, which kind of sucks. On Wednesdays and the weekends, however, I get to soak in the bath like the rest of the family. It feels so good! See, we have to take a thorough shower and wash our hair before we can get in the bath. Before dinner my host mom fills the tub with hot water and puts some sort of liquid thing in it so that it's this faint green color and it smells really good. Once the tub is three quarters full she uses this mat to cover the bath so that it stays warm. One time the water was exceptionally hot. It left a distinct line across my shoulders! From the shoulders down I was bright red for about half an hour after I got out of the bath! I thought I had burned myself.
But once I'm done showering I go back to my room, put up my towels, get out my futon and go to sleep.
I'm out of time now, so I'll go into the weekend next time.
Thursday, November 15, 2007
Daily Life Part 4
So, in answer to YourMove's question on the kind of exercises we do during kendo warm up:
We start off just jumping up and down on the balls of our feet for 16 counts. Then we alternate between squatting with our knees facing outward and standing while bending over so that our heads are on a level with our knees for another 16 counts. Next we we stick our left leg out to the side and bend slightly over it and stretch that for 8 counts, then we switch legs and continue for another 8 counts. Then we squat on our right leg so that our bottoms hit our heel and stick the left leg out to the side for 8 counts and then switch for another 8 counts. Next we stand up and turn to the left, sticking our right leg slightly behind us with the foot flat on the floor and we bend the left leg forwards to stretch the calf. We do that for 16 counts and then we switch legs for another 16 counts. This is a really important stretch because your left calf is where the power comes from when you move in kendo.
Then we do this weird thing where we bend our arms at the elbow and rotate them around ourselves to stretch the arms. It's kind of hard to explain, sorry. Next we alternate between looking down and up for 16 counts. Then we lean our heads to the sides and alternate sides for 16 counts. Then we roll our heads around clockwise and counterclockwise for 8 counts apiece.
Next we take about a minute break then we pick up our shinai (the sword) and we do にきゅどう (nikyudou) for 20 counts. Then we take a short break and we do another 20 counts. Nikyudou is basically where you hold the shinai where the pommel is on level with your naval and the end is pointing at where you would strike a tsuki (throat) on another player. Then you step forward with your right foot and follow quickly with your left foot and make a men (top of the head) strike. Then you step back with your right foot and follow quickly with your left foot while making another men strike. Each men strike is a count.
Then we take another break and after that we do 20 counts of さんきゅどう (sankyudou). Sankyudou is basically the same as nikyudou except it's much faster, so you're practically jumping back and forth and your shinai moves much faster. Also you only do a men strike while going forward. Thank goodness, or my arms would have fallen off by now. Once we're finished with the 20th sankyudou we run through a men strike. So we make a men strike while pretty much stomping our right foot forward and sort of skipping through a couple more steps. Then we turn around and do it in the opposite direction.
I hope that answers your question. ^^
So I know have a bicycle and I've ridden it to and from school for the past two days now. This is the first time I've ridden a bike in about 10 years. Oh my goodness! My thigh muscles were so tight when I got off after riding it for the first time that I thought I was going to fall over! It takes me about 35 minutes to bike from my host family's house to school. My first day riding it was kind of rough. I accidentally hit my handlebar against a pole while trying to avoid a pedestrian during the morning. Then, at night, this guy was riding his bike in the middle of the sidewalk, so I moved over to try to avoid him, but my pedal hit this low concrete wall so I spilled over onto the wall. My leg got a bit scratched up, but the skin didn't break. However, my hand was not so lucky. I had put out my left hand to break my fall and I guess the wall cut it.
I didn't even notice the cuts until I was washing my face at home and the face soap that I use got into the cut and began to sting. They wouldn't be quite so bad if they weren't in such an awkward place. I have about 3 separate cuts on the inside of my middle finger where it is connected to my palm.
