Author Archives: vvt5021

Here is where we part

I’ve now been living in Japan for nine months. My entire junior year has been spent in a completely different country, learning Japanese, meeting new people, learning how to live in a city, how to fend for myself, how to travel, and the like. It’s been quite a ride, from the very first night I came, jet-lagged, delirious, exhausted, shell-shocked in a tiny hotel room with only ten channels, a hard bed, and obnoxious summer heat. To now.

Have I changed? Has this country impacted me in all the ways that people said it would? Yes. Absolutely. Subtly, perhaps not so, but all the same, this country has shaped and molded me just a little bit more, making me both nervous and excited to come home to the states.

Of course, so much of this would not have been possible without all the people I’ve met along the way. My host families, who showed me the ropes of living in Japan, helped me when I needed it most, fed me, laughed with me, and generally tolerated my odd habits and needs. My other study abroad students, who understood the problems of kanji better than anyone would. My teachers, who not only taught me what I needed to know, but helped me understand language in ways I never thought of before. My Japanese friends, who taught me just about everything else, including how to hunt down attractive boys.

Japan has been everything I wanted it to be and more. I have spoken with strangers on trains, I have seen temples plated in gold, sung “We Are!” among other Japanese people in a club, had class canceled due to a typhoon, met a famous ikebana teacher, ran to catch the last train of the night, felt a 3.9 magnitute earthquake, saw trains being canceled due to suicide, onsen, went to the YG Family Concert, built a reputation at a dance club, saw FEM for free, went to the naked man festival, dressed up as a ninja for a day, witnessed rare snow in Nagoya, tasted tomato-flavored, as well as sake-flavored, ice cream, planned a trip to Tokyo, went a baseball game, the One Piece Dome Tour, multiple nomihoudais, and even met a real geisha.

I’ve fallen in love with a city in a way I never knew possible. I have been a citizen of Japan, however brief, and while there have been difficulties, frustrating moments, I have still loved every single second of it. I have done what I came to do, I have checked the list of things to do, and I have just rounded off the best 9 months of my life.

It’s hard to believe that I finally have to go.

But i’ll be back. Wait for me, Japan.

Location: Kasugai, Aichi Prefecture, Japan

Goodbyes

As the last few days come to a close, we all manage to squeeze in some time for goodbye parties.

First was the goodbye party for my dance crew, PRIME. It was a lot of fun. We got to properly say goodbye to all of the friends we’ve made, thank them for their help, their friendship, and all the great times we had over the past couple of months. The only thing that would have made it better was if I had gotten to say goodbye to our dance teacher, but such is life.

To top it all off, the girls had put together little boards with messages on it and a picture of the whole group back in December. I was incredibly touched, and I’m so glad that I took the opportunity to join PRIME. They made my study abroad experience all the more amazing. I can’t wait to see them again, and I can’t wait to come home and teach PSIDE what we learned in Japan!

On another note, all the Nanzan study abroad kids graduated! It was a fairly eventful day. We took class pictures, went through the graduation ceremony (we all went up to the president, bowed, accepted our papers, then bowed again. All very in the Japanese style), then had a long goodbye party that basically gave us a chance to stuff our faces while taking pictures and crying. I had to wipe tears from two girls’ faces, people were getting very emotional.

And I don’t blame them. After dealing with one semester of goodbyes, this one was less of a shock, and as my friend Adam pointed out, it won’t hit until you’re listening to a song or see something you want to show someone, then understand that those people are no longer there and you remember just how horribly you miss them and want to talk to them. Skype and facebook aside, nothing beats hanging out with someone, and that’s something that’s hard to get back. Congratulations on graduating, Nanzan kids.’

We are… Penn State girls!

Location: Nanzan University, Nagoya, Japan

Let’s wrap up

So the semester has finally come to a close for me! One of the best things about the end of something great and wonderful like a semester abroad is the chance to look back on everything we’ve accomplished and done.

