Viva Mexico!

Howdy y'all! It's been a while since I've posted! I have a huge backlog of things to write about from over vacation, and I double pinky promise to have it up by Friday. Really. Would I lie to you?

Well, I can safely say that this was the best Tuesday I've had since coming to Japan.

Oh, but it didn't start off very well. Just before I got to the bus stop, I realized that I forgot my wallet at home, meaning we had to drive all the way home to get it. And the streets get crowded close to 8. I finally made it to the station at 8:13, and just barely made the 8:15 train. But any later, and I would have been in big trouble making it to Doshisha on time.

On the upside, we got our monthly allowances today. Well, that minus cost of books, so sans 26000 yen for me. The 11000 yen I got won’t even cover my train pass this month. Looks like I'm going to have to take out money again...

Also, since I had thoroughly failed to print out my essay on Monday, I dropped by Hirano-sensei’s office to hand in my paper. But we actually wound up talking for almost an hour. At first, I was explaining my dissatisfaction with my host family - lots of little things that were adding up to a lot of stress. As it turns out, he was totally sympathetic to my plight. It seems that he had a lot of similar issues with his home stay when he was in England. We're going to chat again next week to come up with the best solutions for my problems. Then, I mentioned how I was hoping to get the KCJS summer grant and stay on over the summer, which he encouraged me to do. We talked a bit about why I came to Japan, finding “my calling” (influenced by Soseki’s essay discussed in class), and then my plans post-graduation. He suggested I consider aiming for a Fulbright scholarship, which sounds like a viable plan to me. On the way out, I mentioned that I was headed for reina de reina for dinner, and as it turns out, he had been, and recommended it quite strongly.

I hung out in the café for a while with Kaori and Tala-chan, a combination I can always count on for a laugh. Kaori was reading some sort of document about famous writers, which bored me the moment I looked at it. Tala turns to me and says, “How could you be bored! It’s about famous authors, like Miller and Balzac-”, at which point I collapse laughing. Balzac. Say it out loud. Is there really a guy out there with that name? I feel so, very sorry for him. Tala picked up on the hilariousity of the name, and joined me in my (probably really disruptive to other groups) laughter. Kaori, not quite sure what was so funny, asked us why we were laughing, which lead into another amusing session of “teach dirty slang to Japanese students.” Tala and I DIED laughing.  Incidentally, there’s an amusing slang word in Japanese that can be roughly translated as “endurance soup”. I’ll let you figure THAT one out.

笑

Now that we got that out of our system, onwards. I rounded up the gang (Nick, Tina, Dani, Yuka, and new friend Ayaka). 

*********We interrupt your regularly scheduled programming for breaking news: Star Wars VII?! What is this madness? *********

We hopped onto the 201 bus down to Heian Jingu, and made our way over to the restaurant. Kenji was way ahead of us, having already been seated inside. And boy, was this place authentic looking! I swear, I could barely tell it was still Japan (okay, the menu and the waitress speaking Japanese were dead giveaways, but.) Having a Mexican in the party definitely made things more interesting. For one, Tina helped us pick out a nice variety of dishes to try. And when they came out, I was damn impressed. Tacos, nachos, flautas, and some other things I’ve never tried before. Boy, was it tasty! And I knew it was good because Tina was impressed as well. The sauces were spicy and jalapeño filled, and there was definitely cilantro somewhere in there. Oh, and she translated the music for us too! I heard many “songs of [the Mexican] people”, and learned that most songs revolve around three things – women (usually of the broke-my-heart variety), horses, and chickens. Occasionally, all three. Fun was had by all, and I think I’ve found another entry for my book, “Places to Eat in Kyoto (If You’re Tired of Cafeteria Food).” I’ll be back, that’s for sure. They even have live mariachi music sometimes! I think we’ve found a door to another dimension.

I’m sure nobody realized it, because it was cloudy as all hell, but it was the full moon last night. And I wanted to do tsukimi, because I said so. But everyone was tired/busy/had to go home. LAME. I was just about to go off and hitorizake, but Yuka decided to join me. I’m glad she did, drinking alone is damn lonely, even on a pretty night. We made our way across town to the Kamo (Kamo River = Kamo) and hung out for a while. It was chilly, and I fear the day we can no longer drink at the Kamo is soon approaching.

