Friends Never Say Goodbye

The end of an era approaches.

It’s time for everyone to pack up their souvenirs, wrap up their battle scars from fierce club dancing, and kiss goodbye to conbini chicken. I never expected a year to feel like 10, and for relationships to grow so tight and strong so quickly. Sending off my friends from last semester was hard, but nothing compared to this. I’m not simply traveling for a few months of vacation and coming back to my home in Nagoya. I’m actually going to have to leave. No more Ohmeikan. No more Nagoya University. No more last night lobby hang outs with the wonderful people here.

Even in this crazy heat, the magic of Japan isn’t lost on me. There are many more places I still want to go and many more things I want to do. Mainly, I want to do these things with the people here I have come to adore. I’ll miss those surprisingly quiet nights in those first few months here in Japan. Laying in bed, listening to the occasional wail of ambulances passing in the night and fading back into silence, I remember wondering how calm Japan felt. Cooler days came and the leaves changed, my favorite season approached. Coming from a place with such definite seasonal changes, I’m still confounded by the fact that not all the trees turned colors or lost their leaves, a handful of little deciduous trees replacing the pines that I’m used to seeing. In the late autumn, I’d warmed up, grown accustomed to life in Japan, and finally began hanging out with more people (Something I should have done right away!). And by the time so-called “winter” came, and Nagoya saw 3 singular instances of snow, I felt so comfortable. We spent the holidays together, Thanksgiving and Christmas being some of my favorite parties all year. Then bittersweet goodbyes and months of travel.

When we returned for the new semester, and to a new group of study abroad students, I had my doubts that this semester to measure up. Fortunately, I was proved wrong. So many new faces and new personalities just added to my list of friends inexplicably fast. I was comfortable in Japan and it was easier to open up to new people when I already had a good foundation to back me up. Despite less time, I hope that we can still stay in contact and remain friends across seas.

To the Fam, know that there’s nothing I wouldn’t do for any of you. If you find yourself in America somewhere along the line, know that my door is always open and cooking is on point. If you find yourself thinking about Japan, about our stitched together groups chilling in the Ohmeikan lobby, know that I’m always available to chat. I’ve laughed with you. I’ve cried with you. I’ve sung some embarrassing karaoke with you. And through all the boring exams, the crazy Nagoya heat, the stifling subway rides in the early morning hours, there’s nothing I wouldn’t give to do it all over again.

In closing, I have to say thank you, all of you. There’s no way I can possible say thank you enough for such an amazing experience. I’ve seen more of the world than the majority of people I know. I have friends on nearly every continent. We met as a ragtag gang of international strangers. We leave as a family. These moments will remain, preserved in photographs, fostered in the warmth of our hearts, eternally.

All my love.

Rae

5 Things I’ve Learned

These past few months have gone by faster than any in my entire life. Soon, those of us only staying one semester will be leaving, and we are collectively trying to ignore that fact. I’m holding on to the future and the last few travels we are going on together; namely Sapporo and maybe Seoul! And even those some of my good friends are leaving, I know that we will always have open doors for each other for a long time.

I did learn a lot of things about myself. Things that I thought I had never thought about.

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1. It’s not that difficult to be in another country. 

The fear of heart-wrenching homesickness and culture shock could’ve destroyed a lot of my confidence coming to live in Japan for a year. But as the weeks before flying came and as the months after arriving passed, I didn’t feel much of a difference. That’s not to say I don’t miss home or my family, but I certainly haven’t had to take a day off because of it. Perhaps moving from my hometown to my university 3 hrs away gave me a thicker skin. But a 3 hr drive is nothing compared to a 14 hr flight. Despite not being able to drive home for the holidays, I don’t feel isolated. After all, we have the technology to keep in contact so intimately with video chats and texting that homesickness becomes more about familiar foods and places than loved ones. Leaving the States behind was the mountain, the reality just a mole hill.

2. Language confidence over precision. 

Native English speakers have no idea how challenging it is to learn a second language and to actually use it at the main form of communication. Sure, all of us have taken a few years of a second language in school (Spanish being most popular in the States at least), but if you’d leave the US there really isn’t a lot of speaking opportunity later in life. And I will add that speaking is immensely different from reading/writing. Trust me, I can perform quite well when it comes to texting, but try initiating a face-to-face conversation and I’m little more than a toddler babbling away. As for Japan, people are really excited and impressed if you’re able to speak Japanese, especially since English language skills are generally intermediate or lower. I love to speak Japanese with the store clerks (if they aren’t scared off by presuming I only speak English) and we often have pretty nice small talk. The students here are also hilarious and have a lot of patience for those of us struggling to find words at times. Conversations flow quite easily between English and Japanese, throwing in replacement words for unknown vocabulary and emphasizing anything and everything. It’s become a wonderful mutt language within the study abroad group.

Here are a few of my favorite terms:

• daijoubs (大丈夫=daijoubu) making a shortened version of the Japanese simply meaning “alright”.
• And to accompany with the opposite “naijoubs” (nai coming from the negation of Japanese verbs).
• Lastly, “konnichiwhatsup?” colliding the Japanese hello (こんいちは=konnichiwa) and “whats up”.

