Reverse Culture Shock

Not a problem.

Though, ask me again when I realize that I really can’t go into any bookstore and pick up volume two of Library War. Also, unlike all of the other times I was in Japan, I’m not certain of when I’ll be back. I doubt it’ll be any time before I graduate from college.

I told my dad that the whole trip to Japan felt like another life, that it should have been August 29, the day after I left the US, rather than December 20. Since then, my brain has been slowly filling in the events that I missed while I was gone. Shops have closed due to the economy, or have changed their hours, leaving me to sit outside their closed doors wondering if I am insane. Gas prices have dropped so precipitously that this afternoon I paid for a whole tank of gas by myself, without worrying too much about the cost, for the first time since I got my license.

It has been crazy inconvenient in some cases – I haven’t received any construction notices in months and I spend frightening amounts of time finding detours around closed roads and merging out of lanes that are blocked. Driving to get anywhere is no picnic either. I spent a bit of time banging my head against the steering wheel a few days ago after a trip took 40 minutes to go to a place that was the equivalent of a shop just down the street from the dorm.

But otherwise, it’s a relief to be surrounded by people who look like me, or at least, don’t look at me so closely. I can read all of the English-language books I have been dreaming about for months, knit something that isn’t one of the four projects I brought to Japan, and eat honest-to-goodness sour cream and cheddar potato chips.

In other words, I’ll miss Japan later, right now I’m too busy playing with my cats.

This will be the last entry for this blog. Expect the first entry in the new blog, Call Me Mauri, to be up tomorrow (there’s nothing there right now).

No You May Not

Sadly, one of the more complicated phrases the munchkins learned in the after school English program this semester.

The biggest complaint stemmed from the fact that, after the first two weeks, we started assigning seating according to our own nefarious purpose – to keep kids sitting next to each other from engaging in all out warfare. We weren’t perfect (seating S and Tin Tin together is a mistake not easily forgotten) but we thought we had things fairly well settled.

The kids rarely agreed and I usually spent the first five minutes after they arrived stating “No, you may not” ad nauseum until they gave in.

A typical day consisted of them coming in around 4:20 and spending ten minutes or so running in and out of the classroom fetching whatever they had forgotten, going to the bathroom, or visiting friends participating in other activities. Around 4:30, we had them wrestled into their seats, did the roll call (one kid, Y, consistently replied with ‘I’m hungry’ rather than ‘here’), and appointed the Teacher’s Assistant (technically, the Teacher’s Assistant’s Assistant).

From there we moved onto the warm-up activity, which alternately consisted of practicing a phrase they already knew, like ‘what’s your name?’, or singing a song, my personal favorite and the apparent bane of their existence. We managed to get through Head, Shoulders, Knees, and Toes;  The Itsy Bitsy Spider; and  Jingle Bells. The Twelve Days of Christmas defeated them to a man,  however.

After warm-up, we’d review or introduce whatever vocabulary they were going to need for the day’s activity.

This is where the kids usually shone – they hated repeating the words and moaned bitterly, but they could clearly remember the pronunciations and meanings weeks later. On this particular day, we were going over Christmas themed words and one kid shocked all three of us TAs by answering my question of “Does anybody know what an ‘ornament’ is?” with a well-detailed explanation in Japanese. Shocked, mostly because the typical response to a question in English was a) dead silence or b) shouts that they didn’t understand.

After going over the vocab, we usually moved onto a craft activity or game that used the words they had just learned. On Tuesday, my last day, we did a Christmas-themed crossword puzzle and a Christmas memory game.

Finally, we wrap up with a book, though this is the first thing to get dropped if we run out of time. On Tuesday, I read the Night Before Christmas, which was way too advanced and read way too fast for them. I really wanted them to experience hearing it though and after reading through it, we went back and explained the story in Japanese. The same kid as before revealed that he knew the the names of all eight reindeer, which even I can’t remember.

Technically, I’m not supposed to post pictures of the kids here, but in this one they’re all looking away from the camera (for once), so hopefully it’s okay. Miyake, another TA, is sitting next to me, ready to explain in Japanese. Her English is very good, but even she had a hard time understanding the story before I explained some of the vocab.

