This post is the culmination of a few days' worth of typing. Though I'm posting it now, much of the text was written on and from the standpoint of yesterday, Friday. Please excuse this (i.e., deal with it). Due to the amount of effort this took, I'll probably edit it later, so please excuse (i.e., deal with) the typos that I'm sure plague this post. I'm sure I'm forgetting something, too. Now, enjoy!And I thought the
first few days were amazing ...
Wednesday
I've spent the last three days with Mikawa Ossan. The timing of our meeting is very excellent because he has the week off and I don't have proper classes until next week. He has been very patient in showing me the ropes. Due to his being here so long and to his strong, mature interest in Japanese culture and history, I've learned a lot from him. （三河おっさんさん、もう一度どうもありがとう。）
A lot of Wednesday was spent running errands for me. One of the most important stops was to purchase a
hanko, a stamp used in business dealings and pretty much act as a substitute for a signature. They are what identify you as you. I got one of the cheapest plastic ones I could find (if not
the cheapest) and paid 1200 yen for it. It takes a week to make it, so it will be ready next Wednesday.
After this, we ate pizza in the food court of the shopping center that we were in. See, we went by
Kariya, which is Mikawa Ossan's stomping grounds a few miles away. This particular shopping center was a few miles past his city, though, so I got a nice drive and got to see where he lives.
After eating, we browsed the shopping complex and stopped at a few stores including a musical instrument store, a bookstore, and an inexpensive clothing store. It was a nice shopping center.
You know, one thing I'm glad about is that I haven't been getting an uncomfortable amount of stares. I look and act different, so, sure, I stand out. But the people have been nothing but kind and patient with me thus far, and I appreciate that. Thank you, Aichi. (Mikawa Ossan says that it can be pretty different in other parts of the country, though. Think I'll stay in Aichi.) Shoot—even at Yamasa, I'm the only black guy I've seen thus far, and definitely the only one in the group of new students. I like that, though.
Before we went to this shopping center, we stopped at a couple of cell phone providers' stores to get some
keitaidenwa (mobile phone) information. Mikawa Ossan prompted me to speak for myself, but my lack of vocabulary on such things put an end to that pretty quick. I tried, though. (Hey, I spoke a good deal at the
hanko store. In fact, my introduction was this: "
Watashi wa Amerika kara desu ga, nihongo ga dekimasen," meaning "I'm from American and can't speak English." The lady smiled in an understanding way. That's right—understanding.) We visited a Vodafone store first and then an AU store. AU seemed to have more of what I was looking for, plus it's what Mikawa Ossan uses himself, so I'll probably go with them.
Another great place we stopped at was a
Kimble Recycling Center. (Heh. Their website says "recycle & discount deveroper." Classic Engrish, there.) This store is great—even better than the hundred-yen stores I've been to thus far, in some ways. You can get items (some new, some used) for really cheap. I bought some old manga (Japanese comic books) for 21 yen each. They have drinks, food, furniture, decorations, CDs, manga, and even VHS videocassette renting machines. Seriously. I forget at this point everything I bought, but it was so cheap that I bought so much that I spent more than I expect.
Mikawa Ossan and I stopped at his apartment for a while, too. It's a nice bachelor pad. Honestly, part of me wants to say that it's very Japanese, but that'd be a pretty stupid thing to say. His apartment is located in a very convenient place, it seems, which is pretty cool. I liked his apartment and it makes me wonder if I'll have my own one day.
That night, Mikawa Ossan came up to my room for a little bit. He was very surprised at how much Yamasa provided me with. Whereas Yamasa provided me with two desks, two lamps, two chairs, a bed, a mini-fridge, a rice cooker, a wall-mounted heater, a gas stove, kitchen utensils, and more, most Japanese apartments apparently come with absolutely nothing. I believe Mikawa Ossan's description was "walls, a roof, a floor, and windows." He didn't even get a heater when he moved into his place. Man, I need to keep that in mind in case I ever
do move into such an apartment. Yamasa's doing right by me.
Thursday
Yesterday was my most amazing day in Japan yet. Mikawa Ossan drove from Kariya to pick me up. He had a gift-hunting errand to run up north, so I was able to accompany him. So we hit the new expressway, which happened to be the same one I took from the airport. This thing is
so smooth!