But for now, our precious party spot remains available, as long we’re prepared to face the chilly Kyoto breeze.

Silver Lining, Part 2: Gear Up

I woke up today in a daze. Big midterm coming up and all that. Unfortunately, I didn't exactly start the day with a big, exam day breakfast. When I got out of the shower, there on the table waiting for me were two manju, one anko, one pork. And some fruit. It's like my situation three weeks ago: if the parents don't feel like eating breakfast, ain't no one gonna eat breakfast.

I was honestly half asleep for the first Japanese class. First of all, Yotsukura-sensei, the teacher who was giving the exam later that day, was sitting in, so I couldn’t really talk much about how many metric tons of useless information i was expected to remember for later that day. Then, when Fukai sensei called on me during the lesson, I honestly had no idea which question we were on. Worse, when we were going over the reading, I lost my place mid-sentence three times. I’m not a huge fan of vertical writing, no. It wasn't good, I'll tell you that much. Plus, because I had spent so much time prepping for the midterm, I hadn’t done any pre-work for Japanese class.

First period ended with yet another migraine coming on, which I stifled with painkiller as usual. They haven't stopped, but they're getting weaker. I'm winning! Next, to quiet my rumbling stomach, I went to the convenience store and grabbed one of those premade Japanwiches (the sandwiches here are kind of unique, in a Japan sort of way, hence the name). The Engrish on the wrapper made me crack up. "we made these from our heart. Sandwichs that can be eaten anyplace, anytime." First of all, they, whoever they are, made “sandwichs” from their collective, single heart. And they made Sandwichs, not sandwiches. Ah, Japan, how I love thee and thine strange arbitrary use of foreign languages.

Having purchased my sandwichs, I went to study with my E class friends (Tala-chan, Gabe, Joe), all of whom were also taking the exam later. Tala nearly flipped the table when we got to the question about habitus. I had to bail out after 20 minutes to make it back to my classroom in time for the second half of Japanese. This time, we had Nishimata teaching us our conversation lesson. As always, having the funniest teacher instructing the role playing class is a pleasure. We were talking about requesting refunds at a restaurant and related topics. Nishimata played the waiter, to whom we asked for a new plate of curry after a bug flew into it, learning to be passive aggressive as only the Japanese can be. It was funny how Sandy, one of my classmates, would call out “sumimasen” in her loudest voice, and Nishimata would come running as if a real waiter. Oh, and when he taught us how one refuses to pay the bill (extreme circumstances only), using keigo and a voice sharp as a knife, I shivered. That man is unbelievably cool.

Due to the sandwiches, I wasn't that hungry at lunchtime, but I knew I had to eat. So I had chicken and the smallest bowl of rice (earning me “you’re a guy, right?” looks from the cafeteria ladies) and ate with my friends. Having finished lunch well ahead of the exam, I went back to the classroom and studied with Tala-chan and Roslyn. The exam was definitely not as bad as it could have been. I finished early, and headed out to Kyudo. Today was the day to buy our uniforms.

Of course, it was only after getting to the dojo that I realized I didn't take out any money from the bank. And despite searching the area around the dojo for a 7-11 (ATMs at the bank and other convenience stores don’t work for me) my fate had been sealed. And so I walked from the dojo all the way back up to Imadegawa, more than half of the way back to school, to withdraw money from the 7-11 there.

Incidentally, I’ve spent way too much money here. It was mostly in the last two weeks, but I’ve spent close to if not more than $2000, and I’ve been here almost two months. I gotta slow down, or there won’t be anything left! I’m going to go into frugal mode…starting on Monday.

So, having gotten the money, I take the bus AGAIN back to the dojo, where poor Leila had been waiting for me for more than an hour. I didn’t even get to take my shoes off before sensei herded us into her little compact car and whisked us off to Otsu. We talked along the way about festivals in Kyoto, and a bit about Japanese history (the road we were driving on used to link Tokyo and Kyoto).