One of the things i’m most proud of advancing on is my flower arrangement (ikebana) skills. I went into the class a bit hesitant, hearing things about the difficulty of the class, and worried about my own artistic ability. I found the class to be a lot of fun and it tested my imagination in new and refreshing ways. It was definitely one of my favorites this semester, and I lived every second of getting to work with flowers to put them into beautiful, appealing formations.

Here are some of my creations from this semester, including my final exam flowers, as well as the very last arrangement of the semester.

A more personal goal I had set for myself starting from my very first full day in Japan was to try every single drink I could get my hands on. The general rules were to try unusual drinks, those unavailable in America, and similar brands but different flavors. Needless to say, I went to town on this mission, because Japan, as it so happened, was more than happy to provide. The interesting thing about the drink market in Japan is that while there are naturally a wide variety of brands and flavors that are constantly available, there is an almost weekly rotation of drinks otherwise. I could almost always find something new every week or so. So from lavender milk tea, to mint milk, to pink pepsi and kiwi flavored soda, my taste buds had quite the experience.

The final count? 122 drinks! Am I proud of myself? Absolutely. Thanks, Japan, for the amusing adventures.

As a side note, I have to say that having a small personal goal or mission made my study abroad so much more fun. It was like a fun side-project; I was always on the look-out for new drinks, peering into vending machines, poking my head through the drink section at convenience stores. It definitely made my experience all the more enriching, and I definitely urge other study abroad goers to set some goals from themselves, aside from academic. I know some people made sure to learn 5 kanji a day independently of the classroom, while others tried different kit-kats, or took a picture a day of something new or exciting. Give yourselves finish lines! It makes the road you’re traveling all the more interesting as a result.

Location: Nagoya, Japan

Play ball!

Between goodbye parties and last minute packing, I had the chance to go to my very baseball game ever!

Nagoya’s baseball team is the Chunichi Dragons, and the city is very supportive of their baseball team. After spending an entire semester living close to Nagoya Dome and seeing fans everywhere, my interest in baseball was admittedly piqued. Baseball is a big deal in Japan, with roots dating back before World War II, so who was I to ignore tradition? I expressed an interest in going to my host parents this semester after seeing my host brother obsess over them (he knows all the starting batters and players. All of them.) and seeing merchandise around the house. As a gift to me, my host mother and sister and I all went to a game.

We got pretty decent seats, not too into the crowd, so we weren’t surrounded by screaming people or anything, but it was still insanely loud and noisy. We were in the bleachers that were closer to the opposing team, the Lions, and every time the Lions were at bat, we had crazy fans screaming around us, and then cursing loudly when the Dragons were at bat.

I have only a vague understanding of baseball, but I pick up quite quickly. The beginning of the game was pretty uneventful and even disappointing, as the Lions managed to get in a good homerun, but the Dragons pulled in after the 7th inning and we left by the end of the 8th with Dragons pulling in 5 more runs, which was amazing. There was a lot of screaming and cheering at that point, from me included.

As baseball games go, that one was pretty fun. I got a grasp on some of the main players in the Dragons, and I’m definitely excited to see more, American or Japanese, regardless, though it was more fun here to see people bring out their bento boxes and sushi and buy Japanese beer. Baseball is a fun game to watch and the attitude of the crowd is infectious. Now all I need to do is learn all of the Dragon cheers and I’ll be ready for another round.

By the by, Dragons won 6-2! Good game!

Location: Nagoya Dome, Nagoya, Japan

The Day of the Dinosaur/Dragon

A personal dream and goal of mine has been to buy a kigurumi in Japan. Basically, it’s like a huge costume of a stuffed animal toy, but warm, comfortable, and generally fun to waddle around in. Way back in Tokyo, my friend Steff and I both finally got to accomplish our goals; we chose tiger and dinosaur. Or dragon, as some people think that my costume could be either.

A little while ago, we had the goodbye party for our Japanese class, and who were we to resist dressing up a little bit and causing general discomfort for Japan for the day? Riding the train and subway to school got me stares and general giggles. Being on campus in the outfit was another story altogether.