Before long, we began hitting the hillsides and tunnels (トンネル [
tonneru], according to the signs) which ran through the large, mountainous hills. The tunnels were very interesting since I came from Houston where there are no really tunnels. Or hills, for that matter. (Did I mention that I've barely seen any construction at all? And—ha!—no Sugar Land mothers in SUVs? Eat
that, Sugar Land friends.)
It wasn't too long before I saw snow, then mountains, and snow-capped mountains. This is where things really got even more interesting. Snow has fallen on the vast fields that were visible from the expressway. I also saw small villages sitting in their traditional Japanese glory. They looked simple and so peaceful. One day, I should visit one. Okazaki is a moderately small city, but these were very small towns. I got some pictures, but it was tough getting good ones with the expressway's railing in the way.
I enjoy Mikawa Ossan's company, so the trip was pleasant, and it was a lot longer than I expected it to be, too. I was pleasantly surprised. We learned a bit more about each other and talked about all manner of things. We see eye-to-eye on a lot, it seems. I'm glad to have run into someone who lives here who's intelligent and mature, too.
Anyway, as we drove, we realized that we were behind schedule for our original destination. (Largely my fault, I think, as I didn't want to leave until nine instead of eight. In my defense, I was really sleepy the night before.) So we decided to stop at a
UNESCO World Heritage Site that was closer to us. This place was (I believe—I should verify this)
Shirakawa. (On the way, we passed through the town of
Shokawa (which is now apparently Takayama, though most of their signs don't reflect that), which might be the most beautiful place I've even seen. Pretty much everything about it was stunningly beautiful.)
The area is known for its unusual houses constructed using no nails and with very steep roofs (to prevent the build-up of snow on them), so Mikawa Ossan and I were expecting to see a few interesting houses—nothing outside of that. A lot more waited for us, though: an entire centuries-old rustic Japanese village. This was
the real Shirakawa-go.
So here I was, faced with an entire village of pure Japanese history in many forms, and I'm down to my last roll of film. (I bought an extra roll.)
The village was amazing, even staggering. We were out in the middle of the country, surrounded by snowcapped mountains and huge patches of snow everywhere. There was a number of tourists there, some foreign, but it wasn't really crowded. The village was littered with the type of house that, in large part, led the area to its fame: the
gassho-zukuri (or, "hands-in-prayer") houses from
Japan's Edo Period. (
Japan File has more information about the houses.)
We entered one of the first houses that could be toured to have a look around. Upon taking off our shoes and walking in, we were presented with green tea by a polite Japanese lady that sat kneeling on the floor. Admittedly, Japanese tea isn't the most tasty thing to me, but I drank it, of course, as we toured the first floor. The original owners' decendants had put out many old tools, decorations, and trinkets for display, including an ornate
butsudan, or "Buddha cabinet."
We then climbed the small steps and toured the upstairs gallery, which was full of very old tools and equipment. We saw everything from buckets and field tools to snowshoes and silk machines, and we looked at everything for several minutes. We did the same thing on the top floor. While I doubt that I derived the enjoyment from the experience that Mikawa Ossan, a Japanese history and cultural expert (whereas I'm concerned), I found the house very interesting. (I know you want pictures. One day, you'll see them. So will I. Once I have the money to develop them. When I get back to the U.S. Probably.)
We spied a very high observation area populated with a few people and desired to make our way up there, but the small road was submerged with snow in a couple of places, meaning we had to climb over the large piles of snow to get there. As I tried climbing over the second heap of snow, I decided to turn back because I felt uncomfortable, given the occasional instability of the snow, the unpleasant-looking fall that awaited to my left in the case of a fall (it was a steep slope—mountain-like, I guess), the fact that we were pretty isolated, and that I carried my camera. Mikawa Ossan turned back too, which I felt pretty guilty about. (ごめん。)
Soon thereafter, since I'd been hungry for a long time, we made our way to a noodle restaurant, at which I ordered a bowl of tempura
udon, noodles "topped with tempura, especially shrimp, or kakiage, a type of mixed tempura fritter." It was a nice-sized bowl and the meal was quite delicious—more than Mikawa Ossan was expecting.
As we sat, an upper-aged foreign couple sat down near us. (We sat at a square bar.) They were accompanied by a Japanese lady from Nagoya who served as their guide. We talk with them for a long time. The conversation was geared toward the idiocy of the President for a while, as the older lady kept talking about him. We talked about some more general things as well—it was pleasant. Toward the end of the meal, I took a picture of the three of them with their panoramic camera and we bade them farewell.