We arrived at this little Kyudo shop that one could barely notice from the outside. But the inside was amazing – it was jam packed with bows, arrows, and anything else Kyudo-related. The store attendants were supremely nice – it was a mother and son (the father, who wasn’t there today, makes bows) and instead of the regular keigo “okyakusan”, they referred to us as “oniisan” and “oneesan”. It was awesome. I wound up serving as the translator as everyone was getting fitted for their yugake (Kyudo glove). Fun fact – the yugake is made from small deer. Not baby deer, just small-sized deer. Anyway, I got fitted for mine, and then got sized up for the uniform. Lastly, I picked out my arrow – I really wanted one made from bamboo, so sensei found me one that was long enough for me. While Ulrike (our German pianist friend) was getting fitted for her glove, she put one down without wrapping it properly. When sensei reached to wrap it, I turned to Ulrike and joked “ちゃんとしなさい！” (do it properly!). Sensei turned, looked at me, and said, “Are there girls at school you tell that to?” It took a moment to process, but then it hit me. I nearly fell over laughing. My sensei, as feisty obaachan as she is, totally just made a dirty joke.

But of course, nothing ever goes smoothly. And as we were ready to check out, Leila realized she had lost her wallet. We looked everywhere, including the car (where I learned how to set off Japanese car alarms), but finally she remembered she left it back at the dojo. Sensei called, and it turned out someone had found it. Yay!

Having made our purchase, we returned to the dojo. Sensei had one of the men show me how to put on my new garb (I have no idea how to do it, by the way). It felt REALLY comfy. Hakama are the best pants ever. It was pretty late at this point, like 8:30 or so. In fact, the dojo was about to close up shop, but sensei had us take our first shot in our uniforms, with our own arrows. I may not have hit dead center, but I was damn close. And boy, did it feel good. Getting undressed was just as hard though; thankfully, one of the guys showed me how to properly fold up the gear and pack it away.

Since it was late, sensei offered to drive me to the train stop. I gladly accepted. But once again, trouble struck. Well, actually sensei was the trouble, and she struck a traffic cone. Which would have been fine, except it got stuck under the car. We tried to pull it out (sensei saying to be careful not to scratch the car all the while), but it somehow got wedged in the car. We finally were able to extract it, although not without my slicing up my finger again. Still, fun times. I commented to sensei on the way to the station that these kinds of experiences are the ones I came to Japan to have – the once-in-a-lifetime person to person kind of interactions that just happen.

Speaking of which, there was an interesting occurrence on the way home. At Tambabashi, some girl dropped what looked like a pendant or earring or something. Now, while most Japanese people just looked the other way, I was in a good mood, and I wasn’t about to ignore this. I grabbed the jewelry off the floor, and ran to catch up to the girl. I tried to get her attention (すみません、すみません) but she didn’t notice it was aimed at her. I tapped her on the shoulder, and, startled, she turned to me. And then, with a look of shock on her face, she totally flinched. I mean, I would too, if some foreign dude just comes up to me and taps me on the shoulder. Still, I like to think I’m not THAT scary. As quickly as I could, I apologized and told her that she dropped the jewelry, which I gave back to her. Her scared expression quickly changed into one of gratitude with a bit of guilt, and she thanked me. Good deed for the day, done. Actually, funny thing is, I missed the express train by mere seconds, and so I guess she took the local train instead. I waited for the next express. Either way, despite riding different trains, I saw her again at Okubo, my local station. I guess she’s somewhere in the neighborhood, not that that means much considering Okubo is a pretty massive hub. Still, small world!

Oh, and I had my first real, good conversation with my host parents today. It wasn’t about anything major, but it was an actual conversation, with a topic and everything. And I didn’t have to hear the same thing over and over again either! As rough as last weekend was, I think things are taking a turn for the better.

Silver Lining, Part 1: Rise

After re-reading my last blog, it sounds like last weekend was amazing. The problem is, just when you think things are going your way, life turns around and whacks you on the head. I’m not going to write about it all online, but come Monday, Sam was a fairly sad camper. Now let me tell you how I turned myself back around.

Monday, at Kyudo practice, I finally was able to start talking to some of the other college-age practitioners. There were two girls there with whom we chatted a bit. Nothing important, but I think it would be nice if I could make some friends my age at the dojo. Not that there’s anything wrong with our sensei – she’s actually one of my favorite people in Japan. But more on her in Part 2. She convinced us that it was time to buy our Kyudo gear, so we decided that we’d go out to the store on Thursday.

