Japandrea1's Xanga

Saigo no post (Last post)

Tue, 07 Aug 2007 19:30:25 GMT

So...I'm home. I don't really want to be, but next year, I shall return. You see, the thing I loved most about being in Japan is that no matter where you look, beauty is not far away. There's always something captivating, entertaining, or fascinating to see.

Japan is...

Being able to wear knee high socks without feeling stupid, seeing fog over the nearest mountain (which is also outside of your bedroom window), watching a foreign girl get stood up at Starbucks and witness a single tear trickle down her cheek, two friends riding past your window at 3:20 AM talking loudly about anything, nothing, something, but by the tone of their voices, it's not a waste of oxygen, 50 kids all shouting your name at the same time, watching an old man with a cane fall on the most crowded street in the city, only to be helped up again by his wife and asked if he was okay by an innocent school girl in a yukata, characters from cartoons stamped on everything, real men in U-20 soccer crying on TV and being able to talk about it afterwards, switching up who you talk to on a daily basis, being afraid that the next meal that you'll eat is something you'll despise then remembering there's a McDonald's in walking distance, never having to walk to that McDonalds, seeing modest fashion everywhere, your host father making angry hand gestures towards Osama Bin Laden, helping out clueless foreigners at a festival that takes up blocks and blocks, eating the best soft serve ice cream the world has to offer, having peoples' biased opinions fly right over your head, the sewing skills of an elderly woman who constructs costumes for kabuki theatre and kimonos for weddings, giant hair clips, boys wearing giant hair clips, college guys being scared to approach you and start a conversation, waving at faces you'll never see again and hearing a "Hi" in response, non-electronic sliding doors, coolers, naviagation systems in cars that tell you exactly where home is, the relief after finishing an entire chunk of tofu, wishing and hoping you'll find hontou no ai, watching your family eat sushi 10 times faster than you, random high school boys telling you "I love you," getting candy from strangers, eating it, and not dying, getting towels from banks, guys who walk past you alone and return your smile of foreign understanding, a couple sitting next to you on the Kamo River at night not kissing, just talking, other foreigners smiling at you, other foreigners sharing words with you, being bombarded with sparkly things and loud, upbeat music in peliculas, listening to your host sister play piano, bidding farewell to your older host sister as she leaves for her first night out as an adult, your hand hurting after trying to list all the beautiful things of Japan, the noises of mopeds daring you to try the impossible and catch up with them, but you can't, watching live TV on a cellphone while waiting in line at a restaurant, meeting up with friends and literally talking yourself dry, seeing a child sitting in the front basket of his grandfather's bicycle, a baseball player who makes pitching look graceful, an entire stadium of people letting balloons deflate in the 7th inning, finding the clothes you wore yesterday washed and clean on your desk, music playing to let you know you can safely cross the intersection, blowing kisses to men on parade floats and their bashful grins in return, the young junior salaryman with long hair, mail from a friend from home, glancing outside a classroom window to see the shinkansen at the same exact time everyday, foreign men and Japanese women couples and vice versa, me-ru, complete strangers taking pictures of you in your one-of-a-kind yukata, knowing you are for certain returning to Japan in a short time, seeing attractive men wherever you go, refusing to pack your bags because you're in denial that it's all ending soon, the little melody the trains play at every stop, packing yourself in a little subway train with as many people as you can imagine, small automobiles everywhere you look, a female taxi driver, beautifully colored taxis, looking at Kyoto Tower from atop a mountain and being able to fit it in your hand, elderly Japanese couples holding hands, finally admitting to yourself that you have a liking towards Japanese pop music (only because you hear it everywhere you go!), a cardboard pendant with origami pasted on it, kanji that you understand, learning the kansai-ben, having a second family on the other side of the world.

"Dore kurai mae kara, wasureteta kimochi nan darou"-Arashi

Wednesday, July 25, 2007

Wed, 25 Jul 2007 15:21:49 GMT

I miss this place already. Tomorrow is my last full day and I really don`t want to go. Its late here. Oyasumiiiiii.

Wednesday, July 18, 2007

Wed, 18 Jul 2007 03:57:18 GMT

So, I looked up my flight today, and I finally realized that it`s not, in fact, a direct flight to Chicago. I have to go to Washington DC first, and then get a connecting flight to Chicago. Gahhhh. So basically, I have to fly over Chicago, land states away, and then go back in the same direction I came from. Total time: 14 hours and 43 minutes. Maybe, just maybe, I can pick up a copy of HP in DC. I doubt it though. I won`t have any money or anything. I have less than 70 bucks left because I spend my money as fast as possibly. Grrrr. Oh well.