It was basically as if Steff and I were walking to and from class naked, that was the amount of attention and stares we received. Students actually stopped in their tracks to watch us go past, others were bold enough to wave and tell us how cute we were. Another boy actually followed us from the cafeteria to the convenience store on campus to ask us what exactly we were up to (and ended the conversation by urging us to watch anime, of all things). The oddest occurrence of all, however, was being stopped by Nanzan’s fashion club and being submitted to a tiny photoshoot because apparently, they saw our get-ups as “fashionable.”

I had also decided to top off my ridiculousness by being as outlandish as possible, toting around aviator sunglasses, bright yellow star headphones, and a robot bag. Some could potentially argue that I was being bold. I would answer by saying I was wearing pajamas and resembling a clown. As it turns out, we’re going to be included in the next fashion magazine. Lucky us!

Despite it being generally far too warm to wear a fleece bodysuit and enduring far more attention than I thought was possible for an entire day, it was actually almost refreshing to finally have Japanese students find strength in our boldness to actually approach us. My host mother even showed me off to my host father because she thought I looked hilarious. I can now say that after parading around Japan dressed as a dinosaur, there’s not much left for me to do that will potentially harm my dignity. I have done the ridiculous, and I did it with swagger.

Location: Nanzan University, Nagoya, Japan

Oh, but the pitter-patter of tiny feet…

In Japan, it’s fairly common to see huge packs of elementary school kids stomping about in waves of little matching yellow hats and loud yelling. The other day, my JR train was hit with such an attack, filling almost all 6 cars. Despite how adorable and precious kids are, I went out of my way to pick the one least swarming with the tiny little hooligans.

As luck would have it, I picked the train car with the bathroom, which is apparently a course of neverending amusement to kids that age who are on a fieldtrip, but still, only 15 or so kids were in the car, I assumed I could deal. I stood by the doors, reading away, but the second to last stop before my own ended up emptying out the seats nearby. The children rushed to grab them before I did, leaving me standing behind a seat of 4 kids attempting to get into a seat meant for two, and even more tiny bodies crowded around me. All of them were starting to give me curious looks.

Eventually, two girls in the seat were bold enough to catch my eye. Both bowed their head in greeting, and I returned the gesture with a smile. They continue staring, leaning in as close as the back of a train seat would allow. Finally, I say hello, earning a gasp from both of them, the shyer one muttering “Oh, she can speak Japanese…?”

The tide was broken. The unspoken rule of not speaking to the foreigner smashed. The gaggle of boys joined in the conversation, as did the students seated across from me. Where are you from? How long have you been here? They threw out all the American phrases they knew (which, for I’m sorry, thank you, hello, how are you, and it’s nice to meet you, wasn’t half bad. I told them as such.) I threw some back: what year are you guys, are you guys going to school? How’re your English studies coming along?

The rest of the passengers of the train are actually watching me, listening and half-smiling to themselves as I’m bantering with the kids. I still can’t tell if they were testing me or simply amused.

One particular boy was particularly sure of himself, walking up to me to ask me my favorite and least favorite foods.

“Ramen.”
“Hmm. And least favorite?”
“Natto.” “Natto?! I. Love. Natto.”

To which I protested that it was terrible amongst the laughter of his friends. They were excited when we reach the final station and I tell them I’m getting off as well. As I finally turn, they see some of the One Piece keychains on my bag. The same Nattoboy is apparently a fan as well. As his peers start tugging curiously at parts of my bag, he asks me who my favorite character is. Turns out we like the same guy; he was pretty excited about that.

As we walked through the ticket booths at Kozoji, I turned to go my own way, seeing the childrens’ teachers and not wanting to be a bother. Immediately, a roar of “BYE BYE” washes over me as I walk off. I’m half-way down the station and they’re still yelling my way. It seemed that everyone wanted me to turn around and wave at them. I certainly gave it my best.