I tell you what though, Japan is going to kill me! Since I've gotten here I've acquired 7 blisters on my feet. I've also gotten minor injuries in kendo. See, the dojo has a wooden floor. And about a month ago when I had first started something sharp on the floor had sliced through a piece of skin on the underside of my foot where my big toe connects to the rest of my foot. I had accidentally bled on the dojo floor, too. I kind of felt bad about that...but on Tuesday night during practice I was doing the nikyudou by myself when I felt something sharp on my foot. I leaned down to examine the floor because the girls who had done up my foot last time had asked me where I had gotten the cut. Well, sure enough there was this rough spot between two of the boards, so I got one of my friends' attention and she insisted on looking at my foot. It turns out that I'd gotten a splinter in the middle of the exact same spot where I'd gotten that cut from the previous month. Just when it was starting to finish healing, too.
Otherwise, it's nice not having to pay for transportation now. ^^
We start off just jumping up and down on the balls of our feet for 16 counts. Then we alternate between squatting with our knees facing outward and standing while bending over so that our heads are on a level with our knees for another 16 counts. Next we we stick our left leg out to the side and bend slightly over it and stretch that for 8 counts, then we switch legs and continue for another 8 counts. Then we squat on our right leg so that our bottoms hit our heel and stick the left leg out to the side for 8 counts and then switch for another 8 counts. Next we stand up and turn to the left, sticking our right leg slightly behind us with the foot flat on the floor and we bend the left leg forwards to stretch the calf. We do that for 16 counts and then we switch legs for another 16 counts. This is a really important stretch because your left calf is where the power comes from when you move in kendo.
Then we do this weird thing where we bend our arms at the elbow and rotate them around ourselves to stretch the arms. It's kind of hard to explain, sorry. Next we alternate between looking down and up for 16 counts. Then we lean our heads to the sides and alternate sides for 16 counts. Then we roll our heads around clockwise and counterclockwise for 8 counts apiece.
Next we take about a minute break then we pick up our shinai (the sword) and we do にきゅどう (nikyudou) for 20 counts. Then we take a short break and we do another 20 counts. Nikyudou is basically where you hold the shinai where the pommel is on level with your naval and the end is pointing at where you would strike a tsuki (throat) on another player. Then you step forward with your right foot and follow quickly with your left foot and make a men (top of the head) strike. Then you step back with your right foot and follow quickly with your left foot while making another men strike. Each men strike is a count.
Then we take another break and after that we do 20 counts of さんきゅどう (sankyudou). Sankyudou is basically the same as nikyudou except it's much faster, so you're practically jumping back and forth and your shinai moves much faster. Also you only do a men strike while going forward. Thank goodness, or my arms would have fallen off by now. Once we're finished with the 20th sankyudou we run through a men strike. So we make a men strike while pretty much stomping our right foot forward and sort of skipping through a couple more steps. Then we turn around and do it in the opposite direction.
I hope that answers your question. ^^
So I know have a bicycle and I've ridden it to and from school for the past two days now. This is the first time I've ridden a bike in about 10 years. Oh my goodness! My thigh muscles were so tight when I got off after riding it for the first time that I thought I was going to fall over! It takes me about 35 minutes to bike from my host family's house to school. My first day riding it was kind of rough. I accidentally hit my handlebar against a pole while trying to avoid a pedestrian during the morning. Then, at night, this guy was riding his bike in the middle of the sidewalk, so I moved over to try to avoid him, but my pedal hit this low concrete wall so I spilled over onto the wall. My leg got a bit scratched up, but the skin didn't break. However, my hand was not so lucky. I had put out my left hand to break my fall and I guess the wall cut it.
I didn't even notice the cuts until I was washing my face at home and the face soap that I use got into the cut and began to sting. They wouldn't be quite so bad if they weren't in such an awkward place. I have about 3 separate cuts on the inside of my middle finger where it is connected to my palm.
