My friend at the bus-stop
10/30/2004
10/29/2004
For Lack of a Better Name
This week was chock full o' nuts. Enough so that I couldn't find the time to post an entry for a few days. However, I did resort to scribbling incomprehensible notes into a journal so here's the best stab at putting them into some sort of logical order. Although I'm here to learn japanese, take in the culture, and be laughed at from time to time, japanese TV is certainly worth watching, mostly for it's comedic value. I usually sit with Shun and Shoko so they can explain what I can't understand by general deduction and cursory knowledge of japanese. So far I have two favorite programs aside from the daily news in the morning which has it's own array of wacky humor (I may have mentioned this before but one morning on the news a woman was run over by a bakery truck in Kobe and the news station make an elderly-woman-being-hit-by-a-truck scenatio with 3D animation which left me half chuckling/sick to my stomach).
But regardless one of my favorite shows is called "Toribia no Izumi" (Well of Trivia) and involves two hosts and a panel of famous japanese actors, singers, magicians, etc. The hosts present the panel with useless but interesting knowldge (the more hilarious the better; examples "until 1995 Japan's Meteorological Agency measured the intensity of earthquakes on how strong its staff members felt they were," "spiders can't create webs properly if they drink coffee", or "there is a bronze statue of a group of 1980s heartthrobs on an uninhabited island in Okinawa"). The panel then responds to the level of humor or shock by pressing a button in front of them which makes a very nasal "hee" sound. The hosts talk some more and ask questions to the panel, then all of the "hee"s are tabulated to give an overall rating of humor. I hear that the ratings on this show surpassed the very popular "SMAP X SMAP" (which i have not had the pleasure of viewing yet) The show I watched the other night was also a riot. I was not sure of the name, but yet again it featured a panel of famous japanese people. Their challenge was to perform various traditional japanese activities ranging from giving and receiving gifts to viewing a dead body. A panel of apparently knowledgable japanese would rate each of the contestants on form and execution to the amusement of everyone watching at home. It was reassuring to know that most of the contestants didn't know much more than I did when it came to most of the "traditional" japanese activities. One particularly hilarious part of the program came when the contestants watched a video of a boss offering to pay for his staff's lunches. Something was done incorrectly on the video and the contestants had to come up to a giant head of a cat with a camera inside, stick their own head into it's mouth, and whisper their answer. But enough about TV. Yesterday at school all of my classes ended 10 minutes early for a "special presentation" to the school after lunch. At the appropriate time the whole school filed into the gym where a man was waiting with a powerpoint presentation. After deciphering the first line of text I discerned that he was from the Okayama Women's Studies Institute to give us a little talk about the "birds and the bees." His whole presentation ended up being about STDs, prophylactics, and general sex ed. I thought it was very informative, even in japanese. The kids also didn't laugh very much throughout the whole presentation which was impressive.
On Friday after school Sakaguchi-sensei came to Kendo practice (which is very uncommon because he is very busy with school meetings and had not been to practice in a few weeks). I had been practicing everyday, however, and he said my improvement was "astonishing." He had Asama, the captain, dress in the Kendo armor and I got to take some swings at him. This was the first time I had hit anything with the sword and it was amazing. You make this growl/yell sound before you swing, and when you hit your opponent you yell "men!" or "do!" depending on where your strike lands. This is especially awesome because I am not a very agressive person and hitting people with sticks feels really good. I can't wait to put the armor on myself and go at it for real.
Last night I went to eat dinner with Andee's host family. There are five people, but the oldest host daughter, "Keiko," is in America. His host family is very nice, and we had a delicious dinner of tempura and teriyaki. Andee's other host sister goes to college in Okayama and loves the Strokes. She speaks english well so we had a talk about college in japan among other things. Then I had a really long japanese conversation with Andee's family about america and japan. After dinner (around 11 PM) Andee and I took advantage of the safety of japan to take a bikeride to the beach (about 20 mins away). We stayed till about 12:30 taking some photos and admiring the night sea. Wonderful.
There is a whole lot more that happened this week but I want to post this before it gets too long. More to come soon...