It was this sort of curious, inquisitive attitude of children that, in all honesty, is saving Japan. You see many older folks glare foreigners down, half-wishing you weren’t there. Then you have kids, who are bursting with questions, wondering where you’re from, excited to use the handful of English they know on you.

If they can keep that sort of attitude into the next generation, and the next, then Japan surely has a chance of finally opening up and remembering that the rest of the world is not as monogamous as theirs. While at the same time, with a smile and a friendly conversation, one can see that perhaps we’re not so different after all.

Location: Kasugai, Aichi Prefecture, Japan

NINJA フェスタ

More on a whim than anything else, a friend and I made our way down to Mie prefecture a while ago to a small city/town of Iga. It truly was the backwoods of Japan, but we weren’t there to sight-see, we came for the Ninja Festival!

Ninja Festa is a month-long event held in the town whose citizens believe their ancestors are ninjas. We toured a ninja house, complete with secret doors and booby traps, wandered a bamboo forest, and even saw a beautiful castle that had wonderful sakura in bloom.

On top of everything, the cost of the entrance into the festival came included with full ninja-garb! Needless to say, that was truly the highlight and big draw of the event. We also got to see a full demonstration of ninja weapons and a showcase of some fighting techniques. Pretty cool.

It was a lot of fun to just wander about a small city dressed as a ninja, even if, due to some of the rain that day, participation of other Japanese people was quite scarce. Truly, it seemed that us and a small group of other foreigners were the only ones dressed up. More than one person stopped to take a picture of us out of amusement.

Getting there and back wasn’t nearly as fun, however. JR and Kintetsu lines run to where we wanted to go, but not all the trains came as often as what i’m used to, nor were some of the trains as new and well-kept as Nagoya. It was quite a change and an interesting experience to finally get out and travel the less populated, more rural Japan. That being said, I was happy to be back in Nagoya at the end of the day, albeit in regular clothes.

Location: Iga, Mie prefecture, Japan

It was bound to happen

Japan is known for it’s high suicide rates. For people jumping from buildings to the point that suicide nets are installed, to shoulder-high railings being installed at stations to prevent jumpers. To the point that they have a word for “death by overwork” called Karoshi, or 過労死.

While many of my courses have touched on this, including my politics and culture class, I’ve never really heard about anything of the sort in recent news or from actual Japanese people.

Cue me attempting to go home one night around 11:30 PM. The usual ticker for train times was empty. All we had instead was a brief message reporting a delay, showing a map of where the delay was, and that a single person had had a “train accident.” The accident had occurred at 3:40 PM. No trains had been running to Nagoya from that station all day, and the trains taking people the other way (the way I was going) came perhaps once an hour, if not less.

I was lucky and managed to catch the very last train of the night, having only waited 15 minutes or so. My friend, going home around 5:00 the same day, was not so lucky, and ended up waiting an hour for a single, extremely packed train to take her home.

As I waited, people paid the information ticker little mind. They didn’t even seem affected by it. They called friends, they perhaps left to arrange another means of returning home, but all in all, it was a fairly relaxed atmosphere. It wasn’t until I finally got home that my host mother confirmed what I had been thinking all the while. Or rather, what she didn’t say and didn’t feel comfortable discussing.

While the death may have been put under “accident,” the likelihood that it was someone jumping in front of a train were extremely likely. Earlier that day, a single nameless person most likely committed suicide on the tracks. And the result was delays for hours and a tiny blip on an information ticker.

It’s been a while since I had such a sobering moment. This sort of thing would have made headlines at home; here, it’s just a snag in the daily routine. Just as it’s been a while since I had that even subtle reminder that Japan, beneath its salary-men and heavily organized way of life, can be just as flawed as any other country.

Location: Ozone Station, Nagoya, Japan

Back to nature

Three other IES trips were a bit more oriented towards nature. After Hiroshima, our next stop was Miyajima, an island not too far from the city.