That’s all for now, this is probably my last post while in Japan. I have to get my stuff together for my 30 hour trip home that starts Saturday morning. Wheeee!

Tokyo or Bust

This trip almost didn’t happen, mostly because either Lisa or I couldn’t stop putting it off for one reason or another. We had IES field trips, host family obligations, my dad took up two weekends, exams, the works. So when Lisa pointed out that we basically had a free week right before we left (save for an exam each on Friday), we decided to jump on the opportunity. We left Monday morning by shinkansen*, stayed overnight and returned late Tuesday morning.

I finally got a un-blurred picture of the Nozomi super-express. Believe it or not, that train is still going about 40 mph in this photo.

Lisa in front of the train right before we scrambled on board. The thing was almost empty and we had our choice of seats. I wish I remembered what Lisa’s t-shirt said…

Because there were so few people on the train, I was able to run around and catch the best possible shot that could be had of Mt. Fuji from a high-speed train using my camera. However, I had a chance for a better shot – there was a brief moment where I could both the mountain itself and its reflection in a river under the train, but I was too slow. Drat.

After arriving at Tokyo Station (which, thankfully, is having its more historical bits restored), we popped out for a bit before hopping right back on the train. Saw the Imperial moat and as much of the Palace as you can see on a Monday (none).

From there, we used the Yamanote line to get to Harajuku, known for its crazy clothing shops, at Lisa’s request. I had been hoping to catch a glimpse of the area since I missed it with Ceci two years ago, but it turned out to be a bit small and disappointing. Of course, any place that involves buying clothing in Japan seems a bit small and disappointing to someone like me.

Next up was Shinjuku, with its giant Takashimaya/Tokyu Hands department store and the six-stories of Kinokuniya, the biggest bookstore I’ve ever seen (okay, maybe Powell’s is bigger). I didn’t get a picture of either of those places, but…

…apparently Krispy Kreme has made it to Japan, complete with ridiculously long lines.

From there we headed to Asakusa, where our ‘hotel’ was. Maybe you’ve heard of ‘capsule hotels’? Well, they’re right in the college student price range, so we decided to check one out.

They were actually bigger than I would have expected and fairly comfortable while you were awake. There was a TV with local channels and the lighting was bright enough for comfortable reading and knitting. They were also ‘tall’ enough that I (about 175cm tall) didn’t feel like I had to hunch and long enough that my feet weren’t sticking out other end. The hotel had a decent-ish public bath and wasn’t crowded at all.

Not bad, eh? Well, except that the ‘futon’ was about two inches thick and the pillow not much better, so I’d only recommend them for people young enough to shake off that kind of strain in the morning. It’s Thursday and I’m still not sure if my neck is going to forgive me.

Also, there’s no proper door on the front of your capsule, just a pull down curtain. Just FYI.

After a convenience store breakfast the next morning, we stopped by the shrine in Asakusa for a visit and some last minute shopping. This is the first time I’ve this particular shrine gate with a protective covering of scaffolding. Most of the stalls in front with awnings are selling hagoita (battledore) paddles. It used to be a tradition for girls to play battledore around the beginning of the new year, but now the paddles are mostly purchased as good luck items. They’re incredibly ornate and some of them are much too huge to be used by any one person. The link has a few good pictures.

We left from Tokyo before noon, mostly because I had work that afternoon.

Some knitting was accomplished – I finished the sleeves for Eiffel and got back to plugging away on the body.

Tomorrow – the much-awaited post on my job at Nanzan Elementary.

* Dear Firefox, ’shinkansen’ is so a real word.

12 on 12 Almost on Time

I was this close to getting this out on the twelfth (it’s one in the morning on the thirteenth) but my computer refused to cooperate. Typical.

Let’s jump right in, shall we?*

Slightly blurry shot of the dorm residents’ shoes. I snapped it from the hip as I was running out the door to part 3 of 4 of my Japanese final, having forgotten about the twelfth. You don’t want to know the size of the guy who wears the blue boats in the center.

Another day, another hill. This one, between the dorm and the main entrance, is steep enough that I’m fairly sure my car wouldn’t make it up and local teenage boys dare each other to ride their bikes up it.