3. Don’t be shy

If you know me, you might know that it can take me a while to warm up to people, and perhaps even longer to keep me out of my room on the weekends. I’ve never had problems making friends, and honestly my dad was more concerned about my friendship making skills than I was. It becomes incredible easy to make friends when only some people speak Japanese and a lot are just learning. English is still our main form of communication within the study abroad students, but we’ve all grown a lot in our Japanese skills. Still, I was a bit shy when we first all arrived. Eventually, I branched out more and started going out with people, and I don’t know why I didn’t sooner! I love everyone here and they definitely make me happy. When we had our Christmas party, I was grabbing the last few dishes for the meal and when I came out of the elevator everyone cheered my name. Now that is a great feeling! Whether it was for me or the food, I’m not sure but I’m choosing to believe it was all for me! I’m really going to miss these people….

4. Don’t feel pressured to go sightseeing

There’s a LOT to see in Japan in terms of sightseeing. I’ve done my fair share of traveling while I’ve been here, but there are times when I’m lying in my bed playing computer games of lazy weekends that I feel I should be doing more. The thing is, you don’t HAVE to do more. Having the luxury of spending a year in Japan gives me the freedom to be more selective for where and when I want to travel. While I do want to go to as many places as I can, there’s just too much other stuff to do (like school, you know, the reason I’m here). We do go once in a while now, not so much as previous months when the excitement is still fresh, but we’ve graduated from historical sites to local. More often now, we go to restaurants and such than shrines or temples. Which is fine! Most of us have big travel plans for the upcoming 2 month long break so that’s where a lot of money saving has been going. It’s better to take your time between sightseeing, otherwise everything is just going to blur together.

5. Japan is not what you think it is. 

There are a lot of misconceptions about Japan, particularly in the US, that are both good and bad. Most of perception of this foreign country comes from WWII and the “weird” stuff that finds it’s way onto the internet. Yes, there are some “weird” things in Japan, like idol and otaku culture, but Japan really is a very normal place. What really surprised me most if how lopsided the advance of technology is here in Japan, specially on and around campus. They are still stuck in the paper age where teachers handout’s end up taking over your backpack and online anything is basically unheard of. They turn in essays in class, homework is always a sheet of paper, and powerpoints are printed and handed out before presented in class. I still don’t understand how a nation so obsessed with recycling clings to the somewhat archaic overuse of paper materials. Also, in terms of wi-fi and internet, Japan is sorely behind. The on-campus wi-fi rarely works and most coffee shops and restaurants don’t provide any kind of internet connection. While I do have my own router at my dorm at an incredibly cheap price (about $150 for 1 year), there are certain hours where the internet drops to a snails crawl. Japan uses other outdated forms of technology too. Everything is paid with cash, although you can use your subway card to pay at some conbini’s, and ATMs are sparse (especially for international accounts). Japan just isn’t the technologically advanced, futuristic place portrayed by western media. But that’s not a bad thing.

There are many things about Japan I wish I could bring back with me to America. You’ve heard of my love for conbini’s and vending machine’s with warm beverages, but there’s a lot more that puts America to shame. Firstly, Japan is so clean. I’m almost confident that you could eat oatmeal off the sidewalk no harm no foul. The level of respect for others personal space and comfort is fantastic. This also attributes to how safe and how quiet it is. Now, Nagoya is the third largest city in Japan but you wouldn’t think it being here. Yes, the city is enormous and breathtaking, but it’s also so quiet–sometimes that suspicious quiet where you feel the hairs of your arm stand up. People don’t shout and speak loudly or talk on their phones everywhere they go. They aren’t standoff-ish, but they don’t want to make you uncomfortable by spontaneous conversation. (I can’t tell you how many times people have just started talking to me randomly in the US). They also generally have a nice perspective on other countries of the world. Where I presumed there would be some negative feelings toward America, as there typically is (understandably), those who I’ve talked to praise American’s kindness, confidence, and cheerful nature. They like our boldness and openness towards strangers, and many have expressed interest in visiting America (which of course swells one’s patriotism).

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I could go on about the wonderful things and people I’ve encountered here in Japan these last few months, but I fear my list might grow too long. I’m incredibly happy. I’m content living in Japan, despite the hinderances I face when trying to cook/bake. While I am looking forward to returning home, I know that Japan is just another place I can call my second home.

The Wizarding World of Harry Potter

The first time I picked up Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone, I couldn’t get past McGonagall sitting on that brick wall as a cat. I thought it was boring and gave up pretty quickly. Hard to capture the attention of such a young’un I guess. But, after my brother finished reading it and my friends started talking about it, I just had to give it a second chance. From that point on, my life would be forever changed.

Many people in generation will tell you that the Harry Potter series isn’t just a book series (or a movie franchise). It’s not even a way of life, because it really just is life. It was real for us because in many ways it was what we were going through and really resonated with our time growing into angst-ridden pubescents. So when I heard about this magical opportunity to actually live out a life-long dream, there was no way I was turning it down.