Tuesday was wonderful because I went to Kyoto Univeristy’s Ballroom Dance Circle (Amadan). To begin with, everyone there is AMAZINGLY good. I went in expecting to be better than some of them, after dancing for two years. But the vast majority of the group was dancing Gold level. I realized why afterward – they only dance Standard and Latin here, whereas we have four styles in the states. Still, it was humbling having to apologize to all of my partners for sucking. But it was so much fun. Actually, my friend Tala-chan came with us, and he had a blast too. When asked if he had any comments on this matter, he replied “I like potatoes.” Thank you for your words of wisdom, Tala-chan. I didn’t realize how much I missed ballroom, but I don’t think I want to stop. I can’t attend regularly until next month though. 

But Tuesday night was miserable; due to the incoming typhoon, strong winds and rain were rattling the gates and shutters in the neighborhood. And I wasn’t getting much sleep because of it. Finally, I remembered I had earplugs, and made it to bed by 2 am.

Wednesday we had a guest speaker: Nishimata-sensei’s kohai, a musician named Sakaki Mango. He specializes in African music, especially this instrument known as the “Oyayubi Piano”. I was one of the three emcees for this event, so I was kind of stressed at first, but he’s one of those really cool, funny people that you can just relax in front of. The lecture was a lot of fun, and the music he played was fantastic. A few times, I lost the rhythm, and a few of the intervals felt a little off (because they use different scales), but overall, I’m glad he came to present. I always love to learn more about music!

I was supposed to go have Mexican food with my AKP friends after class, but unfortunately the weather was not conducive to going anywhere far away. So instead, we went to a little curry house along with Austin, who I just learn is actually half! He’s my half-black half-Chinese kendo master friend. Anyway, we just got some curry, and talked the time away. Next time, we’ll do it in Japanese, at a Mexican restaurant!

The rest of my evening was dedicated to studying for Yotsukura-sensei’s midterm. It was…dense, to say the least. Tala-chan and I would shoot jokes about the material back and forth, although he got to the point where he would just pick out the sentences with grammatical errors and point them out (COMMA SPLICE, COMMA SPLICE!) Although I think we’ve decided the worst made up word in all of linguistics has to be habitus, defined in one reading as “structure and the structure that structures structure.” With such bizarre material, how did Sam fare on the midterm? To be Continued in Part 2, Gear Up.

The New, Improved Sam is Still Just Sam

So I’m 21 now! I'm older, wiser, and cooler...but actually I'm exactly the same person I was before. On my birthday…I went to school! Okay, so when school ended, I killed some time, and then went with my friends over to the Kamo (River) to have my first (American) legal drink. Nick, Sandy, and I shared a large canister of umeshu, along with some chips and stuff. I really wanted to sit on the turtle rocks, but since we didn’t want to be in the way, we sat on some birds instead.

So Sandy met up with her language partner, and Nick and I proceeded to walk down to Sanjo. For those of you who haven’t been to Kyoto, that’s 1.5 miles. I had wanted to go to Book Off and buy myself a Playstation Vita, a birthday present from me to me. Now, when we got there, I was disappointed to find that they didn’t have any for sale. Same goes for the other Book Off one street up. Rather than give up, me and Nick took the train to Kyoto Station, and went to Yodobashi Camera, a big electronics store. Getting the Vita, required memory card, one game, a case, screen protector, plus a PSN card I owed my friend came to a bit over 40,000 yen. So I had them hold everything while I ran to a 7-11, took out 50,000 yen (that’s more than $500), come back, and drop that at the counter. I got maybe 2,000 yen back. 

We wanted to grab a beef bowl for dinner, but by then it was pretty late. The only thing open was McDonalds. And so my birthday dinner wound up as a quarter pounder with large sized fries. And since McDonalds closed at 9pm (unacceptable for the mighty McDonalds to close so early!), we had to eat in underground shopping center Porta. Still, it was pretty nice; Mickey D’s here is pretty tasty, and it was kind of cool in an ironic way.

When I got home, there was a MASSIVE cake waiting for me. Like, it couldn’t fit in the fridge, because if came from Costco and was therefore enormous. So, with no alternative or hope of eating the cake at home, I packed it up, and on Thursday morning, brought that beast into school. It wasn’t easy getting it to Doshisha, let me tell you. The train was packed, and the cake was big. But I made it work out anyway!

We asked Wada-san, one of the KCJS personnel, to call together all the students and divvy up the cake. And eat cake they did. We were able to finish about ¾ of the thing, but that still left a lot to be accounted for. I ended up dishing it out at language circle.