I tell you what though, Japan is going to kill me! Since I've gotten here I've acquired 7 blisters on my feet. I've also gotten minor injuries in kendo. See, the dojo has a wooden floor. And about a month ago when I had first started something sharp on the floor had sliced through a piece of skin on the underside of my foot where my big toe connects to the rest of my foot. I had accidentally bled on the dojo floor, too. I kind of felt bad about that...but on Tuesday night during practice I was doing the nikyudou by myself when I felt something sharp on my foot. I leaned down to examine the floor because the girls who had done up my foot last time had asked me where I had gotten the cut. Well, sure enough there was this rough spot between two of the boards, so I got one of my friends' attention and she insisted on looking at my foot. It turns out that I'd gotten a splinter in the middle of the exact same spot where I'd gotten that cut from the previous month. Just when it was starting to finish healing, too.
Otherwise, it's nice not having to pay for transportation now. ^^
Wednesday, November 14, 2007
Daily Life Part 3
Alright, now it's time for the fun stuff. On Mondays, Tuesdays, Thursdays, and Fridays I have kendo practice at 6:00 PM. I head over to the girls locker room at about 5:30 unless I have traditional Japanese literature. The girls "locker room" is basically just a small room located in the building that's right next door to Meimeikan. On the first floor is a convenience store called AM PM. Upstairs, however, there are a whole bunch of rooms for clubs and stuff I'm assuming. Once I get on the right floor I go down to the kendo girls' room and take off my shoes before entering.
The inside is basically a small rectangular room with two sets of low shelves on two walls and everybody hangs up their uniforms on hangers that hang off of the wall. Usually when I get in the room I just set my bag down on the floor and go grab the uniform I'm being lent. First I put on the keikogi which is the top part of the uniform. It's really easy to put on. You just slip your arms into the sleeves and then you tie the inside tie and then the outside tie and you're done.
The hakama (bottom part) is a bit more difficult. You stick your legs into the legs and then you drop the back part which has a stiff band of cloth at the top. There are strings coming out of either side of the front part of the hakama which you wrap around yourself twice before tying it in a bow in the back. Then you pick up the back part which also has two strings attached to either side of it. You wrap the strings around you so that they are in front and then you put one of the strings through the strings from the front part and make a square knot with it. Then you tuck the excess strings into the side slits of the hakama and you're ready to go.
Then we go downstairs and go to the next building which has a gym and a couple of dojos in it. The gym is on the first floor. We use the dojo on the third floor which the high school kendo team uses before us. We have to take off our shoes before we enter the main part of the dojo and we can't wear socks either. We usually start out with basic stretches and then we run through some warm up exercises that use the basic form of kendo. Then we go off to the side where the other members suit up in their armor. We gaijin just kind of sit there in seiza (sitting with our feet tucked under our bottoms) while everybody suits up. Then they start off with their group exercises. Sometimes they make me join in sometimes I'm left to my own devices, but they always give me feedback which is nice. I think the guys kind of ignore Thomas sometimes.
Once kendo is over, though, I have to get dinner and then I catch the school bus back to Fuchinobe and then the city bus back to my house. And I'll write more next time. I have four mid-terms coming up next week, so I better get cracking!
The inside is basically a small rectangular room with two sets of low shelves on two walls and everybody hangs up their uniforms on hangers that hang off of the wall. Usually when I get in the room I just set my bag down on the floor and go grab the uniform I'm being lent. First I put on the keikogi which is the top part of the uniform. It's really easy to put on. You just slip your arms into the sleeves and then you tie the inside tie and then the outside tie and you're done.
The hakama (bottom part) is a bit more difficult. You stick your legs into the legs and then you drop the back part which has a stiff band of cloth at the top. There are strings coming out of either side of the front part of the hakama which you wrap around yourself twice before tying it in a bow in the back. Then you pick up the back part which also has two strings attached to either side of it. You wrap the strings around you so that they are in front and then you put one of the strings through the strings from the front part and make a square knot with it. Then you tuck the excess strings into the side slits of the hakama and you're ready to go.