Last weekend, six friends and I booked a weekend excursion to Universal Studios Japan in Osaka. We took a night bus on a 7 hr drive from Nagoya to Osaka, a trip that would normally take a few hours without stopping. Honestly, it was one of the worst bus rides of my life. The seats were tiny. The air was so stuffy I felt like I couldn’t breath. All the windows were covered by curtains so it was impossible to see outside the bus. That mixed with the somewhat terrible driving made for a lovely carsickness filled journey. Needless to say, I couldn’t have been happier when we arrived at USJ around 6:30 am.

The Wizarding World of Harry Potter installment is a very new attraction to USJ having opened just this past July. There were already about 100 people lined up at the gates, their partners lined up in front of the yet unopened ticket windows. We quickly did the same, separating into two groups and snagged out tickets right after the windows opened.

Luckily, I got Ron Weasley!

Then, they opened the gates. Like a panicked whirlwind, we were ushered quickly through the turnstiles where a camera clearly recorded our faces (incase anyone got into trouble I suppose). The plan: RUN. Since Harry Potter was the main attraction, nearly everyone at the gate had one destination in mind, and we weren’t about to get left behind. Everyone went through the turnstiles and ran without looking back to wait for the rest of the group. The weather that morning was particularly great, the streets and sidewalks wet but doable. Thankfully, nobody fell and we got to Hogsmeade in record time.

Now, I’d be lying if I didn’t tell you that since Harry Potter world was all the way on the far side of the park, I had no idea what the rest of the attractions were as we passed them by. It would be until after we left that we were actually able to get a good grip on the surrounding lands. But first, the best part of the park.

Don’t be fooled! All that snow of the roof is fake.

Upon entering, you walk through the archway into Hogsmeade. It’s smaller than it looks but the magic of optical illusion blows everything out of proportion, in a good way. More of a mixture of Hogsmeade and Diagon Alley, there were a lot of shops and a restaurant where you could buy any Harry Potter related paraphernalia you could dream up. Oh, and did I mention, there was non stop Harry Potter soundtrack music playing, sometimes quite loudly. We initially skipped all this to head to the biggest and more waited for ride that took place within Hogwarts itself.

Once again, that beautiful optical illusion. The structure was so tall and detailed that it really did look like Hogwarts if you’d seen it from a distance. Of course, up close it’s more obviously how diminutive it is in comparison to actual life-sized standards, but holy cow was it a site to behold! We lined up for the ride and only had to wait a pretty miraculous 25 minutes to get inside. I can’t even describe how cool the inside of the castle was! It was pretty dark and we were made to leave our backpacks and purses in little lockers for the ride, but I did snag some photos with my phone.

The man and woman on either side of that center lamp were both moving portraits

The infamous moving staircases component of the castle was limited to two small stairways that lead up just on floor, but the moving paintings were a sight to behold. Not all of them moved of course, but quite a few did. The texture of the paintings playing on the monitors was basically exact to the non moving paintings. It was really shocking a realistic as we walked past them while they chatted (in Japanese) about Harry Potter or something about new Hogwarts students.

Further along, past several different scenes and hallways, we past Harry, Ron, and Hermione hiding out by cover of invisibility cloak in the Defense Against the Dark Arts classroom. I can’t remember exactly what they were saying, but it was pretty cool. I will say that Hermione’s Japanese voice is highly irritating (think something along the lines of typical anime girl high squeals). Ron’s was on-point though, and Harry’s wasn’t so bad either. We also came upon Dumbledore’s office, equally dark as most of the castle rooms. Since the line was moving pretty quickly, we couldn’t linger long to hear what the Headmaster was talking about but I snagged a photo. (Also, no Fawkes in sight! Disappointing.)

Just before getting onto the actual ride, we were greeted by none other than the Sorting had. This guy wasn’t a video on a monitor like the others, but a really impressively lifelike animatronic. He would pop to life welcoming us to Hogwarts and curiously wondering about who would be in what house before gently becoming lifeless and restarting his routine.

Now onto the best part–the ride. I can’t describe how fun this ride was. Were were seating in a four person, chairlift like seat (but since we had to separate it was three in my car and four in the other). We pulled down the bar to strap ourselves in tightly and slowly made our way sideways to the ride. It was CRAZY. (Warning to those unfamiliar with Harry Potter, you probably won’t understand a lot of this.)

We were whooshed to Hogwarts courtesy of Hermione and some floo powder, appearing about the castle with Harry (all of us on broomsticks). Harry quickly says hello and tells us to hurry and follow him without much explanation. We were whooshed up, down and sideways through the air, narrowly missing towers and bridge ways. Out of nowhere, the Hungarian Horntail dragon appears and starts chasing us! Moving seamlessly from video to tangible, we flew into one of the towers as the dragon clawed on the roof top and later blew a load of steam into our faces. (Great time to have glasses…). It gets blurry after escaping the dragon but I’ll give you the gist of the rest. We ran into the Whomping Willow, passed Aragog in the Forbidden Forest, and a few other places all the while being spun up, down, and practically upside down.  The whole ride lasted maybe 10 minutes but it was a total blast from start to finish.

Once off the ride, we were ushered into the adjoining gift shop. They had everything from cloaks, scarves, books, and chocolate frogs. Since we didn’t want to carry a bunch of stuff around all day, we met up and left. By the time we were out, the line for the ride was now an incredulous 235 minutes (that’s almost 4 hours), and Hogsmeade was packed. Since none of us had actually eaten since leaving Nagoya, we made our way to the Three Broomsticks/Hog’s Head for some late breakfast.