Here`s Gion Matsuri for you

And here`s that cell phone you`ve been wanting to see

Sunday, July 15, 2007

Sun, 15 Jul 2007 02:07:48 GMT

Most. Disappointing. Typhoon. Ever.

Where is this 423984372ml of rain we were promised? I wanted to wake up and be able to ride a raft through the streets and paddle my way into Starbucks to order my vanilla frap. I woke up to this:

What the heck? I wanted to see people panicking about their insurance while water was up to their knees and crying to TV cameras, but alas, nothing. Blue, clear skies and the temperature is a thousand and one degrees celsius. I don`t even know how to calculate celsius, so I don`t care. So much for today`s entertainment. Tomorrow is umi no hi. Wooo. Hippie day.

Oh! And, I saw Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix last night. Amazing. Absolutely amazing. It stayed true to the book this time (unlike #4 where I didn`t even know what was going on) and the special effects were splendid. It was a sold out show, too. I laughed where I thought it was appropriate, but apparently, the Japanese people don`t understand English humor. Honestly, there I almost lost it during the scene where they show Umbridge`s office. But alas, the theater was silent, and I was forced to think about how if Ryan were there, we would make a Schoenbach joke right then. But he wasn`t, and I had to put my hand over my mouth to stifle my laughter.

Where have I been?

Thu, 12 Jul 2007 05:35:55 GMT

Here. Without school, Japanese life seems to be full of day time TV and finishing AP summer homework.

My yukata is finally finished, just in time for Gion matsuri woo! A neighbor of ours made it, and she specializes in sewing, especially kimonos, yukatas, and kabuki theatre costumes. Here`s my masterpiece

I don`t think I even own anything pink, but it`s lovely, I think.

I even went to a Kyoto Sanga game (They`re a division 2 soccer team.) They tied 1-1 to Osaka, which is a nearby city therefore making it an intense rivalry.

Playing with Hiromichi`s fake katana

Seeing geisha in the rain

Spending time with my host family

Setting off fireworks on the 4th of July

Doing activities with the other Kyoto-area exchange students (the guy next to me is a German exchange student who`s here for a year. Lucky.)

Hanging up my wish on a tree for the Tanabata festival.

Chilling with the modern day Power Rangers

Being put in prison with Mai (my host sister)

Sitting down in random traditional houses and posing with cheesy smiles

This is Kyomizu temple, which is my favorite temple of all time. (Me, Mom, Mio)

Me, Mai, and Mio

The whole family, basically, minus papa

Kamo River

Yeah...

Monday, July 09, 2007

Mon, 09 Jul 2007 03:57:24 GMT

So, I think I`m finally ready to talk about kindergarten.

The question is: Kawaii (cute) or Kowai(scary)????

On day one, I had to introduce myself in Japanese. I basically said what my name was and then told them that it would be fun playing with them that week. Before I go any further, I should first talk about the chillluns. Kindergarten for them isn`t just 5/6 year olds, it is 3-5/6 year olds, and they are divided up into Gumis (groups, clans, classes, whatever) by age. The 3/4 year olds are the something animal gumi, the 4/5 year olds are the Panda gumi, and the 5/6 year olds are the Kirin (giraffe) gumi. They start the morning off all together (all 40-50 of them) and have announcements, and sing the good morning song, and then some other song that involves calisthenics. Then the kumis seperate, and I always went wit the Kirin gumi. You`d be surprised about how much they sing, because the Kirin gumi sang at least 10 more songs with me. Then we had a lot of freetime, and I taught them what a high-five is, read them some books in hirigana, etc. You know what`s pathetic? They all could read faster than me. It must have taken me at least 15 minutes to read some 10 page childrens` book. For those of you who have studied/are studying Japanese, it`s harder than it looks, trust me. It`s really hard to put this into interesting words, but this week actually did matter to me. The kids were a lot of fun, no matter how much I dreaded waking up at 8:00 (which is early for me). It`s the kind of thing where you had to be there to see the whole thing. Saturday was my last day there, and they made me a present, a pendent made out of cardboard with origami people from the Tanabata festival. On the back it said, "Andi-onesan, ARIGATOUGOZAIMASHITA!!" I forgot to say they called me Andi-onesan, which is pretty much older sister Andi. On the third day, it was as if they belonged to me, and I belonged to them. They asked me questions about how to say things in English, touched my hair incessantly, asked if I was coming back the next day. I was their foreigner, no one else`s. But enough of this, here are some pictures

In case you`re wondering, the girl on the far left that doesn`t look Japanese at all is actually half-Japanese, half-Australian. Isn`t that so cool? She doesn`t know a lot of English though, mostly Japanese.

That is the Japanese Adam right there. He acts exactly like him, honestly.

The answer, in case you wanted to know, is Kawaii.

