My First Weekend in Japan

I apologize for the lack of updates on my part (I know there are those who would like an update every day, and I wish I could) but I’ve been really busy this weekend. I can’t really remember everything that I’ve done since I last wrote but I’ll try my best…

Thursday was very busy because I had my language lab orientation (not really necessary but that’s okay), I registered Blueberry with the university (so now I can park my bike on campus), and I attended three back to back sessions on clubs, health, and safety issues. In other words, join a club, look both ways before you cross the street, if the world around you starts shaking, hide under a table, and “you can’t tell if someone has a sexually transmitted infection just by looking at them.” Same stuff from Transitions, except definitely no where near as fun. I did learn useful information on what to do if there is an earthquake though.

For dinner on Thursday I went with Heather and her friends to eat in Hirakata-shi. We had Italian (why am I eating Italian food in Japan? I don’t know) and it was fairly good. It was way more expensive than I expected so I won’t be eating there again on the account of I can’t afford it. Besides, I like Japanese food better than Italian food anyway.

On Friday, we were told to dress up a little bit for our official Opening Ceremony. It’s a fifteen minute walk from the dorm to the university so while I had a nice dress, I refused to wear it on the account that I’d have to walk in uncomfortable shoes the whole way. And, since the dress is knee-length, taking Blueberry instead was not an option… Anyway, I did bring one pair of pants that I used to wear to work, so I dressed for work. It was REALLY hot that day too, so I was miserable in my slacks. And I thought Orientation at UA was bad… No, at least there we didn’t have a lot of humidity!

After the Opening Ceremony, I had JUST enough time to go home, change clothing, and walk back to take part in the optional tour of Kyoto. I was really excited about it because I’ve heard that Kyoto was so pretty. Well, we didn’t go all over Kyoto, but we went to Kiyamizu Temple, which was absolutely amazing so I wasn’t disappointed that I didn’t see all of Kyoto. And, after three of our group members left to go shopping (and seriously missed out, I think), the ratio of international students to Japanese students was almost 1 to 1 so we each had our own personal guide. The girl who spoke with me most was named Miho.

To get to Kyoto, we took the train. I’ve never been on a train before so it was another new experience to add to the list. Standing there waiting for the train was nerve-wracking because I saw how fast the trains moved (frightening!). But, on the train, you don’t really feel the movement, so I was a little surprised. While we were on the train, Miho tested my Japanese reading skills by having me point out every kanji that I knew, and read every sign that I could read. Over the course of the day, I remembered so much more of my Japanese because I was trying to use it. After that experience, I’m glad I’m moving into a host family because in the dorms there really isn’t much opportunity to speak anything other than English (and I don’t like that because I’m here to learn Japanese, not English).

We basically had to climb a mountain to get to Kiyamizu Temple, but after walking around so much this week, it didn’t feel like we’d climbed as high as we did. Along the way were rows and rows of shops dedicated to souvenirs. Every five or so shops there would be a store that served Green Tea flavored something (ice cream, donut, the tea itself…). Also, every block there was a shop devoted to Japanese-style fans. When we finally got to the top, the shops stopped a good hundred feet from the base of the temple, but we had to walk up at least three flights worth of stairs. The temple itself was gorgeous; made of dark wood and mostly built to overlook the mountainside and the valley below leading back to Kyoto’s streets and the long, steep walk back down.

Kiyomizu Temple has lots of interesting things to do. There is a statue of a jolly looking guy in red that must be really popular since many people were taking pictures with him. There is also a spring where you can drink the water and receive wishes (plus with it as hot as it was, the water was a welcome refreshment, even if it hadn’t given you wishes at the same time). During good weather, you can see geisha walking around the shops, there for you to take their pictures. There is also a cherry-blossom tree garden within the temple premises, so when spring arrives, I must return to hanami (flower watching) there! I’m told that when the flowers bloom, the world looks like it is covered in pink snow. Even without the cherry-blossoms, the scenery at Kiyomizu Temple was absolutely gorgeous; I could stand in one place for hours and never take it all in. I felt like such a tourist because I was taking pictures of everything, but I’m glad I did because I want to remember this trip forever!

On the way back to the station, we stopped at what Miho said was the kind of restaurant that young people stop and eat at. Dinner was very enjoyable—we arranged ourselves at the tables so that there was an even mix of international and Japanese students at every table. For dinner, I sat with Mami, Daniel, and Lisa (at least I think her name was Lisa), and Mami and Lisa ordered for us. What we decided to do was to share whatever they ordered and then split the cost among the four of us. They ordered what was essentially a cross between popcorn shrimp and tempura, a dish with onions and lettuce in some sort of sauce, a dish with what looked like little half-moon pastries with meat and spices inside, and a large bowl of fried rice. Again, I don’t remember the names of what I ate (I’m going to have to start writing all this down!) but it was very very good.

On Saturday, I spent the day with my temporary roommate Crissy and our neighbor Marisa, who is a Japanese student who chose to live in the international housing. We went to Vivre, a department store that had 7 floors. We explored the whole building in search of good prices. I did not buy anything but it was very interesting to see what parts of American popular culture are imported to Japan and what parts are not. For instance, I heard Maroon 5 over the in-store music, many shirts are written in engrish, and many items had Spongebob, Captain Jack Sparrow, Jack from the Nightmare Before Christmas, Micky and Minny Mouse, Donald Duck (but no Daisy), the unnamed female bunny from Bambi that Thumper falls in love with (but Thumper himself did not make an appearance), and Michael Jackson was there in abundance.

After shopping, we went to eat dinner at a little restaurant nearby where I had (I remembered to write this one down!) okonomiyaki. Okonomiyaki is essentially what looks like lettuce and egg (lots of egg), and your choice of meat cooked over a flat surface much like a pancake or omelet. Also, on one side they put fish meat that is so thinly sliced that it is thinner than standard notebook paper. And oh goodness, okonomiyaki is so wonderfully delicious! I love it and I’ll have to learn to cook it. I think it would make a great breakfast food, on like a Saturday morning (well, I mean, for me it’ll probably be afternoon since I sleep a little late on Saturdays, but I still call it morning…). And for dessert, we had a donut from Mister Donut (which is the Japanese version of a Krispy Kreme, though not nearly as sweet).

We also went to the Hyaku-en store, which is like a Dollar store in the US only instead of selling crap like the US ones do, the Hyaku-en store sells really awesome stuff! I’ll be buying all my school supplies from there, thank you!

Today, I am spending the day in the lab writing to you while I wait for 3:30pm to get here, when I meet with my host family and then move into their home. I’m very nervous and very excited at the same time—I hope they are as wonderful as they sound on paper.

I will try to write more often in the future!