Here, we got some of that famous butterbeer and I had the most delicious shepherd’s pie in the world. Now, I’m probably only saying that because it’s been ages since I’ve had my favorite dish and it’s pretty damn hard to get good beef here. The butterbeer wasn’t amazing, i will admit. It’s basically just cream soda with some caramel flavoring and some fake marshmallow beer foam. After the late breakfast, we took some time to walk around in the different shops. They were all pretty crowded and had basically the same merchandise aside from whatever specialty was advertised, but they were still interesting.

Ollivander’s boasted an incredible set of wands. Almost all the walls were covered in shelves of wands from basic to specialty. You could buy an elder wand or the wand of any of your favorite wizards. Or you could just search through the stacks for whatever wand Pottermore had bestowed upon you. They were each about 3,000 yen (roughly $27 dollars), with the special ones of course being more expensive.

After Ollivander’s we went to take a look around Honeyduke’s sweets shop. As you can imagine, it’s one of the most popular stores in Hogsmeade. The line took about 45 minutes to go through and the inside of the shop was relatively small, but I still managed to make some purchases. However, the Bertie Bott’s Every Flavor Beans were absurdly priced at 1,800 yen for a pretty damn small container, so I of course skipped them. (They’re made by jelly belly after all, so not that difficult to get).

Throughout the day, there were a few performances, of which we only managed to see 2. They cast were all non-Japanese and I’m pretty sure most if not all of them were also not British, but the songs they sang were in English. They had the singing toads, and even the Beauxbatons ladies and Durmstrang gents do their performances.

After walking around a bit, we decided to hop on the other ride offered, a hippogriff themed small roller coaster that I can’t remember the name of. It was getting closer to the afternoon so more people had come to the Harry Potter area and the wait time for this ride was one of the longest we waited for all day, about 1.5 hours. It was a pretty small coaster with only two cars going, each with about 12 people, so it was no wonder why it took so long. I generally avoid coasters since I’m not a fan of heights but it was pretty tiny so I choked down my fears (and the 1.5 hour wait just made me irritated and with sore feet). The line for the coaster wrapped around Hagrid’s house and some woodland areas where the howl of a werewolf sounded every few minutes.

We saw Hagrid’s house and flying motorbike. As we were ushered onto the ride and the coaster began it’s ascent, Buckbeak gave us a bow from his little nest and sent us slowly climbing. I’ll be honesty, my eyes were closed right until we got to the top and I can tell you that split-second view was pretty cool! The ride only lasted 30 seconds but it was pretty fun, for a coaster.

Apprehension.

After the roller coaster, we’d pretty much finished up with the Wizarding World and were ready to head over to the rest of USJ. We did, however, go back once it became night time to go on the castle ride again, buy some souvenirs, and see Hogsmeade lit up at night (which didn’t disappoint!).

There were a few other icons sprinkled throughout Hogsmeade, of which I’ll just post some photos below!

 Overall, the trip was great, especially the Harry Potter parts.

To read more about how the rest of USJ was, stay tuned!

Don’t mind me.

Put down that phone.

No need to file a missing persons report.

I’m alive and well. Those ninjas haven’t gotten to me quite yet.

So, two months. I guess that’s how much time it takes to rack up enough guilt and ought-to’s in order for me to post an update. Maybe it’s because I see other people, so diligent with their blogging and updating. Maybe it’s because family members keep calling and checking in on me… Either way, the time has come for a mass message or assurance.

What can I say? Two months have gone by and so much has happened! And at the same time so much is very much the same as college in the US. I’m leading two lives here in Japan: The over zealous sightseer trying to stuff as much travel into a weekend as possible, and the homebody college students drifted wearily from class to class. Honestly, any traveling I get to do makes all the hours of class time completely worth it. I’d like to say the my Japanese classes are furthering my language skills, but at this point it’s really just review–but helpful view nonetheless. My other classes are, of course, interesting but not more so that the idea of traveling to more places in this wonderful country.

So let’s step into the time machine and wind back that clock a few weeks. (This is going to be long. Brace yourself.)

October:

Most of October was taking the time to adjust to speaking and hearing mostly Japanese all day. At the store, on the street, at school, at home–everywhere. Granted, there was also a lot of English. Quite a few of the international students hadn’t taken Japanese language courses before but everyone spoke English so it was (and still is) the main form of communication between us. Still, I fit in some sight seeing and took a long train and bus ride out to Inuyama with two other international students. Our destination, Meiji Mura (明治村), is a large walkthrough museum compiled of buildings from the Meiji Era of Japan. (1868-1912, the Meiji Era contains the beginning of Japan’s move from feudal society to modernity due to Western influences). It was an interesting place but over all it felt more Western than Japanese and the familiarity with the architecture left me somewhat apathetic. Still, it was a good start to all the traveling to follow.