Mikawa Ossan and I explored the rest of the town, which was larger than we'd ever expected. There were
omiyage (souvenir) shops everywhere, most of which sold the same things.
This town is not just a historical souvenir but is still active today, so we saw the town's residents as we wandered about. Some seemed to be getting off of work. And there were cars and schoolchildren on the tiny roads as well. We wanted to go up to a shrine at one point, but the stairs up to it were submerged in a lot of snow, so that was impossible. Mikawa Ossan was able to have a nice conversion about the snow with the older gentleman whose job, apparently, was to shovel it. It shows to an egregious degree up there in the winter. Even now, the snow was two meters deep. Two meters in April!
As it began getting later and colder, we decided to leave. We'd missed our original destination, but came away with a life-enriching experience.
So we drove back down to Okazaki town, with a couple of stops along the way. (They have machines in convenience stores that can recharge your cell phone in 20 minutes for 200 yen.) I bought strange-looking Fanta (ファンタ) in a hourglass-like–shaped can as well, which tasted more orange juice–like than American Fanta does.
At one point he stopped to answer his phone and, listening to him speak Japanese so well, I began feeling impatient, wishing that my own level of Japanese was higher. I'm dissatisfied with my current level. Which is kind of weird since I've not even had one bloody class yet. But, yeah. Soon, though, I'll get my wish in spades.
Before we called it a night, though, we shopped at a restaurant that Mikawa Ossan hadn't been to for a while and wanted to show me. I forgot the name of it, but it was a nice small place. Apparently, the Japanese baseball season just began, so a game was the TV. At Mikawa Ossan's recommendation, we got some
gyoza, which was totally delicious.
After that, I think we called it a night. I was pretty tired and it was late. This getting tired early business needs to stop.
I know this post seems really empty without all of the amazing photos that I took. Sorry. You'll just have to excuse (i.e.,
deal with!) this.
Point is, it was a fantastic and adventure-full day. Thanks much, Mikawa Ossan!
Friday
Today felt like my first official day at Yamasa. I suppose, though, that in a sense, it was, because today was the opening ceremony.
Unfortunately, I was running a bit late today (in part because I was distracted by a children's television show named
Pitagora Suicchi), but I made it to the campus on time. On the way, I met a nice Taiwanese fellow named Shu and we talked a bit as we walked. The path was scattered with a few Yamasa employees guiding us the right way. (The first person I encountered was one of the fellows who picked me (and the other new arrivals that got to the airport at the same time I did) up the bus stop on that first night. His name is Ken Uchida (内田さん). I haven't spoken to him much, but he seems quite nice.
As Shu and I approached the Yamasa II building, we saw three or four Yamasa employees in the street. With hearty good-mornings ("
Ohayou gozaimasu!"), they indicated that we should go to Aoi Hall, which was a bit farther down. Since it was about 9:02 at that point, Shu and I jogged down. (It's only several dozen meters down the street, so it wasn't a long run or anything.) We arrived, greeted another set of employees, and entered the building.
In the Aoi Hall auditorium were well over 100 new students—maybe 150 or more. I stopped at the table near the entrance. An employee held out a sheet of paper and asked for my name, which I pointed at. (Remember, Yamasa's an international school, so there were English names and there were also Chinese names written in kanji.) That lady told another that my number was 48 ("
yonjuuhachi"). This lady dug for an envelope and handed it to me. From there, I was directed toward a seat. The seats were filled from front to back so, since I was one of the last folks to arrive, I got a seat near the back (next to Shu). Within the envelope was a lot of necessary information, including my Yamasa student ID card (which which I can get a discount at Eden!).
Soon thereafter, the program began. The emcee was Aya Yamada-sensei (山田あや先生), one of the ladies who interviewed me in my placement test on Wednesday. After some opening comments—and let me mention now that this entire part of the program was in Japanese, so I couldn't understand most of it—she began introducing the
sensei. Unfortunately, the room was lined with them and this process took a very long time. Each
sensei introduced themselves, made a brief comment, and ended with "
yoroshiku onegaishimasu" (which essentially means that they're looking forward to working with us,
you might say). After each instructor, everyone clapped. It was the most ceremonious experience I've had yet.
And
then ... after the
sensei introduced themselves, the students did the same. A cordless microphone was passed down from the front to the back of the student area. Many people spoke in Japanese and a number spoke in English as well. As 15 or maybe 20 minutes of this (including the clapping), it was my turn. I'd been preparing.