Then we go downstairs and go to the next building which has a gym and a couple of dojos in it. The gym is on the first floor. We use the dojo on the third floor which the high school kendo team uses before us. We have to take off our shoes before we enter the main part of the dojo and we can't wear socks either. We usually start out with basic stretches and then we run through some warm up exercises that use the basic form of kendo. Then we go off to the side where the other members suit up in their armor. We gaijin just kind of sit there in seiza (sitting with our feet tucked under our bottoms) while everybody suits up. Then they start off with their group exercises. Sometimes they make me join in sometimes I'm left to my own devices, but they always give me feedback which is nice. I think the guys kind of ignore Thomas sometimes.
Once kendo is over, though, I have to get dinner and then I catch the school bus back to Fuchinobe and then the city bus back to my house. And I'll write more next time. I have four mid-terms coming up next week, so I better get cracking!
Monday, November 12, 2007
Daily Life Part 2
Alright, I've already talked about a normal weekday morning for me before school, so now I think I'll talk about my typical school day.
Usually I arrive at school at about 8:10 AM. Since classes start at 9:00 I just sit in the building where most of my classes are which is called 明々館 (meimeikan). I think that literally means bright building, but I'm not sure. At any rate, the first floor is basically a room with a whole bunch of tables and chairs scattered throughout. Most of the foreign exchange students have most of their classes in this building, so that's where we all usually hang out if we're not in class. People gradually begin to drift in, but usually I'm about the second or third person there.
Anyway, my first class everyday from 9:00 AM to 10:30 AM is Japanese language class. In this class we have different teachers. We see one sensei (a male) on Monday and first period on Friday. We have a really quiet female sensei on Tuesday and second period on Friday. And we have another female sensei who speaks almost no English on Wednesday and Thursday. Every Monday we turn in our homework and take a grammar quiz. Then we either learn new grammar, or we drill grammar that we've previously learned. On Tuesdays we turn in our homework, take a grammar quiz and go over kanji and old grammar. On Wednesdays we turn in our homework, take a vocabulary quiz, and practice writing essays in Japanese using grammar that we're learning. On Thursdays, we turn in our homework, take a kanji quiz, and practice conversational skills with Japanese college students who come into our class to help us out. We usually call them class guests, which is kind of weird, I think, but that's what I'm going to be calling them from now on.
On Friday we have two periods of Japanese language back to back. In first period we turn in our homework, take a grammar quiz, and learn new grammar. In second period we take a grammar quiz over the grammar we learned the previous period and continue to drill that grammar. We get about a 10 minute break in between periods. Some of my classmates run across the street to the コンビニ (konbini) or convenience store or the co-op and buy snacks or something while others either go to the bathroom or just stay in the room and start on the homework that we recieved during first period. Everyday we get 2 pages of homework, except for Fridays when we get 4 pages.
On Mondays during second period (10:40 - 12:10) I have an elementary kanji class which has been teaching us different ways to look up kanji in a dictionary, which is really really useful. On Tuesdays during second period I have survival conversation class which is full of all sorts of useful stuff. On Thursdays during second period I have a tutorial, which allows me to do anything I want as long as it involves learning or using Japanese. We get access to the Japanese language learning library and its resources. We also have access to class guests who pretty much talk with you in Japanese all period. I have decided to use grammar dictionaries and a vocabulary dictionary to translate the subtitles of one of my movies: Lemony Snicket's a Series of Unfortunate Events.
On Tuesdays and Fridays during fifth period (4:10 - 5:40) I have a Traditional Japanese Literature class that's really interesting. So far we've been covering poetry which was the basis of Japanese literature like in the Man'yoshu and Kokinshu. Lately we've been looking at the Tales of Ise (いせのものがたり） and the Tale of the Bamboo Cutter (たけとりものがたり) which feature a bit more narrative. Although it's kind of funny because the narrative part is used to supplement the poetry. I think we'll be covering the Tale of Genji next which should be interesting. We've actually had to write two different poems for the class already.