Historic Hotel at Meiji Mura

October also came with delights and (very slight) distress. The solar eclipse on October 8th occurred during our dorm floor’s welcome party and we were all mostly able to catch it on film as our takoyaki (a small fried octopus and cabbage ball) cooked. Japan also experience a typhoon which was rather exciting for all the international students who’d never seen one before. I say exciting but when if finally got to us the only word I can use to describe it would be conventional. There wasn’t much to Nature’s wrath than heavy rain and somewhat strong wind. Of course, that’s not so say I hoped for worse!

Later in October came the Nagoya Festival (名古屋祭り). Finally, I was able to go to my first castle in Japan–and let me tell you–nobody is more excited about Japanese castles than me. I can’t even descibe how much I love that historic Japanese architecture! Ask anyone here and they’ll tell you that all I talk about it Seven Samurai (七人の侍) and old black and white samurai films. 

Nagoya Castle (名古屋城）certainly did not disappoint. It was pretty crowded what with the festival going on but we were able to go inside and take a look around pretty easily so I’m really grateful for that. The rest of the festival consisted of a plethora of delicious street food and performances.

October finished out with a trip to the Kirin Beer Factory, where we were able to have three pints of beer for free!, and a couple Halloween activities. There were two halloween parties put on by difference student groups on campus, both equally fun. I will say though that the Japanese students either didn’t dress up or simply donned cute outfits rather than going full out. There were a lot of Kiki’s from Ghibli’s film Kiki’s Delivery Service and quite a few Alice’s from Alice in Wonderland. Also, I was the only one with a full face of paint. Oh, and Japanese people have no idea what a mime is, let alone what a hipster is, so my costume was lost in translation a bit.

Three of my friends (two from England and one from Sweden) also went out to an Australian bar on Halloween. It was about $25 for all you could drink (from like 5-12pm) and a lot of the Japanese people there really went full out on their costumes. More gruesome. More exciting. Of course there were also some Halloween themed games and a costume contest so it was pretty entertaining even though we didn’t dress up for the bar.

I was also able to go on a day trip to Kyoto for really cheap. It ended up only being $20 which included the bus fare, entrance into two temples, and a pretty decent lunch, all through the international student office. The trip, which lasted from about 8am – 7:30pm was pretty fast. We first arrived at Kiyomizudera (清水寺）around 10:30 and were given free reign to explore, but only for about an hour. Then we ate lunch and went over to Kinkakuji (金閣寺）from about 2:30-4:30. Both temples were really crowded but at the least the weather was spectacular and the temples breathtaking. I was particularly excited about Kiyomizudera since it was shown in a film I had watched in my Japanese Film class last year.

November:

Finally, November came around but I was more excited to visit my awesome friend (and former roommate/Japanese class compadre/Moomin expert) Zoe where she was staying in Shizuoka  (静岡）doing the JET Program (an English teaching program run by the Japanese government). We saw Shizuoka Castle and the World Cup for Street Performances, Daidogei (大道芸ワールドカップ）which were both pretty fantastic. It was a bit overcast and threatening to rain but the performers were very cool and there was also a giant Kirin beer stand (seriously, Kirin is everywhere…)

  

We also went up to see another Japanese temple and took the Rope Way in the mountains to see it. Despite being rainy and overcast, it really was a spectacular view from the rope way, if not a bit scary with the jostling winds. Also, it should be mentioned that not even half of the trees had turned color yet and my internal clock of the seasons is seriously skewed.

The last day in Shizuoka I was so grateful for some sunshine. Finally. The most significant icon of Japan was visible and just magnificent. Mt. Fuji.

We went to a near by shopping mall/play place (the name escapes me) and did some looking around. The best view of Mt. Fuji was from the Ferris wheel that we took at the play area. While the slight fear of the incredibly slow moving yet somewhat rickety seeming Ferris wheel was palpable upon ascent, the view was breathtaking. I will say that for some reason Mt. Fuji seemed much much bigger than I had originally thought.

Not much else happened in November. I taught some of the girls how to make pumpkin pie and American apple cider. Of course, Japanese pumpkins, called kabocha (かぼちゃ), are slightly different than the traditional American pie pumpkin, but it tasted great all the same. After all, it’s mostly about the spices in the end.

Apple cider in the process

Just two weeks ago I went back out to Inuyama with some of my friends. This time, we went to see Inuyama Castle (犬山城）and the Monkey Park (モンキーパーク). At this point, the leaves in Japan have really started to turn and they are absolutely gorgeous. The Japanese maple trees are so vibrantly red that they don’t seem real. And the gold of the ginko trees are really beginning to become my favorite not only for their color but also their fan-like shape. Surprisingly, there were a few trees budding with Japanese cherry blossoms (桜). I’m told it could have been due to the raise in temperature since the past few weeks had hovered around 55 degrees and that Sunday was a surprising 70 degrees.

Inuyama Castle was just as interesting as the other but it was so tiny. We climbed to the top (in a long line of people, mind you, since the weather made for great sightseeing) by a series of very steep ladder-like stairs. Safe to say, we foreigners had a hard time walking somewhat sideways up the ladder rungs to prevent banging out shins into the next step. From the top, we were able to walk all the way around and have a complete 360 degree view of the area–terrifyingly terrific.