But regardless one of my favorite shows is called "Toribia no Izumi" (Well of Trivia) and involves two hosts and a panel of famous japanese actors, singers, magicians, etc. The hosts present the panel with useless but interesting knowldge (the more hilarious the better; examples "until 1995 Japan's Meteorological Agency measured the intensity of earthquakes on how strong its staff members felt they were," "spiders can't create webs properly if they drink coffee", or "there is a bronze statue of a group of 1980s heartthrobs on an uninhabited island in Okinawa"). The panel then responds to the level of humor or shock by pressing a button in front of them which makes a very nasal "hee" sound. The hosts talk some more and ask questions to the panel, then all of the "hee"s are tabulated to give an overall rating of humor. I hear that the ratings on this show surpassed the very popular "SMAP X SMAP" (which i have not had the pleasure of viewing yet) The show I watched the other night was also a riot. I was not sure of the name, but yet again it featured a panel of famous japanese people. Their challenge was to perform various traditional japanese activities ranging from giving and receiving gifts to viewing a dead body. A panel of apparently knowledgable japanese would rate each of the contestants on form and execution to the amusement of everyone watching at home. It was reassuring to know that most of the contestants didn't know much more than I did when it came to most of the "traditional" japanese activities. One particularly hilarious part of the program came when the contestants watched a video of a boss offering to pay for his staff's lunches. Something was done incorrectly on the video and the contestants had to come up to a giant head of a cat with a camera inside, stick their own head into it's mouth, and whisper their answer. But enough about TV. Yesterday at school all of my classes ended 10 minutes early for a "special presentation" to the school after lunch. At the appropriate time the whole school filed into the gym where a man was waiting with a powerpoint presentation. After deciphering the first line of text I discerned that he was from the Okayama Women's Studies Institute to give us a little talk about the "birds and the bees." His whole presentation ended up being about STDs, prophylactics, and general sex ed. I thought it was very informative, even in japanese. The kids also didn't laugh very much throughout the whole presentation which was impressive.
On Friday after school Sakaguchi-sensei came to Kendo practice (which is very uncommon because he is very busy with school meetings and had not been to practice in a few weeks). I had been practicing everyday, however, and he said my improvement was "astonishing." He had Asama, the captain, dress in the Kendo armor and I got to take some swings at him. This was the first time I had hit anything with the sword and it was amazing. You make this growl/yell sound before you swing, and when you hit your opponent you yell "men!" or "do!" depending on where your strike lands. This is especially awesome because I am not a very agressive person and hitting people with sticks feels really good. I can't wait to put the armor on myself and go at it for real.
Last night I went to eat dinner with Andee's host family. There are five people, but the oldest host daughter, "Keiko," is in America. His host family is very nice, and we had a delicious dinner of tempura and teriyaki. Andee's other host sister goes to college in Okayama and loves the Strokes. She speaks english well so we had a talk about college in japan among other things. Then I had a really long japanese conversation with Andee's family about america and japan. After dinner (around 11 PM) Andee and I took advantage of the safety of japan to take a bikeride to the beach (about 20 mins away). We stayed till about 12:30 taking some photos and admiring the night sea. Wonderful.
There is a whole lot more that happened this week but I want to post this before it gets too long. More to come soon...
10/25/2004
Long Road to Izumo
A letter came in the mail saying that I would attend a rotary meeting in Izumo, but I wasn't sure of it's exact location or the purpose of the meeting. The function ended up being Rotary International District 2690's Regional Conference, one of 500 being held all over the world. Although usually a large scale event (says my host father, a rotarian) this year was special because it is the 100th year of rotary. The other exchange students traveled by train but I went with my host father and a fellow rotarian on the 3 hour drive to Izumo in Shimane prefecture.
The morning drive was a little long, but not without it's rewards. As we passed through the mountains, clouds hung low in the valleys casting thick patches of fog to the left and right of the car. At one point we went over a huge bridge and no land could be seen in any direction except for a small patch of road drifting off into the clouds. Also, about two hours into the drive we got an excellent view of Daisen, a very famous mountain in japan. Snow could be seen on the top and we circled the mountain on the expressway for about 15 minutes. Another interesting feature of the expressway is it's many tunnels, which pass right through various mountains (some are much too long to hold your breath).
