Traveling Home

I am about 11 hours from leaving for the train station and taking the train to the airport. I guess I don't have much to write about today, except that I am excited to come home. Of course there are things I didn't do in Japan that I wish I would have had/made time to do, but overall it was a very good semester, and though I am already having trouble summing up the experience in my mind hopefully I will be able to tell you all a story or two when I see you.

In the meantime I will give you a few simple details:

When I am home I am going to miss drinking milk tea, going to Karaoke and the people here, but I am going to be glad to see people at home, eat shish kabobs, and drink smoothies. And to go back to Olaf. I am excited about that.

My Anti- Drug

This post is for the purpose of sharing with you my favorite poster I have seen in Japan.

Every day when I enter the math building, the exchange student center, and my dormitory I am graced with its message.

I owe my decision to stay off of drugs to the 1990's film, "Cartoon All-Stars to the Rescue" and the persuasive arguments made in that film by the Ninja Turtles, Garfield, Alf, and the Gonzo, but I have to say that if I was still undecided,  this poster would have done the trick for sure.

Something maybe only Brandon and Sally will truly appreciate

Tonight I walked into common room on my dorm floor to see one of my Japanese friends eating an entire (un-sliced) cucumber as if it were an apple.

I think we are probably kin, and maybe if I had joined the bluegrass circle (that is a club) that she is a part of we would have been best friends by now.

That is all for now as I need to go to sleep.

ポップコーン

Last night I went to a bar. The bar's name was Popcorn, and it kind of reminded me of The Contented Cow in the way of atmosphere. However, as far as I know the Cow does not have country western night every 2nd Wednesday or mint beer that tastes like mouthwash. In the center of popcorn last night, about 5 people clad in the likes of blue jeans, large belt buckles and cowboy hats line danced to country music, making well executed, rhythmic clicking noises with their shoes as they shuffle-stepped. There was also a random guy with thick rimmed glasses, not dressed like a cowboy, who blankly stared at us the entire night from across the room.

以上です

Drawing Class

An update on a few things.

A few weeks ago I joined a sort of drawing class/club that one of my friends who is an art major started.  This week we put together an exhibition  in one of the buildings on campus and held a gallery talk at the exhibition place.  

So I guess the news is that my mediocre drawings of floor tiles and a Domino's pizza box are hanging up on campus.

If I had not accidentally stepped on my camera at karaoke a few weeks ago I would post a picture, but as it is I will have to suffice with this somewhat outdated picture of a lunch I ate in Japan and move on to the next point.

The restaurant all that food came from is called Haruki which is apparently the restaurant's  way of Japanizing "Hello Kid."  I wouldn't really call this a typical Japanese meal but it does serve the purpose of showing the lack of vegetables in my life.  In this case we have some soup, a giant plate of rice, some yakisoba noodles, an environmentally unfriendly slab of hamburger (covered in mayonnaise), two potato fries and one tiny piece of broccoli which was added maybe just for the color dynamic.  I think if this were the Land Before Time, Spike would not approve of this meal. 

All I'm really saying is I could go for having some broccoli, maybe some brussels sprouts or a cucumber on my plate every once in a while.  Such is life. I suppose I will just have to go to the grocery store to get my cucumbers.

Lastly for now, Anne finished her program at Nanzan and went home last Sunday so my days of having lunch with her on a random weekday or galavanting around Japan together are over for now.  It's been fun, though.  : )

Refuse

It is common in Japan to have a fairly specific, categorized system for throwing away garbage.  Shortly after coming to Nagoya, I was informed that different cities have different regulations and Nagoya happens to have one of the most complicated and strictly categorized systems in Japan.   The picture is my informational poster (in English) explaining the categories for recyclable and non-recyclable refuse and how to throw it away.   Here are some examples:

Example 1:  Plastic Bottle -

Remove cap and put in designated "pet bottle cap" box. Remove the plastic label which goes in "plastics" bag.  Then crush the bottle, which goes in the designated "pet bottle" box.

Example 2: Yogurt container -

Remove the lid which likely goes in "plastics."  Rinse the carton which goes in "paper."  If you are unable to successfully get food remainders out of a paper carton, instead throw it in the "burnable refuse" bag.  Also remember that the bags labeled for "paper" are not for computer paper or newspapers.  Those go somewhere else.