Lastly was the Monkey Park. They had a really surprising assortment of monkeys, most of which you could get pretty close too. Although, I wouldn’t really recommend that due to the smell of some of them, especially the baboons. Since I took a lot of photos, I’ve elected to put them in the pictures section to save some space. Overall, the park was really a cool site and we ended out Inuyama fulfilled and with exhausted feet.

Just last week was Thanksgiving in America so the few Americans there had to of course set up a dinner. The thing is, nobody really knows what Thanksgiving is about. And I’m not just saying the Eastern world, but even the Europeans and Aussies were in the dark about Thanksgiving. I can’t tell you how many times I had to explain it, but there were some pretty interesting guesses about why we celebrate it, including but not limited to “American independence” and “It’s another name for Christmas, right?”. I think we did a good job, even without being able to find turkey. So we treated everyone to homemade stuffing, sweet potatoes, mashed potatoes, apple pie, and a little fried rice.

 Now.

The finale.

Where it all gets really exciting.

Friday night at 11:10 we departed on a night bus to Osaka with a very important mission that would keep us there until Saturday night around midnight.

We had finally received our letters to ….

Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry.

But more on that in a different post!

I’ve got to leave you tempted, right? That’s how you hook your audience, keep ’em coming back for more.

Ciao for now!

America, start taking notes.

I’ve fallen in love, and his name is Lawson.

Ever wake up at 3:27 a.m. groggy, irritable, and starving? Don’t have any food in your mini fridge, and don’t want to cook while people are sleeping? Japan has the solution and it’s typically a block or less away from you in literally any direction. I’m talking about Japanese convenience stores, or konbini (コンビニ).

Think of an American gas station like Holiday or Super America. Sure, they’ve got a wide selection of soda, candy, a few types of other foods, and the typical assortment of magazines and chewing gum. Now, do away with the gas (because greenhouse gasses are bad) and amplify the selection of delicious, grocery store quality food by 1000x. That’s what konbini feel like. Open 24 hours a day, the konbini of Japan are more convenient than any grocery store–especially if you don’t have a lot of time on your hands for multiple train stops. There are a bunch of different stores also; Lawson, 7/11, Circle K, Family Mart, etc., and they’re all equally are great in my opinion. You can buy all the typical gas station food stuffs as well as a selection of office supplies, hygienics, cooking seasons, alcohol (I’m talking full wine bottles!), bread, dairy products, and more! The pre-made meals offered at konbini go far beyond a flimsy sandwich or breakfast wrap that you have to warm up yourself. They’ve got full, to-go meals that you can eat right out of the package, a huge assortment of riceballs and sushi rolls, and the greatest gift to humankind, nikuman.

And if you’ve already spent all of your money on nikuman, just slid over to the ATM where, typically, you can use your international bank card to get some sweet sweet yen for more stuff, or to pay your rent. You know, which ever if more important. So, next time your driving to the grocery store, heaving a million heavy bags of groceries into your car and going all the way back home, just dream about konbini. It’s pretty greats to just walk down the street for a few things and be able to carry what you need back home in one bag.

Also, I must note, that the Japanese candy selection is pretty darn fascinating so my friends and family back home better anticipate a box full of sugary treats in the future.

Settling in and Exploring

I feel like I’m taking a bath every time I walk out the door each morning. While the temperature is fairly close to that in Minneapolis, the humidity is much more intense and palpable. It’s hard to believe that people are walking about in jeans and cardigans in this kind of weather. Everyone is glistening with sweat, dabbing their foreheads with handkerchiefs or fanning themselves on the train. I, of course, have made it no secret how incredibly uncomfortable the heat is and, due to my self introduction to the rest of the international students, have come to be identified as the over-heated American. I’m not at all ashamed either! In spite of the heat, the weather here is truly beautiful. It’s so easy to enjoy walking around the neighborhoods and exploring Nagoya a bit.

My good friend, who is currently part of the JET Program (Japanese Exchange and Teaching Program), came to stay with me over the weekend from Shizuoka. We hadn’t seen each other since about July so it was really fun to reunited in Japan! Mostly, we walked around the city, both sightseers in Nagoya. The university isn’t much to look at, but the neighborhoods here are all different and interesting. On Saturday, we met up at Yagoto station and took the train back to my dorm. Mostly we ate konbini food and hung out at the apartment, but we did take the time to go to Motoyama and walk around a bit.

Orange and chocolate doughnut and a cherry & cream cronut (croissant/doughtnut)

Ever since my friend got to Japan, she’s been raving about Mr. Donut, a popular cafe/bakery where doughnuts are obviously the specialty. It was my first time having a cronut and, let me tell you, I was not disappointed! Seriously. Most delicious things ever. It’s like a crispy, pop over, doughnut with delicious cream and fruit inside! Somebody better make a 0 calorie version immediately so I can eat them everyday.

After Mr. Donut, we aimlessly wandered a bit and came across a nice little park with a large pond and later made it somehow to the Higashiyama Zoo, but didn’t end up being able to go. It looked like a pretty cool zoo from the outside complete with ferris wheel and a raised tram that possibly went around the whole zoo. Hopefully we can do back at some point!