And here is the red gate in low tide:

In addition to being able to recreate some Tony Stark action while on top of the mountains, I also got to see the world’s largest rice paddle!

Hands down, it was one of my favorite trips with IES so far. It’s a secluded island, mountainous, with plenty of wild deer, a rope-way up the mountains and a beautiful red gate and Itsukushima shrine. Since the trip was 3 days, we got to spend a night on the island, indulge in some onsens, and eat the snack of the region, momiji, which are insanely addicting and extremely delicious.

With nice sunny weather and beautiful Japanese nature around us, it was a fun trip!

A little later, just in time for cherry blossom season, we headed out to Nara! Nara is mostly known for having massive amounts of deer, which are wild and roam free wherever they like. Deer are considered messengers of the god, so they are not allowed to be harmed or killed.

There was also Todai-ji, the biggest wooden Buddhist temple complex in Japan, which houses the world’s largest Buddha. Pretty cool!

The next day, we went to Yoshino, which is another mountainous area known for its huge area of cherry blossom trees. Unfortunately, due to recent chill, none of the trees had bloomed yet, which was disappointing, but there was plenty of sights to see and cherry blossom (sakura) themed souvenirs and food products as well! This included sakura noodles, alcohol, and even ice cream!

And thus ended our IES trips. They were all a blast, and definitely worth going to every single one! They really let us explore the side of traditional Japan, rather than the world of high-tech gadgets and such. Truly a breath of fresh air, metaphorically and physically.

Location: Miyajima, Hiroshima, Japan

We shall not repeat the evil

Let me say this now; Japan’s bullet train is amazing. Super fast, super high-tech, and moving like an airplane attached to the ground. We took a shinkansen up to Hiroshima, passing through Osaka and Kyoto. What would have taken over 5 hours by car took only 2 hours by bullet train. One of those things that you absolutely have to experience in Japan. Check!

The biggest purpose of our trip was to visit the various peace and war memorials in Hiroshima. That included the Peace Memorial Museum, the A-Bomb Dome, the Children’s memorial, the eternal flame, and various memorials dedicated to others affected by the bomb dropped on the city years ago.

It was a devastating day. We all walked quietly in the rain to the museum. I walked the exhibits alone, and was brought to tears twice. Seeing watches stopped on 8:15 AM, rusted tricycles, pictures of burnt bodies, maps of an utterly destroyed and torn apart city, tattered and scorched clothes, a lunch box with the un-eaten, charred food still inside. Seeing the tiny paper cranes made from cellophane folded by Sadako, who died of leukemia early in life. Visiting the huge urn filled with ashes of unidentified people who died in the blast.

It was appalling. To see how so many people suffered needlessly, to see the sick, cruel reasonings behind why Hiroshima was chosen over other cities in Japan, how its fate was sealed when the day Enola Gay flew was bright, sunny, and cloudless. And over everything, letters of Hiroshima mayors to countries still testing nuclear weapons, calling for peace, calling for the destruction of the weapons.

I’ve never been in a place like this museum before. Even after visiting war sites, after going to the DC Holocaust museum, nothing could have prepared me for the utter grief that Hiroshima held. You can feel the sorrow of the Japanese people within the very walls, you can hear the pleading for peace, and the very strength of their calls for reform and a need to spread the word sinks into your skin and stays there after you leave.

You don’t just hear about the masses that died. You meet individuals that suffered at the hands of a single destructive force. You are put into their tattered clothes and made to walk the burning streets and feel the heat of radiation.

That museum made me feel something I have never truly been made to feel before, and in a way, I am grateful for it. But I do not think I could enter that place ever again.

We had 2 hours of free time after the museum, but no one in the group had strength or heart to explore Hiroshima, feeling rather sick to our stomachs and depressed. We went back to our hotel to wait until dinner instead.

Not exactly an ideal way to start a trip, but it was a place that, in my opinion, needed to be visited, and an event that needed to be understood more properly, especially from the viewpoint of the people who had suffered the most.

Location: Hiroshima, Japan

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