Example 3:  Random object that no informational poster tells you what to do with -

Let it sit in the corner of your room until you are tired of it being there.  Then ask your Japanese friend who may or may not know how to properly throw it away.   When in doubt, everything is combustible, right?

Because it takes some effort to properly throw things away, I think it is quite common for everyone to have at least a few plastic wrappers and cans and maybe some bento boxes that need to be washed sitting in the corner of their room.  Of course the larger the pile of garbage, the less motivation an individual will typically have to deal with it.  I would post a photo of what can happen to a room when you get particularly lazy, but I don't want to scare the Lifehouse girls away from letting me live with them next year.

Anyway, I never expected one of the things I miss from home to be a garbage bin that you can mindlessly throw all of your trash in.  What a life that would be...   

ABC Cookingu

A few weeks ago Anne and I went to Sakae and ended up eating in the Cat's cafe, a cafe on the top floor of a mall/large department store.   Next to the Cat's cafe is ABC Cooking Studio, a place where people can taking cooking or baking classes.  While waiting for Anne I walked over to the display right outside of the cooking studio, curious to see what kinds of food you could learn to cook.  A diligent ABC Cooking Studio staff member noticed my attention and walked over and asked me something very quickly in Japanese.

What is maybe from a combination of  me being a little overwhelmed by the amount of Japanese I don't understand every day and also not wanting to stand around like I don't know what's going on all the time, I have developed a habit of answering "yes" to questions before my brain actually processes what the question was.  I realize this is not the best idea in the world and could potentially lead me into some sort of sketchy situation, or in the very least cause me some embarrassment when I have to admit that I don't actually know what a particular conversation is about, but such is my life. 

 Fortunately the only consequence of answering yes to the ABC Cooking Studio lady's question was that she gave me a cooking studio brochure and a 10 minute explanation on what kinds of cooking classes I could sign up for if I wanted to learn to bake bread or make desserts.  Anne returned during said explanation and the lady told us about a one day cooking class special we could sign up for.  

  On the train ride home, Anne and I decided to do this one day cooking class special and make Caramel Hazelnut Cheesecake.  So we returned to the cooking studio a few weeks later to bake (in celebration of Jenni Kovalick's  birthday).   Pictured is the result of our hard work using pre-measured ingredients and following the step by step instructions of  the 3 cooking studio workers hovering over our table the whole time we were baking.   

Rock/ElectronicaPost Rock Party

Last weekend was my first real happening on the nightlife in Nagoya.  I went with some friends to a rock/electronica post rock party at a place called club Domina.  Most of the night's entertainment was comprised of DJs playing UK and American rock music, but there was also a live band.  Cover was a little expensive but about halfway through the show they gave everyone a free bowl of hot dog and bean sprout soup.  It was delicious enough to make me feel better about the cover.

The band was called Buffalo '3 and I think my Japanese friend described them as most similar in appearance to an 80's hair metal band, although their music sounded more like it was influenced by UK rock and not so much hair metal.  My favorite part of the show was at the end when the lead vocalist kung-fu kicked his microphone stand down like a true rocker.

People in the US used to say "Valerie, you never know- you may end up finding a Japanese man and never coming back to America."  I like to think that when people said this, in their mind they were picturing a Japanese alternative rocker with well-conditioned hair who wears eyeliner as if he were Billy Joe Armstrong (like one of our Buffalo '3 friends).  Don't worry too much though.  I'm still planning to come home.  Japanese bean sprout and hot dog soup is pretty good, but cannot take the place of real pizza or bread that doesn't taste abnormally sweet.  

Orientation

Last week we had 3 days of orientation for Nagoya's new exchange students (such as myself). I have heard that Japan is especially notorious for having very strict regulations on a lot of things. New student orientation confirmed that hearsay rumor by essentially being hours of learning about said regulations and filling out forms that would have probably made me cry if I didn't constantly have friendly native Japanese speakers and other exchage students volunteering their time to explain what was going on.

Here are some of the things I learned:

1. In Japan everyone over 20 is required to register for the National Pension Scheme (we registered).

2. After registering, foreign students can choose not to participate in the National Pension Scheme (so we filled out a form to apply for exemption immediately after registering)

3. If international students want to have a part time job, they must fill out a form entitled, "Application for Permission to Engage in an Activity Other than Permitted Under the Status of Residence Previously Granted."