Then Sunday, I went with a few friends to the Nagoya Science Museum to see a show at the planetarium, and to walk around downtown for a while. Downtown Nagoya was really a strange experience, or rather different than I expected. It’s not like the images of big cities like Tokyo that you see, but there’s no denying how large Nagoya city actually is. The streets are wide and sidewalks spacious. People mill about in between shops and office buildings. It’s the typical intercity dynamics where business workers, teenagers, and families make their way through the streets. The buildings are a bit different than I anticipated. Not quite as towering, not quite as overwhelming, not covered with television screens or giant advertisements. It’s a bit like downtown Minneapolis but perhaps with out as many glass-faced buildings. Nevertheless, it is a nice enough place and the streets are much cleaner than those in the States. While we were there, we went to the Sakae station where a lot of shops are situated. The stations are a lot like underground strip malls and a lot of people meet or congregate there. From the station we went to a place called Oasis 21.

Shopping center with a watery reflection pool as the roof

There were many shops there and seemed to be some sort of market going on beneath the water roof of the mall. I didn’t have much of a chance to take photos since it was rather crowded but everyone seemed to be having a good time buying all of the fancy stone and wood wears. We also went to the top of Oasis 21 to see the view from above. The water part of the roof isn’t deep–perhaps only four inches or so–but it’s reflection of the sun is really beautiful and adds an interesting element of architectural design to the cityscape. From the top, we could also see what I think was Central Park (like NYC) which was really beautiful also.

Then, we went to the Nagoya Science Museum. We didn’t walk around the museum too much since we had walked around downtown a bit beforehand. It was rather dark inside but the displays were cool. A lot of the museum had to do with typical engineering products from and in Japan like trains and boats and such. Most of it was so familiar to Duluth that I wasn’t really that interested in that portion of the museum, but a lot of the planetary and astrology exhibits were very cool. Of course, it was all in Japanese so I had to guess a lot of it by my prior knowledge and the images shown. The planetarium show was a 50 minute display of a few constellations visible in the Japanese sky and how a lunar eclipse happens. (One is coming October 8th!) While I understood about 1/4 of the show, it was really interesting to see how different the placement of the stars was.

When everyone was tired and the day was done we all went our separate ways and the week had to start.  Not much has happened since then. Mainly just orientation things for the university. I’ll be registering with my school later this afternoon and a few of my classes should be starting tomorrow. I’ll check in later with an update on the beginning of classes!

Arrival and Day One

Well, I’ve made it! Official in Japan! It’s different but not all that different.

Recounting the plane ride, it felt a lot longer when it was happening and now that I’m off it kinda is just a blur. I was fortunate enough to have one empty seat between myself and my row mate which was really nice. It would have been nicer if I had a row to myself like some other passengers did, but that’s okay. Honestly, I just watched a bunch of movies and they fed us a bunch of food (which was actually pretty tasty!). Somebody probably thought I had bladder issues though because I went to the toilet about once every few hours. It was more so to just stand up and move than actually use the facility.

The plane was pretty rad since it had a small second floor that included a bar section. Also, a lot of free alcoholic and non alcoholic drinks were included in my flight plan but I didn’t end up getting anything. What’s worse than flying 12 and a half hours? Flying them with a hangover probably. So I refrained.

When we finally touched down in Japan, we were shuffled into the customs area. They gave us some small information forms to fill out on the plane but I didn’t have a pen and, like a handful of others, had to wait until landing to fill them out. Then the employees began checking passports and sorting us into lines to go through customs. Did I mention that a lot of passengers where also American or non Japanese? Probably a third of us were trying to figure out what row to go in and the staff spoke little English. After a quick photo op, a fingerprint scan of my two index fingers, and about 5 minutes of awkward silence, the customs officer handed over my residence card and I was able to move on to the claiming area. The employee who helped me was super nice and asked if I was an international student. I said もちろん! (of course!) and we had a laugh before he waved me on.

So as I stumbled out of customs with my two suitcase and a tiny amount of annoyance (my phone service hadn’t been turned on so I was in the dark and without a map), somebody yelled my name and ran up to me with a huge hug. Thankfully, my friend whom I’d met last year during her study abroad at my campus was there to meet me! She seemed worried that I was a bit later than I originally was supposed to get there but I was seriously relieved that I did’t have to go wandering around the airport trying to find her.

In the next few hours, we exchanged my money into yen and hopped on probably three different trains. I honestly still don’t really get how they work, but it doesn’t look too confusing and each ride was only about $2.50. She showed me the basics on buying tickets and figuring out which way the trains go, etc. We walked around at a few different stations too. They are basically like little malls on top of the tracks; there are small shops everywhere, a lot of people just hanging out, and at Kanayama station there were at least three different small bands performing around the area (and everyone in Japan is an amazing singer, what gives?). Then we finally made our way to my hotel at Yagoto station and checked in.

While the face of the building looks incredibly out of place, the Sir Winston Hotel is actually pretty fancy on the inside. The staff all wear nice suits and the bellhops have their own uniforms. I felt like I was tossed back in time really. After a short conversation, half in English and half in Japanese directed to my friend and not me, the bellhop showed us to the room. He actually turned on all the lights and briefly explained the room in very polite Japanese then explained to call the front desk if I had any questions. I’m pretty sure he was talking more to my friend and not me but I did reply in Japanese and he left, and shortly after so did my friend.