And on Wednesdays for second and third period (10:40-12:10 and 12:50-2:20) I have a class called Fieldwork D. Basically it's a class where we take trips to local elementary, middle, and high schools and give presentations to the students there about our home countries. It's really kind of difficult for me because we have to do it in Japanese because of course the kids don't speak that much English. And on top of that most of the students in that class are from China and can speak really good Japanese. My host sister is actually in that class with me. We have a couple of classmates from Korea, two from Thailand, we had one from Mongolia, one from the Philippines (Pam), and only two of us are from the U.S. In fact I am the only white person in the entire class! The other girl from the U.S. is Hawaiian. But it really is a fun class. Tomorrow I'll be going to an elementary school to help the kids with their English lessons, so that should be fun.
Lunch is from 12:10-12:50, so we don't get a whole lot of time. On Wednesdays when I go to schools I usually eat the school's lunch with the kids and then play with them a bit afterwards. On any other weekday I'm on my own for lunch. Usually my friends and I cross the street and go to this small パン屋 (panya) or bread store and get sandwiches. It's called New Saffron and it's really cheap. Sometimes we'll go to the cafeteria called Sakura Cafe and get traditional Japanese food or something, but usually most of us are pretty tight with our money, so we just go to New Saffron.
Usually when I'm done with class I either hang out in Meimeikan or at a friend's apartment until it's time for kendo practice. But more on kendo next time.
As for the previous comments:
Yes, I have been to McDonald's here, but I will go into more detail on that later. We haven't had any snow yet, but I'm sure we'll be getting some by the time December rolls around. Yes I do have a boyfriend now, and NO, he's not Japanese! Haha, he's from the states as well.
Yes, I have found myself daydreaming about Austin. I kind of miss living on my own, where I don't have to account for my actions. Don't get me wrong, my host family is great and very generous. But I feel like I am constantly giving them a hard time.
Usually I arrive at school at about 8:10 AM. Since classes start at 9:00 I just sit in the building where most of my classes are which is called 明々館 (meimeikan). I think that literally means bright building, but I'm not sure. At any rate, the first floor is basically a room with a whole bunch of tables and chairs scattered throughout. Most of the foreign exchange students have most of their classes in this building, so that's where we all usually hang out if we're not in class. People gradually begin to drift in, but usually I'm about the second or third person there.
Anyway, my first class everyday from 9:00 AM to 10:30 AM is Japanese language class. In this class we have different teachers. We see one sensei (a male) on Monday and first period on Friday. We have a really quiet female sensei on Tuesday and second period on Friday. And we have another female sensei who speaks almost no English on Wednesday and Thursday. Every Monday we turn in our homework and take a grammar quiz. Then we either learn new grammar, or we drill grammar that we've previously learned. On Tuesdays we turn in our homework, take a grammar quiz and go over kanji and old grammar. On Wednesdays we turn in our homework, take a vocabulary quiz, and practice writing essays in Japanese using grammar that we're learning. On Thursdays, we turn in our homework, take a kanji quiz, and practice conversational skills with Japanese college students who come into our class to help us out. We usually call them class guests, which is kind of weird, I think, but that's what I'm going to be calling them from now on.
On Friday we have two periods of Japanese language back to back. In first period we turn in our homework, take a grammar quiz, and learn new grammar. In second period we take a grammar quiz over the grammar we learned the previous period and continue to drill that grammar. We get about a 10 minute break in between periods. Some of my classmates run across the street to the コンビニ (konbini) or convenience store or the co-op and buy snacks or something while others either go to the bathroom or just stay in the room and start on the homework that we recieved during first period. Everyday we get 2 pages of homework, except for Fridays when we get 4 pages.
On Mondays during second period (10:40 - 12:10) I have an elementary kanji class which has been teaching us different ways to look up kanji in a dictionary, which is really really useful. On Tuesdays during second period I have survival conversation class which is full of all sorts of useful stuff. On Thursdays during second period I have a tutorial, which allows me to do anything I want as long as it involves learning or using Japanese. We get access to the Japanese language learning library and its resources. We also have access to class guests who pretty much talk with you in Japanese all period. I have decided to use grammar dictionaries and a vocabulary dictionary to translate the subtitles of one of my movies: Lemony Snicket's a Series of Unfortunate Events.