So, then there was Friday, my birthday party. I was the first one at the restaurant, but I was worried when nobody had shown up by 4:45. Finally, everyone started to trickle in, until at last we had the good majority of my crew ready to go at a little after 5:00. We filled up the restaurant, and after a little seat shuffling, placed our orders. By the end of the night, I had three mega-beers, and a massive amount of chicken. This time, I only had ONE piece of horumon.

Although some people drifted away before karaoke, my friend Hidehiro joined up with us. Of course, this was JUST before we decided NOT to go to karaoke: it was way too expensive, so we just cancelled. I think they might have put a bounty on my head or something. We made our way to the Kamogawa, and hung out. By hung out, I mean drank more and hung out. I had a full bottle of whiskey when we started, and it was half empty when we decided to leave. I’m certain I had help with that, I promise. Anywho, I feel like I was able to make at least one good friend, so I feel like it was a great success.

Now, the great fail was that I missed the last train home. So Hidehiro took my drunk ass to grab a beef bowl for after-dinner. In my drunken state, I dropped the egg on the bar. Sorry, dude who had to clean that up. Afterwards, since a taxi home would have been too expensive, we paid 2000 yen for all-night karaoke. For the first hour, I couldn’t read the screen unless I closed one eye. And then I realized the room we were in didn’t have any songs I liked, so poor Hide had to call the front and ask for a room change. Around 2 am, we decided to take a nap. I put on my headphones and was out like a light. When I woke up, I was much more sober, and it was a lot colder out. It was also 4:45 am.

We Googled the closest McDonalds, and bought some breakfast. Crispy chicken for me! I don’t think I’ve had McDonalds twice in one week since I was 7 years old. We finished that, checked the train schedule, and walked through the deserted streets of Kyoto to the train station. I took the train home, waited 30 minutes for the bus, and arrived at home just after 7 am.

First challenge: the gate was locked. I was about to climb over it (as sketch as that would be), but I realized the lock didn’t require a key (?).

Second challenge: upon opening the door, I realize my host family LOCKED THE CHAIN. Not cool. Not cool at all. Just moments from being an awful person and calling out for someone to let me in, my host mother comes downstairs, and opens the chain. I stride in, pretty much not listening to what my host mother was saying (something about rakugo). I brushed my teeth, and proceeded to sleep until 1 in the afternoon.

And so I took another step towards living the Japanese life: stay out late, miss the last train, come home at an absurd hour. While this weekend saw something important take a turn for the worse, overall, I had one of the best birthdays ever. Actually, I’m ready to say the best birthday ever. Because I think I have the best group of friends anyone could ask for, both here and back home. 

365 - 1

Today was my last day as a twenty year old.

And overall it was a fairly normal day. That said, I was an incredible dumbass today. I packed some chocolate I got from my Okayama family in my bag, only to have it melt all over the inside. I had to wash it out, and after it dries I'll probably have to clean it one more time. Fail.

On the upside, I hung out with my friend Haruhi. You all know who she is by now, right? We went for some Indian curry, which was really good. And the naan was MASSIVE. I was taken by surprise when she busted out an early birthday present for me. Two, actually; one from her, and another from her mother. I got piano related goodies (pencil, music holder, mug), which are adorable and fantastic. But I actually enjoy the book Haruhi got me the most (even if it sort of is for studying). She got me an illustrated dictionary of Kansai-ben (the Kansai dialect). I feel really honored to have such a great friend.

Short blog today, sorry. Nothing else really happened. Daily life, blah blah blah. See you when I'm 21.

Okayama: A Place to Belong, Part Three

Waking up this morning was not fun. To start with, my back and shoulders hurt like nothing I've ever felt. Aftermath of carrying a shrine around. It also provided me with the most horrifying nose-blow of my life - the tissue was black as soot. The result of the other shrine-carriers' cigarettes, as well as all the dirt we kicked up. And I was suffering from pre-departure loneliness, meaning I felt ready to go, but sad that it was over. These feelings evaporated the moment I got downstairs. Yuna was watching TV, and Rika was playing with her. Risa made a simple breakfast, fried egg, salad, toast and coffee. Rika took some pictures of me and Yuna, although the poor girl doesn't like me much - I don't think she likes guys with glasses in general. Ringo was out for golf, so I didn't see him today. When Satsuki got up, she told me to hurry and get ready so we could go see another event at the shrine. I had really wanted to see horseback archery, but that's not happening until tonight, after I leave. So instead, I went with Satsuki, Rika, and Yuna to see the horses run around to warm up, which was cool. They were some badass horses, and the riders were super suave looking. It took all of 10 minutes, but my camera ran out of batteries before the end. At least Satsuki took some good pictures!