The auditorium where we spent all of the morning, taking our final, filling out evaluation forms, holding a talent show and our farewell party. The final was only on kanji, vocabulary, and writing today. Listening final was yesterday, oral final was last Tuesday, and the grammar final is coming up next Friday. I kind of wish I could take it on Monday and go straight home, but oh well. I’ll be heading to Tokyo instead to kill time.

 Two people decided to dress up in kimono/yukata for the event – both guys. They were MCing the whole thing and decided to dress the part. The teachers were…bemused.

 Here they are, being drawn on the board by Erika. We have five female teachers and one male teacher, who was always indicated in class by a head-shape with the kanji for ‘man’ written on his face.

 Somewhere, Ellen knows she’s being embarassed on the internet. She did this hysterical dance routine to a Japanese song from the 70s. Something about an alien love song?

This guy was…not prepared. He ended up strumming a few chords and ad-libbing a song about forgetting to prepare for things.

There was some more western style dancing from these two. I was pretty surprised, I knew that the girl enjoyed ballroom dancing, but I wouldn’t have said that the guy had a right and a left foot.

All of the 400 level teachers, from left to right – E-sensei, Nice-sensei, Mean-sensei, Cool-sensei, Sensei-baachan, and Hobbit-sensei. Don’t ask me why E-sensei is looking at the camera oddly, I’m hoping it was a coincidence.

Next up – parents, please don’t look.

 This was lunch – chicken nuggets and Calpis. I’ll miss Calpis back in the US. It’s hard to believe that it won’t be at every convenience store, sitting right next to the bottles of Coke.

No, I did not eat the newspaper.

 I still had one more class to attend – Sumie. The professor had waited all semester to teach us a neat trick. You pour a little ink into some water and drop a piece of paper in.

Ta-da! Though there is no green color in reality, they still turned out really cool.

*Like you have any choice.

IES Program Coordinator: We’re going to be a little late getting into Nagoya. Is that okay with you?

Students: *silence*

Lisa: If we say no, will the bus go faster?

Closing Up Shop

I’ve started packing about 10 days early, but really, what else do I have to do besides study?

Don’t answer that.

I’ve been putting off the dorm post mostly because I am really, really looking forward to going home and I’ve discovered that it’s colored my opinion of Japan. Just a bit.

Student Who’s Staying Next Semester: How’s the sumie class? Should I take it?

Me: It’s dumb.

SWSNS: So that’s a no?

Me: No. Everything’s dumb right now.

It’s true. Japanese class? Dumb. Finals? Dumb. Grocery shopping? Dumb. Going outside? Dumb. The pile of paper on my floor that I don’t want to pick up? Dumb, dumb, dumb.

I’m fairly sure this is just my brain trying to prepare me for the return home – why be unhappy in the country that you’re living in rather than the one you’re going to be leaving in less than two weeks. I’m sure I’ll be deliriously happy when I return home, but right now I’m kind of banging my head against the wall.

So anyways, the dorm. I did a bit of research on the Nanzan University website, jut to make that there were only the two dorms that I knew of. There are and someone has messed up the description – my dorm, Yamazato, is NOT a ‘few meters’ from the University, unless they’re using some sort of definition of ‘university’ that I am unfamiliar with. It’s closer to a few hundred meters away.

Strangely, Nagoya, the other dorm, is described as being ‘a short distance from the University’s main entrance’ when it is in fact, right across the street and slightly to the left of the main entrance. D’oh.

I was going to take pictures of the inside, but it’s not very photogenic and the residents are mostly entirely camera-shy. So have a picture of my room.

It’s a mess, mostly because I’m packing/trying to figure the cost of the stuff I bought here instead of studying for my listening comprehension exam (which is tomorrow) or my kanji/vocabulary exam (which is the day after that).

I’ve also taking to knitting incessantly, finding that it takes the edge off of crazed cabin fever. So here, a picture of the mysterious red thing from before.

It’s the Eiffel sweater, from Knitty. I’m knitting it up in Jarbo Garn’s Tropik, a cotton, bamboo, acrylic blend. Incredibly soft stuff. Sadly, this picture was taken a few days ago and not long afterwards the whole thing was declared ‘dumb’ and stuffed into a drawer. Instead, I taught myself to cable without a cable needle and got back to the Slippery Socks.

And finally, what’s a living situation without a little missionary work?