When we arrived in Izumo the conference had already started so I found my seat in a large conference hall in the front (my host father frowned when he saw his seat was towards the back). Janna and Cori were already in their seats and they said that I missed the main speaker's entrance which was accompanied by music and smoke machine. Pretty fancy for a rotary meeting. I sat catching pieces of a few speeches until the opening ceremony ended and we went to another conference room for lunch. Kayo, the exchange student to Canada last year, was also at the conference so we chatted with her for a while over lunch.
After eating, some rotary members (including Tomosue-san and Aketa-san) who were in charge of inbound students held a small meeting where they asked us how we were enjoying japan. We all got a chance to talk about school, friends, and japanese school. Fujiwara-san, the head of the Izumo rotary club led the meeting and spoke excellent english if we got stuck speaking Japanese. We were also informed that the rotary members would be paying for us to go see Sumo on the 31st in Okayama. After the meeting we all piled into small busses for some Izumo sightseeing while the other rotary members held meetings.
First we went to Izumo Taisha, a famous shrine. There were many rotary members sightseeing in business suits, and the weather was perfect despite being farther north than Okayama. Statues and very old trees lined a walkway to the main attraction, a giant japanese style Yashiro Zukuri (sort of a large shrine). We spent some time walking around the grounds and I was especially interested in a building where all the gods of Japan are said to come and meet to discuss the affairs of various religions. There was also a huge Shimenawa (braided wheat is probably the best description) adorning the door of the shrine. People come to throw money up into the wheat where coins stick. I tried a few times with no success until I finally jumped and shoved a coin into place (another man tried this and knocked a whole bunch of coins to the ground, but people just laughed). Stopping in front of the shrine, you are supposed to bow and clap four times.
After visiting the shrine, we piled back into the busses to go to the sea (the real sea, much more rough than the calm inland sea near Tamano). We stopped at a lighthouse and climbed to the top up some very steep steps. From the top you could almost see Korea (sort of). The view was nonetheless wonderful I took a ton of pictures. On the way back from the lighthouse we stopped to eat squid, eel, fish, and ice cream. mmmmm.
After sightseeing we went to the Izumo Dome, a large structure resembling Morgantown's colliseum but made of wood imported from canada. Tons of rotarians were inside watching a taiko drum performance. When I walked through the door many rotarians stopped to speak, and I got to talk with the district governor again (who you may remember I met at the welcome party. He is 90 years old but I wouldn't put him a day over 60). He was extremely nice and instantly likable. After the drum performance we were lead into the center of the Dome where food was waiting on many tables. Everyone stood while eating and mingled in the crowd. Izumo is known for it's Soba noodles so that was the main course, but sushi and meat were also served along with copious amount of alcohol (the japanese like a good party). There were no non-alcoolic drinks on the table, so I had to wander over to the drink table to get an orange juice.
A large orchestra performed on stage, the dictrict governor spoke, and Kagura appeared at the end. Kagura (a picture is better than words) are scary figures who will chase away bad thoughts (there is also something about them fighting a dragon, but I didn't catch that part of the explaination). Following plenty of eating and socializing, Oosan (what the family calls Masatoshi) and I got back in the car for the long drive home. He put on Enya and I instantly fell asleep.
The morning drive was a little long, but not without it's rewards. As we passed through the mountains, clouds hung low in the valleys casting thick patches of fog to the left and right of the car. At one point we went over a huge bridge and no land could be seen in any direction except for a small patch of road drifting off into the clouds. Also, about two hours into the drive we got an excellent view of Daisen, a very famous mountain in japan. Snow could be seen on the top and we circled the mountain on the expressway for about 15 minutes. Another interesting feature of the expressway is it's many tunnels, which pass right through various mountains (some are much too long to hold your breath).
When we arrived in Izumo the conference had already started so I found my seat in a large conference hall in the front (my host father frowned when he saw his seat was towards the back). Janna and Cori were already in their seats and they said that I missed the main speaker's entrance which was accompanied by music and smoke machine. Pretty fancy for a rotary meeting. I sat catching pieces of a few speeches until the opening ceremony ended and we went to another conference room for lunch. Kayo, the exchange student to Canada last year, was also at the conference so we chatted with her for a while over lunch.