On Tuesdays and Fridays during fifth period (4:10 - 5:40) I have a Traditional Japanese Literature class that's really interesting. So far we've been covering poetry which was the basis of Japanese literature like in the Man'yoshu and Kokinshu. Lately we've been looking at the Tales of Ise (いせのものがたり） and the Tale of the Bamboo Cutter (たけとりものがたり) which feature a bit more narrative. Although it's kind of funny because the narrative part is used to supplement the poetry. I think we'll be covering the Tale of Genji next which should be interesting. We've actually had to write two different poems for the class already.
And on Wednesdays for second and third period (10:40-12:10 and 12:50-2:20) I have a class called Fieldwork D. Basically it's a class where we take trips to local elementary, middle, and high schools and give presentations to the students there about our home countries. It's really kind of difficult for me because we have to do it in Japanese because of course the kids don't speak that much English. And on top of that most of the students in that class are from China and can speak really good Japanese. My host sister is actually in that class with me. We have a couple of classmates from Korea, two from Thailand, we had one from Mongolia, one from the Philippines (Pam), and only two of us are from the U.S. In fact I am the only white person in the entire class! The other girl from the U.S. is Hawaiian. But it really is a fun class. Tomorrow I'll be going to an elementary school to help the kids with their English lessons, so that should be fun.
Lunch is from 12:10-12:50, so we don't get a whole lot of time. On Wednesdays when I go to schools I usually eat the school's lunch with the kids and then play with them a bit afterwards. On any other weekday I'm on my own for lunch. Usually my friends and I cross the street and go to this small パン屋 (panya) or bread store and get sandwiches. It's called New Saffron and it's really cheap. Sometimes we'll go to the cafeteria called Sakura Cafe and get traditional Japanese food or something, but usually most of us are pretty tight with our money, so we just go to New Saffron.
Usually when I'm done with class I either hang out in Meimeikan or at a friend's apartment until it's time for kendo practice. But more on kendo next time.
As for the previous comments:
Yes, I have been to McDonald's here, but I will go into more detail on that later. We haven't had any snow yet, but I'm sure we'll be getting some by the time December rolls around. Yes I do have a boyfriend now, and NO, he's not Japanese! Haha, he's from the states as well.
Yes, I have found myself daydreaming about Austin. I kind of miss living on my own, where I don't have to account for my actions. Don't get me wrong, my host family is great and very generous. But I feel like I am constantly giving them a hard time.
Sunday, November 11, 2007
Daily Life Part 1
Alright, so I guess I'll start telling you guys about what life is like over here for me. So here is a typical Monday morning for me:
I wake up at 5:45 AM, which is later than usual, I know. But I wake up and fold up my fleece blanket and futon blanket and set them aside so I can stretch and exercise on my futon. The reason I use the futon is because our house doesn't have any carpet in it at all, let alone in my room. My room, as I think I've said before has tatami mats in it, so it's really rather hard and uncomfortable without some sort of cushioning. I usually finish up when my host parents' alarm goes off at about 6:00. So when I'm finished I fold up the futon mattress and the futon pad and put them away in my closet which is from about waist height up to the ceiling with sliding doors.
Once that's finished I pick out the clothes I want to wear that day and I proceed to pull them on. At the beginning of my time here it would take me a while because it was really hot and the buildings are not air conditioned very well, so in order to prevent myself from sweating through my clothes I had to wear Gold Bond body powder. The stuff really works, too. If you are ever in Japan in the summer or early fall, I strongly suggest that you bring Gold Bond body powder.
After that I go to the 洗面所 （senmenjo),which is the room that has the sink and washer in it, and I wash my face and put in my contacts. By that time I'm starving, so I head into the kitchen/dining/den where my host mom has set up breakfast. When I first got here we all just had toast or sweet bread, a bowl of fruit and yogurt. But my host mom had asked me once if I liked cereal, which I do, so now she buys cereal especially for me. I feel kind of bad about it, but she buys me this chocolate corn-flake cereal which is really really good.