ATTN ALL FRANKLIN HIGH SCHOOL STUDENTS WHO WENT ON THE JAPANESE TRIP LAST YEAR!!!:

I was flipping through the channels last week and I found this, I know it`ll spark some memories

Your friend,

Saori

Thursday, July 05, 2007

Thu, 05 Jul 2007 06:03:26 GMT

I forgot to say, happy 4th of July everyone! In celebration of this, I stayed up until 3 AM watching The Patriot on TV on July 4th. When I woke up, sadly, the closest I came to red, white, and blue all day was the weather forecast map. My host dad bought us cake and we were going to do fireworks (because, for some reason, setting off fireworks by yourself without a license in the entire country of Japan is alright, but in Milwaukee County it`s not) except it was raining.

Now, here`s a question for you all, should I buy Super Smash Bros Brawl when it comes out here?

Strictly photo update...

Tue, 03 Jul 2007 02:45:51 GMT

Starbucks

Marrrrrrket

The modern-day power rangers

NINJA!

Making candy

I bet you can`t tell which ones I made

This was taken on top of a mountain

skewl

Temple

I would never eat that. I found it in a Lawson`s. Gross.

Hiromichi and Papa making yakiniku

Yellow watermelon?

DO NOT TOUCH A DOOR!

Sunday, July 01, 2007

Sun, 01 Jul 2007 02:38:04 GMT

I made sure to stay up as late as my host sister on Sunday night, because that`s how badly I wanted the Japanese school experience (not really, I just couldn`t fall asleep, but I ended up staying up as late as her anyway) and I didn`t sleep until 1:00. I was awoken at 6:40 the next morning with an "Ohayoooo. Gohan taberu??" from my mother. I was tired as ever. I wanted nothing more than to sleep for another 5 hours in that bed, but alas, it was my first day, and perhaps it had something to offer. But, it felt exactly the same as waking up for school in America, how disapointing. I clumped my way to the subway station, and had a 25 minute ride to Kyoto station. My mother warned me that it would be kind of crowded, and it kind of was, but it was nothing like the body to body to-close-for-comfort train riding during Tokyo rush hour I experienced last year. That was a treat. And then from Kyoto station it was about a 15-20 minute walk to Heian High school. I got a lot of stares and double takes as soon as the other students walking to school realized I was walking with them. You`d think they`d never seen a foreigner before (it`s Kyoto, for goodness sake. There are foreigners everywhere) but each and every foreigner is different, I guess. All of the students were very friendly though, and even attempted to speak English with me, which was great (Just imagine the Haalloo from the numa-numa song, about 5,000 times). I made a speech in front of the entire teachers staff, which was very nerve racking, and then again in front of my homeroom. Since it was memorized, they were all very impressed, or that was the word on the street. I thought I had to make it in front of the whole school, but I lucked out on that one. The first day was midly interesting, I got to help out with the ichinensei (1st year students, they`re equivalent to sophomores in the states since there are only 3 years of high school in Japan) English class, which was...different. The teacher could barely speak English, and when he did, it was Japanese English. So it sounded like "Herror. It`s been nicing to meet-o you." But I helped out the class by reading all of the dialouge and I even helped them on their homework. I made some new friends, though. There`s my Little Woodland Friend, who is soooo cute! She is probably about 4`8"-10 and she reminds me of an animal. She`s short for a Japanese person though, and she`s 15, but everyone thinks she`s a lost middleschooler. Poor girl. She didn`t know a lick of English though, so it was hard to talk to her. Dialouge went like this:

My Little Woodland Friend: Kyoto slang blahh blahh blahh slang I don`t undestand blahhh ?
Me: etto.. Moikai. (Um...one more time)
MLWF:Ballahhhalllhahaaaa Kyoto slang blahhh blahhh ?
Me: Wakaranai (I don`t understand)
MLWF: gaijin, nanimo shiranai. (Foreigners don`t know anything)
Me: Jya, kore ga wakatta! (Well, I understood that!)
MLWF:Ehhhh? (What???)

She was nice, though, and we discussed music (mostly American music, since most Japanese music stinks) and we walked to Kyoto station together everyday with Mio after school. Surprisingly, they`re not in any club activities, which is good, because I wanted to get home right away and go to sleep. That`s basically what goes on here. High school students wake up at unruly hours, get home, sleep for about an hour, and then go to Jyuku for another 4-5 hours, and then do homework when they get home/study some more, take a bath, and then go to sleep. Jyuku is cram school which is everyday (yes, even Saturdays and sometimes Sundays) where students get extra extra extra practice on certain subjects covered in school. The point of it is to prepare you for the huge enterence exam for college. There aren`t really grades in Japan, it all just depends on how well you do on that gianormous test when you`re done. If you fail, then you study again for another year. Mio has been going to cram school ever since her elementary days, which I just find heartbreaking. Imagine studying nonstop when you`re 7, never having time to do anything else. Gahhhh. I`m happy of my American upbringing.