After eating, some rotary members (including Tomosue-san and Aketa-san) who were in charge of inbound students held a small meeting where they asked us how we were enjoying japan. We all got a chance to talk about school, friends, and japanese school. Fujiwara-san, the head of the Izumo rotary club led the meeting and spoke excellent english if we got stuck speaking Japanese. We were also informed that the rotary members would be paying for us to go see Sumo on the 31st in Okayama. After the meeting we all piled into small busses for some Izumo sightseeing while the other rotary members held meetings.
First we went to Izumo Taisha, a famous shrine. There were many rotary members sightseeing in business suits, and the weather was perfect despite being farther north than Okayama. Statues and very old trees lined a walkway to the main attraction, a giant japanese style Yashiro Zukuri (sort of a large shrine). We spent some time walking around the grounds and I was especially interested in a building where all the gods of Japan are said to come and meet to discuss the affairs of various religions. There was also a huge Shimenawa (braided wheat is probably the best description) adorning the door of the shrine. People come to throw money up into the wheat where coins stick. I tried a few times with no success until I finally jumped and shoved a coin into place (another man tried this and knocked a whole bunch of coins to the ground, but people just laughed). Stopping in front of the shrine, you are supposed to bow and clap four times.
After visiting the shrine, we piled back into the busses to go to the sea (the real sea, much more rough than the calm inland sea near Tamano). We stopped at a lighthouse and climbed to the top up some very steep steps. From the top you could almost see Korea (sort of). The view was nonetheless wonderful I took a ton of pictures. On the way back from the lighthouse we stopped to eat squid, eel, fish, and ice cream. mmmmm.
After sightseeing we went to the Izumo Dome, a large structure resembling Morgantown's colliseum but made of wood imported from canada. Tons of rotarians were inside watching a taiko drum performance. When I walked through the door many rotarians stopped to speak, and I got to talk with the district governor again (who you may remember I met at the welcome party. He is 90 years old but I wouldn't put him a day over 60). He was extremely nice and instantly likable. After the drum performance we were lead into the center of the Dome where food was waiting on many tables. Everyone stood while eating and mingled in the crowd. Izumo is known for it's Soba noodles so that was the main course, but sushi and meat were also served along with copious amount of alcohol (the japanese like a good party). There were no non-alcoolic drinks on the table, so I had to wander over to the drink table to get an orange juice.
A large orchestra performed on stage, the dictrict governor spoke, and Kagura appeared at the end. Kagura (a picture is better than words) are scary figures who will chase away bad thoughts (there is also something about them fighting a dragon, but I didn't catch that part of the explaination). Following plenty of eating and socializing, Oosan (what the family calls Masatoshi) and I got back in the car for the long drive home. He put on Enya and I instantly fell asleep.
10/24/2004
Slightly Lazy or Just Tired
Today I went to a Rotary District Conference, one of 500 held all over the world, which was amazing and certainly deserves it's own entry. But I also received my camera back today which had a ton of pictures so I'll do a large picture post today and describe the trip to Izumo at a later date. (^_^)
The bowl contained the delightful combo of chocolate and salami which made it impossible to grab a handful without feeling weird
10/23/2004
Nobuko is using karaoke's "song finder," an electronic device which will find songs in tons of different languages
Better Dress Incognito
This last typhoon was very strong, the worst most people have seen in a while. Our house was fine but some houses close by were damaged from landslides. There were also some very strong earthquakes in the north part of japan today, but I did not feel anything.
Today I took the bus to Okayama to meet a friend of last year's outbound rotary student. Her name is Nobuko which is about all I knew before I met her next to the Okayama fountain (I guess I was easy to spot being the only foreign looking guy in a bright red jacket). We had sent a few e-mails back and forth so I knew she spoke some english, so in a japanese/english goulash we introduced ourselves and she led the way to a restaurant for lunch. We met with one of her friends and his mom at a coffee shop where I had a chicken sandwich and iced milk tea. Nobuko is 17 and has been to a bunch of concerts in japan; her friend is 18 and really likes the Strokes and The White Stripes.
After lunch we went to a huge game arena (the largest in Okayama, I belive). There were a ton of games and lights and sounds and the whole place seemed to have this energy to it. And it was loud. We took some purikura pictures (the fun japanese photo booths) and then played a game with tyco drums that reminded me of dance dance revolution except with sticks. It was pretty difficult and fun, but then I was completely baffled by a game that a guy was playing which involved a small keyboard next to a turntable. You play a few notes according to the pictures on the screen and then scratch with the turntable, sometimes executing both at the same time. I didn't bother to waste money on this one.