When I first walk into the kitchen the only things on my place mat are an empty glass, a bowl, a spoon, and the bag of cereal. By the time I get in there, my host sister is usually still asleep and my host dad is usually at the computer in the other room and my mom is putting on her make-up in front of the TV in the kitchen/dining/den. So I say good morning and then go to the fridge which has the small bowl of fruit (so far I've had apple, kiwi, grapes, and pear), a small cup of sweet yogurt, the orange juice and the milk for the cereal. I take it back to my place and I eat breakfast while catching the morning news. Most of it I can actually understand because by the time I've started eating most of the news stories are actually over and they've started on the weather and the around town highlights.
It's actually quite amazing how on time everything is. Every morning without fail the around town highlights starts at exactly 6:50. They show stuff like ladies fashion (currently scarves, knee-high boots, and winter caps are in right now), cute journals, bathroom necessities (like bath salts), and lots and lots of food and candy. Then, at exactly 6:58 they start in on the horoscopes, which I found to be a bit weird. Most of it I can't understand, either, which is kind of frustrating. For example, one day about a month ago, I was supposed to have a really bad day. My horoscope told me that if I drew a picture of a せんぱい then I would be alright. Ridiculous, huh?
Then the news stories start up again at exactly 7:00. That's when I'm usually finished eating, so I wash my dishes and put away my cereal and the orange juice and milk. Then I go brush my teeth, floss, and go back to my room to make sure that I've packed everything I need for the day. I also push open the metal gate at my back door to let the sunlight in. Then I grab my bag and head for the door. I leave my slippers in the foyer (on the wood floor) and slip on my shoes that wait for me on the stone floor. Then I walk out of the front door and lock it.
When I first got here I would walk from my house to the bus stop which is about a 7 minute walk. But riding the bus to and from school everyday was costing me 400 yen a day, which is roughly $4 and is a bit too expensive for me. So lately I've just been walking to the nearest train station, which is called Fuchinobe station. If I walk quickly it's about a 35 minute walk from my host family's house to Fuchinobe. It's kind of monotonous, but dodging bikes and cars helps liven things up sometimes.
By the time I get to Fuchinobe it's about 8:00 AM. I go into the south entrance and I come out on the north side where the university that I go to has buses that run pretty much all day during the week and Saturdays. But usually the only people who ride the buses that early are middle school and high school students. My university is actually part of a 学園 (gakuen) or literally "school park" which has a middle school, high school, and university. The school bus that I ride runs from the school to Fuchinobe and back, and is free, which is rather convenient because riding the bus only takes about 7 minutes.
That's when my school day begins, but more on that next time.
By the way, I have no idea why people here do that in pictures, they just always do it. Maybe they like to do something with their hands instead of doing what I do and just leave mine hanging by my side.
I wake up at 5:45 AM, which is later than usual, I know. But I wake up and fold up my fleece blanket and futon blanket and set them aside so I can stretch and exercise on my futon. The reason I use the futon is because our house doesn't have any carpet in it at all, let alone in my room. My room, as I think I've said before has tatami mats in it, so it's really rather hard and uncomfortable without some sort of cushioning. I usually finish up when my host parents' alarm goes off at about 6:00. So when I'm finished I fold up the futon mattress and the futon pad and put them away in my closet which is from about waist height up to the ceiling with sliding doors.
Once that's finished I pick out the clothes I want to wear that day and I proceed to pull them on. At the beginning of my time here it would take me a while because it was really hot and the buildings are not air conditioned very well, so in order to prevent myself from sweating through my clothes I had to wear Gold Bond body powder. The stuff really works, too. If you are ever in Japan in the summer or early fall, I strongly suggest that you bring Gold Bond body powder.