In case you were wondering, advanced algebra in Japanese is just as boring as it is in English. I slept through that entire class, which wasn`t everyday, thank God. The only class that was everyday was homeroom. Otherwise, schedules were switched daily, and sometimes a class took up two periouds, such as biology or the sho-do class I took (sho-do is Japanese calligraphy with a brush and ink and evurrythang) Some classes took place outside of the homeroom classroom such as biology, music class, sho-do, gym, and computer class.

Sho-do was surprisingly a lot of fun. I went to two sessions, each two hours each. The first one, I sat by myself in a class full of ninensei (juniors) and everyone was hesitant to approach me. I found it comical though, when a group of 4 or 5 girls where trying to figure out how to say "How old are you?" in English, even though I understood perfectly fine their predicament in Japanese. At first they thought it was "How are you?" but some guy butted in and said it was "How old are you." Cute, too cute.

I attended various English classes with various grades. My favorite was the sannensei (seniors, people my age, wheww) one with the native speaker assistant. His name was Matt, he was 32 and from Canada. He lives in Japan with his Japanese wife who knows excellent English. The entire class was in English, and he went around asking every single student questions about various things. It sounds boring but the students were a lot of fun, and they were assigned to go up to the podium and introduce themselves to me, in English. Almost all of the boys included an "I love you" in theirs. Their pronounciation was good overall, and their voices were audible. The 4 girls in the class, however, were terrible at English. I don`t know if it was just because they were shy or because they didn`t take a liking in English, or what, but they all looked unhappy to be there. When it got to my turn to make a speech, they were all surprised that I was seventeen, and the boys all demanded I tell them my nickname. Thus, everytime I turned a corner from that day on in school, I heard "What`s up, Andi?!?!" It was cute, really.

In another English class I went to with the ichinensei(sophomores), the teacher didn`t even acknowlege I was there. I listened for the first 15 minutes to the dialouge she played on the CD. It must have been the oddest, most strange language instruction I have ever had. It went something like this:

"Before the war, there was a zoo in Japan. Soldiers came, and wanted to kill the animals. 'Anything can happen in a war,' the soldiers said. 'We need to protect the people, so the animals don`t kill them.' 'Nooo!' said the zookeepers, 'Don`t shoot the elephants!'"

I forgot to mention that this was a woman saying the whole thing, very dramatically. After that, I fell asleep for two class periods, and even slept during the 10 minute break time in between.

One strange thing of this week was being asked where I was from. The first time I said "Wisconsin" and judging by the puzzled looks, I forgot to say they wanted more general, general as in America. I don`t know. I`ve never been asked that question before in everyday life, refering what country I`m from. It was weird to me.

Some other minor characters in my school experience were The Loudest Person In the World, Tannorexia, and Ring Leader. The Loudest Person In the World was exactly that. Everything she said was obnoxiously loud, and no one seemed surprised at the volume of her voice. Honestly, I don`t think I`ll ever encounter another being with vocal cords like that. Tannorexia was this ninensei (junior) that had the honor of changing with my class before gym. She talked about me with her friend while staring and giving me a "WTH" look the whole time, before I left, I said some stuff to her in English, which weren`t in a very kind tone, so I`m sure she got the jist of it. Ring Leader was just this girl in my class that made the decision what everyone should do, especially when it came to lunchtime. Heian High actually had a cafeteria, but it was open campus during lunch, so you could eat anywhere you wanted to. It was always up to her to organize the troops in the class. It was just...weird.

I`m looking forward to seeing all of these classmates again during Gion matsuri (which will be another hugggggeee update, I promise). Gion Matsuri is a festival that is celebrated in Kyoto. It`s a city-wide participation thing and everyone goes all out.

I start teaching kindergarteners tomorrow for this week....wish me luck grrrr....

Saturday, June 30, 2007

Sat, 30 Jun 2007 03:59:05 GMT

I know you`re all waiting to hear about my week at school (which includes several "I love you"s and a few "LabuLabu"s and many many many SUGOIIIIIIs, which is the Japanese way of saying wow!!!) But honestly I don`t have time to update right now. We`re about to leave somewhere, I think, but I don`t know where, and mom, when did you send my package, ehh? Tomorrow, I promise. Nothing ever goes on during Sunday. Here`s a good quote, to keep you occupied:

[13:47] Emily PACHOWW: haha, i was just gonna ask you how they celebrate the 4th of july over there