After laughing over the games and purikura, we left the arena to do some shopping (one of my new favorite activities). Nobuko bought a cd and I found a great shirt with a picture of a lightbulb that says "Please turn over the light." She also took me to a "spencers" type shop where I bought some pins and had to fight really hard no to purchase a ton of other stuff. We stopped in a store that was in the shape of OH-kun, one of the mascots of the local television station OHK, where you could buy all things cute-japanese-cartoon related.
Now I will have to mention the crazy coincidences that occur in Japan. Although I know relatively few people, and the cities are rather large, I usually see someone I know when I go to Okayama. In this case, Nobuko took me to a shopping area and in one of the cd stores we ran into Cori, the exchange student from Canada, and two of her friends from school. Nobuku and I had thought about going to karaoke but we weren't sure because it was only the two of us. But five people was plenty, so we all decided to go to a local karaoke parlor (deus ex machina?).
One of Cori's friends was named Billy from New Zealand (although he looks japanese and i introduced myself in japanese to which he replied "i can speak english."). He speaks both chinese and english, and has also studied japanese for 5 years. Her other friend is Katrin, or maybe Katrina (to be determined), from Germany. So at the karaoke shop Nobuko sang in japanese, Katrin in german, Billy in chinese, and Cori and I in english. After some pretty exciting songs, including lots of Avril Lavigne (japan's infatuation), "We Will Rock You," and "99 Luftballoons (99 Red Balloons in german)," Cori had to be home so we all went to Okayama station to go our separate ways. We are going to try and meet again at a japanese cooking class that is going to be held in Okayama.
Andee is in Hiroshima and Yamashita-san is also out of town so Shoko and I didn't go to Kyudo. Instead we talked for a while over dinner then a man came over to talk with Shun who is from the college entrance test preparation center. He was very funny and talkative and I could understand most of what he said in japanese even thought it was really fast. I can now make jokes in japanese, sometimes accidentally.
Today I took the bus to Okayama to meet a friend of last year's outbound rotary student. Her name is Nobuko which is about all I knew before I met her next to the Okayama fountain (I guess I was easy to spot being the only foreign looking guy in a bright red jacket). We had sent a few e-mails back and forth so I knew she spoke some english, so in a japanese/english goulash we introduced ourselves and she led the way to a restaurant for lunch. We met with one of her friends and his mom at a coffee shop where I had a chicken sandwich and iced milk tea. Nobuko is 17 and has been to a bunch of concerts in japan; her friend is 18 and really likes the Strokes and The White Stripes.
After lunch we went to a huge game arena (the largest in Okayama, I belive). There were a ton of games and lights and sounds and the whole place seemed to have this energy to it. And it was loud. We took some purikura pictures (the fun japanese photo booths) and then played a game with tyco drums that reminded me of dance dance revolution except with sticks. It was pretty difficult and fun, but then I was completely baffled by a game that a guy was playing which involved a small keyboard next to a turntable. You play a few notes according to the pictures on the screen and then scratch with the turntable, sometimes executing both at the same time. I didn't bother to waste money on this one.
After laughing over the games and purikura, we left the arena to do some shopping (one of my new favorite activities). Nobuko bought a cd and I found a great shirt with a picture of a lightbulb that says "Please turn over the light." She also took me to a "spencers" type shop where I bought some pins and had to fight really hard no to purchase a ton of other stuff. We stopped in a store that was in the shape of OH-kun, one of the mascots of the local television station OHK, where you could buy all things cute-japanese-cartoon related.
Now I will have to mention the crazy coincidences that occur in Japan. Although I know relatively few people, and the cities are rather large, I usually see someone I know when I go to Okayama. In this case, Nobuko took me to a shopping area and in one of the cd stores we ran into Cori, the exchange student from Canada, and two of her friends from school. Nobuku and I had thought about going to karaoke but we weren't sure because it was only the two of us. But five people was plenty, so we all decided to go to a local karaoke parlor (deus ex machina?).