After that I go to the 洗面所 （senmenjo),which is the room that has the sink and washer in it, and I wash my face and put in my contacts. By that time I'm starving, so I head into the kitchen/dining/den where my host mom has set up breakfast. When I first got here we all just had toast or sweet bread, a bowl of fruit and yogurt. But my host mom had asked me once if I liked cereal, which I do, so now she buys cereal especially for me. I feel kind of bad about it, but she buys me this chocolate corn-flake cereal which is really really good.
When I first walk into the kitchen the only things on my place mat are an empty glass, a bowl, a spoon, and the bag of cereal. By the time I get in there, my host sister is usually still asleep and my host dad is usually at the computer in the other room and my mom is putting on her make-up in front of the TV in the kitchen/dining/den. So I say good morning and then go to the fridge which has the small bowl of fruit (so far I've had apple, kiwi, grapes, and pear), a small cup of sweet yogurt, the orange juice and the milk for the cereal. I take it back to my place and I eat breakfast while catching the morning news. Most of it I can actually understand because by the time I've started eating most of the news stories are actually over and they've started on the weather and the around town highlights.
It's actually quite amazing how on time everything is. Every morning without fail the around town highlights starts at exactly 6:50. They show stuff like ladies fashion (currently scarves, knee-high boots, and winter caps are in right now), cute journals, bathroom necessities (like bath salts), and lots and lots of food and candy. Then, at exactly 6:58 they start in on the horoscopes, which I found to be a bit weird. Most of it I can't understand, either, which is kind of frustrating. For example, one day about a month ago, I was supposed to have a really bad day. My horoscope told me that if I drew a picture of a せんぱい then I would be alright. Ridiculous, huh?
Then the news stories start up again at exactly 7:00. That's when I'm usually finished eating, so I wash my dishes and put away my cereal and the orange juice and milk. Then I go brush my teeth, floss, and go back to my room to make sure that I've packed everything I need for the day. I also push open the metal gate at my back door to let the sunlight in. Then I grab my bag and head for the door. I leave my slippers in the foyer (on the wood floor) and slip on my shoes that wait for me on the stone floor. Then I walk out of the front door and lock it.
When I first got here I would walk from my house to the bus stop which is about a 7 minute walk. But riding the bus to and from school everyday was costing me 400 yen a day, which is roughly $4 and is a bit too expensive for me. So lately I've just been walking to the nearest train station, which is called Fuchinobe station. If I walk quickly it's about a 35 minute walk from my host family's house to Fuchinobe. It's kind of monotonous, but dodging bikes and cars helps liven things up sometimes.
By the time I get to Fuchinobe it's about 8:00 AM. I go into the south entrance and I come out on the north side where the university that I go to has buses that run pretty much all day during the week and Saturdays. But usually the only people who ride the buses that early are middle school and high school students. My university is actually part of a 学園 (gakuen) or literally "school park" which has a middle school, high school, and university. The school bus that I ride runs from the school to Fuchinobe and back, and is free, which is rather convenient because riding the bus only takes about 7 minutes.
That's when my school day begins, but more on that next time.
By the way, I have no idea why people here do that in pictures, they just always do it. Maybe they like to do something with their hands instead of doing what I do and just leave mine hanging by my side.
Wednesday, November 7, 2007
Suggestions?
Hey guys, I apologize for the lack of posting. I don't have access to the internet on the weekends unless I want to haul my laptop up to school which is kinda far. Plus my classwork has begun to pile up, so I haven't had a whole lot of chances to get out and experience new stuff.
So I was wondering if anybody had anything in particular that they wanted to know about or see pictures of over here? Suggestions would be fantastic!
And thanks again to everybody who reads this. Especially those of you who read this blog everyday. It really does mean a lot to me! And I particularly appreciate your comments, thanks again!
So I was wondering if anybody had anything in particular that they wanted to know about or see pictures of over here? Suggestions would be fantastic!
And thanks again to everybody who reads this. Especially those of you who read this blog everyday. It really does mean a lot to me! And I particularly appreciate your comments, thanks again!
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