「ジョナサン・デイヴィスです。アメリカから来ました。今まで、一人で勉強しました。新しい学生はがんばりましょう！どうぞよろしくお願いします。」 (I'm Jonathan. I came from America. Until now, I've studied alone. New students,
let's do our best! I look forward to working with you.)
It was really a pretty proud moment for me. What I said wasn't particularly advanced or interesting, but it was still the culmination of a considerable amount of effort on my part. But the real effort starts Monday.
Anyway, after this, someone who might have been Yoshio Hattori (服部義男さん) gave a rousing speech. It
seemed rousing, in any case. I was able to pick out pieces here and there, though—eat a lot, drink a lot, and let's all try our best, and such—. Likeable guy.
After this, the Japanese-abled students were dismissed and the English-only folks remained behind. (I took this opportunity to move to the front row.) From here, Declan Murphy, the Director of Yamasa's International Admissions—and the one who returned my backpack to me—spoke. (His name is pronounced "DE-cl
ən.") He had a lot to tell us. A lot. Fortunately, it was all in English, which is good considering the important things he discussed. He filled us in all of the administrative basics, what our schedules and workload would be like, how we need to obtain our Alien Registration cards (which the school will help us do), how to obtain a bank account (apparently, his bank "sucks"), and so on. There was a lot to digest, but most of it was on the papers we were given.
The two most important topics he talked about were trash-handling and noise control. Trash is very
serious business, as there are 20 types of trash, all of which must be handled in a very exact manner. (I believe that Declan said that handling this incorrectly could lead to "a very painful death.") This ultimately boils down to six main categories of refuse. We were given colorful booklets, entitled "The Official Guide to Reducing Trash in the 21st Century," that purport to explain all of this. It's complicated. Really complicated, and a bit off-putting. Fortunately, because I live in the Villas, handling the trash is much eaiser than it would be if I lived in one of the other residences. I have to categorize it, but I don't have to put it out only on certain days (like once every other week). There are large blue bins that I have to put the bags in out front.
As I said, the other big topic is noise. This area is populated by elderly people, apparently, and Yamasa's Villa have been the subject of many complaints over the years, mainly about noise. You know how it is: you get some noisy
gaijin (foreigners) around they start acting a fool and all. The residents, at one point, tried to get the Villas demolished, apparently. He shared a few horror stories too. (There was a guy who wanted to listen to a CD in his headphones but failed to actually plug the headphones in. He turned the volume waaaay up to where he couldn't even hear the banging at his door. Declan had to be called in to open the door. The moron with the headphones didn't even realize what had happened. "How do you not notice that?" I asked Declan. Of course, he didn't know. Come
on.)
Fortunately for my neighbors, I'm a quiet guy, so I don't expect much of a problem with anyone. Still, the requirements are fairly strict: don't talk outside in the late evenings, or have running cars or even loudly flopping shoes. Declan encouraged us to practice our ninja skills. (Well, good thing I've got a Konoha forehead protector that I was loaned for the trip, eh?
Sou dattebayo! (If you don't understand it, just ignore it.))
After all the lecturing, Declan took us on a short tour of the campus—through Aoi Hall (and "aoi," contrary to what I thought, does not mean "blue" in this instance, but is the name of the leaves of
Ieyasu Tokugawa's crest); by the campus café (Kitsutsuki) and bar; by the radio station,
FM Okazaki Community Radio; over to the Yamasa II building, where I'll be spending most of my school time. After checking whether we had any questions—there were a couple, such as "Why is the cost of produce so high?" (sorry, I forgot—we were dismissed. Before leaving, though, I entered the
gakuseika—that is, the Student Services office. Declan recommended that I make a copy of my passport for Yamasa's offices. They did this for me. (I asked for it by holding out my passport and saying "
kōpī onegaishimasu.")
After this, I walked back to Kitsutsuki (
"Irasshaimase!") and had another
gyuudon bowl. (Today, I asked the main lady I'd spoken with before how she was doing: "
Ogenki desu ka?" Again, the meal was "
oishikatta desu.") I then walked back home and IM'd some friends for a while and got my room in order. I've been running around so much since I arrived that my room is still a mess (and it's been totally worth it, I'd like to add).
So that's where I stand right now. So far, this trip has been more than worth it.