One of Cori's friends was named Billy from New Zealand (although he looks japanese and i introduced myself in japanese to which he replied "i can speak english."). He speaks both chinese and english, and has also studied japanese for 5 years. Her other friend is Katrin, or maybe Katrina (to be determined), from Germany. So at the karaoke shop Nobuko sang in japanese, Katrin in german, Billy in chinese, and Cori and I in english. After some pretty exciting songs, including lots of Avril Lavigne (japan's infatuation), "We Will Rock You," and "99 Luftballoons (99 Red Balloons in german)," Cori had to be home so we all went to Okayama station to go our separate ways. We are going to try and meet again at a japanese cooking class that is going to be held in Okayama.
Andee is in Hiroshima and Yamashita-san is also out of town so Shoko and I didn't go to Kyudo. Instead we talked for a while over dinner then a man came over to talk with Shun who is from the college entrance test preparation center. He was very funny and talkative and I could understand most of what he said in japanese even thought it was really fast. I can now make jokes in japanese, sometimes accidentally.
10/22/2004
Glossary
This is a glossary that will be added to in the future and is no way complete, but I thought I would give it a trial post in case you were scratching your head about something.
Andee Lim - Exchange student from Malaysia who goes to my school (not in Rotary)
Bizen - A type of traditional Japanese pottery (Also a city about an hour from my house)
Cori Reed - Exchange student from Canada
Doe - A deer, a female deer
Hiragana - Syllabic writing system for Japanese words
Janna Hall - Exchange student from Virginia
John Davey - English teacher at my school from Canada
Judo - Japanese martial art involved in throwing your opponent
Kanji - System of Japanese writing based on Chinese characters
Katakana - Syllabic writing system for borrowed or foreign words
Kendo - Japanese martial art involving the sword
Kyudo - Japanese martial art involving the bow
Mai Watanabe - My host sister, 21, who is studying Dentistry in Chiba
Masatoshi Watanabe - My host father, a children's physician, who enjoys going to lectures and collecting all things dog-related
Miyu Watanabe - My host sister, 18, who is studying English in Kobe
Okayama - The Prefecture in Japan that I live in
Okayama City - About an hour away by train or bus, lots of entertainment
Purikura - Shortened form of "Print Club" translated into Japanese, sort of an awesome photo booth
Sensei - Title given to doctors, teachers, and various other professional positions
Shinkansen - High speed bullet train
Shoko Watanabe - My host mother, enjoys painting
Shun Watanabe - My host brother, 16 years old
Tamano - My town in Japan
Tamano High School - Also known as Tamako, about 15 minutes away by bike
Tanaka-san - A man who lives close to my house and has traveled the world, picking up many languages. He teaches english for free and sometimes I help in the evenings
Andee Lim - Exchange student from Malaysia who goes to my school (not in Rotary)
Bizen - A type of traditional Japanese pottery (Also a city about an hour from my house)
Cori Reed - Exchange student from Canada
Doe - A deer, a female deer
Hiragana - Syllabic writing system for Japanese words
Janna Hall - Exchange student from Virginia
John Davey - English teacher at my school from Canada
Judo - Japanese martial art involved in throwing your opponent
Kanji - System of Japanese writing based on Chinese characters
Katakana - Syllabic writing system for borrowed or foreign words
Kendo - Japanese martial art involving the sword
Kyudo - Japanese martial art involving the bow
Mai Watanabe - My host sister, 21, who is studying Dentistry in Chiba
Masatoshi Watanabe - My host father, a children's physician, who enjoys going to lectures and collecting all things dog-related
Miyu Watanabe - My host sister, 18, who is studying English in Kobe
Okayama - The Prefecture in Japan that I live in
Okayama City - About an hour away by train or bus, lots of entertainment
Purikura - Shortened form of "Print Club" translated into Japanese, sort of an awesome photo booth
Sensei - Title given to doctors, teachers, and various other professional positions
Shinkansen - High speed bullet train
Shoko Watanabe - My host mother, enjoys painting
Shun Watanabe - My host brother, 16 years old
Tamano - My town in Japan
Tamano High School - Also known as Tamako, about 15 minutes away by bike
Tanaka-san - A man who lives close to my house and has traveled the world, picking up many languages. He teaches english for free and sometimes I help in the evenings