Afterwards, we took a drive over to a nearby city. It took us past the ocean, which was beautiful in today's weather. We parked, and walked over to the matsuri where Satsuki was volunteering. It was not a traditional matsuri like yesterday; rather, it was a Genki matsuri, help to cheer up handicapped and depressed people. When we walked in, they were playing a May’n song from Macross Frontier. We walked around a bit, but the festival hadn't started yet. Satsuki ran across yet another of her friends, who actually thought I was Rika's husband. The mix of me being perceived as older than I am, and the prolonged youthfulness of Japanese women tends to do that.

We watched the opening ceremony, during which awards we're given to elders 80 and older who still had all their real teeth. Kind of strange, but whatever, right? I also got to do mochitsuki, making mochi. I hit it a couple times before they told me to hit it with more power. They showed me how to bring it all the way up and strike without missing. I copied them, and smashed the rice cakes for a while. Although you're supposed to pay for them, they gave me some mochi for free. The benefits of foreigner-hood. Just then, a familiar intro started playing, and I froze. They were playing one of Choucho’s songs. I was thrilled, and I told Rika how I had seen her first live just last week. Afterwards, Rika found some things she wanted at a garage sale, and we bought my Joyo host parents a cake. Risa came to pick us up. On the ride back, we talked about my nerdiness (sparked by them finding certain photos on my Facebook), with me finally coming clean about my interest in Japanese pop culture, especially a certain kind of synthesized computer music. They really understood where I stand – how I like it among a vast variety of other things. It’s nice when you have people who can really relate to you. On the drive back, we got this strange ice cream made with eggs. It was actually really tasty.

Returning home, I gave Ayumu and Rui these bamboo propeller toys I got from the festival. As I relaxed in the family room, I spoke with Norio a bunch regarding Nico Nico Douga, Vocaloid software, and the benefits of consumer-generated media. After packing my bags, Satsuki gave me some fantastic gifts for my real parents, and took us out to lunch at a ramen shop. I played with Rui a bit, until my ramen and gyoza arrived. Having finished that, I said my goodbyes to Norio and Ayumu, who returned home, and continued onwards to the farewell party. Walking in, I felt this strong desire to show my family off to everyone. The feeling that I would soon have to leave was near impossible to bear. Yotsukura-sensei gave another short speech, after which we all had some snacks, and I introduced a few of my friends to my host family. Me and Satsuki thanked Yotsukura-sensei for making the trip possible, and expressed our desire to see this program continue. Most importantly, my host family asked me to come back for お正月 (New Year’s). This is kind of a big deal, but I also REALLY want to go. I’m probably going to go back before December to visit again.

There were some group songs, which didn’t feel all that out of place. Once again, I surprised everyone because I knew “Sakura, Sakura”. During the song, Rui caught this mega-size grasshopper. Kids here love bugs. He looked so happy to have caught it. Before we finished singing, though, it escaped. Finally, the conversations and photos were cut short by the announcement that we had to go home. I stifled my impending tears to say goodbye to everyone, and gave everyone hugs. Still, climbing up into the bus and seeing everyone waving goodbye was too much for me, and I cried a little bit. Nishimata’s prophecy came true: it would be me who shed tears this year. Hell, writing this is making me tear up again. I waved until everyone was out of sight, and then took a few minutes to recompose myself.

As a side note, it really sucks that every time I make a real connection with a host family, to the point where I feel like I finally belong, I have to leave. Still, on the bright side, I have yet another fantastic host family that I can be proud of. While I was initially resistant to go to Okayama, I’m now so glad that I had this opportunity. And as best as I can, I will keep this family in my life from now on.

And so we returned home. There’s really nothing more to say – not like anything is new around here. This week, I turn 21. There are still some important things for me to do, and do them I will. Luck be with me.