The next morning I woke up around 3 am, which is about 1 pm US time. I ate some cup ramen out of the mini fridge and waited around for the stores to start opening. The traffic didn’t really start up until about 7, but I was finally able to see Japan in the light of day. Nagoya is kinda of hard to explain as far as I’ve seen. From the air, you can see it go on for quite a long way but being in it–at least in my area–it looks like a mix between metro and suburban. There is a lot of green, which is great because it reminds me of home. The buildings are like dominos stacked up next to each other with small faces but stretching back pretty far.

Around 7:30 I left the hotel in search of breakfast. I was told there is a grocery store across the street so I figured I’d check it out. The store, Aeon, didn’t open until 8 (if I read the sign right) so I wandered around in the station to a コンビニ (konbini = like a gas station type convenience store). They didn’t have much in the section I was in as the store was divided into parts–one where people who’ve paid for train tickets can go and one for the others without–so I just grabbed a coffee and a packaged waffle treat. Both were actually really delicious so my day started pretty nice.

For the rest of the day, I took a walk around the neighborhood but didn’t venture too far for fear of actually getting lost. When the grocery store opened I popped in and grabbed a few quick things to eat for the day and tomorrow morning. Nearly all of the workers in the grocery store kept loudly proclaiming welcome (いらっしゃいませ）every time a customer was within 15 feet of them, which most of the customers ignored. At checkout, I was asked if I needed a bag. Now, my friends who have been to Japan told me that they always use reusable bags or then plastic once are 2 yen a piece. So, I said I didn’t need a bag and then had to awkwardly shove some things in my purse. The cashier asked if I was okay but I just told her “できますよ.” (I can do it!) and she kinda laughed with me before I left.

The rest of the day I holed up in my hotel room, took a bath (Everyone in America needs a Japanese bath tub because they are so deep and awesome!), and ate some lunch before napping around 2:30 pm. I’ve also had my ‘do not disturb’ sign out the whole time I’ve been here because I don’t want to have my messy room cleaned. So tomorrow I’ll be going to the dorm! My friend is picking me up again in the afternoon and we are taking the train over, which should only take like a minute. Thus far, I haven’t seen too much of Japan (it rained the later half of the day), but I look forward to meeting the other exchange students.

Until then!

Minneapolis to Detroit

35,000 feet is pretty damn high. Nearly unimaginably. But in actuality, it doesn’t feel like anything. I can glance over my row mates and out the window but all I’m seeing is “movie vision”. It’s so unfathomable to my little human mind of that I’m flying in a big metal tube high above the ground that I swear my brain is just convincing me that all the windows are television screens. It’s been 10 years since I’ve been on a plane, and perhaps some experience pocketed itself in the depths of my cranium, but I’m convinced my brain is a good liar. I’m just riding in a crowded, long, better furnished bus and that’s that.

Overall, getting through the airport and security much more painless that getting through the goodbyes. It all still doesn’t feel like I’m going away. Just feels like a normal day, except I’m on a plain barreling through the air across the ocean. Regardless, I’m looking forward to things. Mostly that dinner I’m promised on my Nagoya flight, but hey. It’s the little things, right?

Side note, there’s a man to my front left who just started watching Lost… Yea, let’s thing about horrific plane crashes while we are cruising alone in the very same mode of transportation. Some people….

Sinking in?

It’s the one week mark today! I still can’t believe that I’m actually leaving the country soon. But now, with my luggage (mostly) packed, it’s slowly starting to actually sink in. Many of the people I’ve talked to have offered all sorts of congratulations… and some fear. It’s awesome enough that people are excited for me when I tell them, but these inevitable responses aren’t quite what I expected:

“Wow, that’s so far away!”
“Japan’s like a totally different world isn’t it?”
“Are you going to be able to adjust to their food?”
“A year’s a pretty long time! Hope you enjoy it!”
(aka, “Hope you don’t hate it a few months in!)

Honestly, I can’t be anything but grateful for the opportunity and I am pretty darn excited to live one of my dreams, but these responses are a little tricky to handle. I know that Japan isn’t nearly as “different” or crazy as a lot of people are led to believe. Obviously not everyone walks around looking like anime characters or only eating the most delicate and expensive sushi in the world. From what I’ve heard, it’s basically just like any other place with the only big difference being the language and shopping brands. Now, I’m not trying to downgrade the wonder that Japan. Their incredible history has left many amazing sightseeing opportunities after all. Not to mention many modern attractions like anime and Studio Ghibli, etc. I’m excited to experience Japan not as an “exotic” world but as a land for discovering! Like Columbus, but without all the small pox and massacres and land stealing…. Okay, maybe not like Columbus at all, but you get the idea.

For now, I’m staying calm and browsing some tourist sites in Nagoya. It’s a good way to stay my nerves for the long days of travel just a short while ahead of me.

Housing Update

I’ve been assigned to my housing for my year at Nagoya University!

I’ll be staying with most of the international students as Ohmeikan. 

I’m looking forward to being in the larger dorm with more people, and it’s not too far away from the university which should be nice. Debating putting up my address now, but perhaps I will later when I receive my dorm room number and stuff.