4. International students cannot work at "adult entertainment businesses or related industries," which besides the obvious include: bars, pachinko parlors, host clubs, and dimly-lit coffee shops.

5. If you have a bike, it is very important that it is registered under your name. A student last semester was apparently arrested because the bike he was riding was not properly registered and he was suspected to have stolen it. Oops.

These are the things that bring joy to my life right now.

Classes started this week and I am very excited for the semester. As is written in my handbook, "Study abroad will transform your life into something more delightful. The experience may prove a drain on your finances in the short-term, but it will be your wealth for life!"

I'm counting on it.

Jeju

I had a week in Jeju with my brother Will and it was great! One thing we did was visit a very small island near Jeju called Kappa-do (I think that is what it was called). Pictured are Big Wilkinson and friends on our way to the island (by boat).

Korean food is, of course, very delicious. During my week some of my favorite dishes were: kimchi, kimchi soup, bimbibap and bulgolgi soup. I made bulgogi chicken once over interim, but bulgogi soup is even more delicious.

The other picture is of some things we ate while on Kappa-do. Some fish that had a texture similar to cartilage and some smail type thing that you dug out of shells with chopsticks.
What can I say? It was a little intimidating but not bad.
Now I am back in Japan. I had my first classes today! Oh, my. More about Nagoya to come later.

NHK

Well, I've been back in Tokyo for a about a week now with more exciting things going on.
Last Saturday, I had 2 exciting things on my schedule:

1) I ate lunch and dessert with MEGAN KLEVEN (from St. Olaf)

2) I spent the afternoon with ANNE TALBOT (my friend from high school) and ERIN AND BEN GIBSON (who were visiting Anne)

Anne, Erin, Ben and I went to the NHK Studio Park, which is like an interactive NHK museum (NHK is a major television network in Japan). .
While walking through the "museum" I saw a family enter a room that must have had some sort of green screen technology. A television screen showed them transported into virtual reality land for about two minutes. I watched as the woman and two small children enthusiastically enjoyed their adventure. They waved to the cute little bunnies that wandered by and acted like they were swimming when the screen showed them in water.

The next family that entered was a mom, dad, and a girl who looked like she was about 12. All three of them stood in the center of the room, straight-faced and completely still. The family's adventure began with them falling through the sky, surrounded by fluffy clouds and cartoon birds that were cute enough to be on Dora the Explorer. I watched the family, transfixed the entire 2 minutes as they maintained a level of stoicity that Chuck Norris would have been proud of.

When the adventure ended the mom, dad and daughter exited the room. Then in one moment all three of their stoic faces broke out into huge smiles, so blissful that there was no way I could doubt that they all had a really good time on their virtual adventure.

A Food Post For Sally

A few things to know about Japanese food:

1. most of it is めちゃくちゃおいしい　-that is, very delicious
2. most of it is delicious even if you are not such a fan of raw fish
3. I love Japanese food, but there are some things that are not so delicious

Here is a rundown on some of the food I've eaten so far:

>sushi- I love sushi and especially love going to the conveyor belt sushi restaurants (I'll explain those some other time). My favorite kind is sashimizushi (the kind made with raw fish), especially tuna and salmon sashimi. LEAST favorites are the purple-looking squilla sushi I had a few weeks ago (wikipedia tells me squilla is some sort of shrimp-like crustacean) and any sushi featuring mayonnaise (such as the corn and mayonnaise sushi). Seriously, mayonnaise?

>Udon- The delicious kind of noodle, part 1Charity and I watched a movie about udon last week and it was great. Eating udon of course, was even better. After watching that movie and craving udon for a few days, Charity and I went to an udon restaurant and had udon with tempura. SO GOOD! The thing about udon, though, is that it is one of those kind of noodles you are supposed to slurp when you eat. I have been working on my Japan-specific eatings skills and while my chopstick using skills are improving pretty nicely, my slurping skills are still subpar. Even the 10 year old kid next to me at the udon restaurant put me to shame with his slurping. I still have a lot of time to practice, though, so hopefully by the time 4 months have passed that 10 year old and I can have a rematch that will make mumsie proud.

>That brings us to tempura-Tempura is something maybe I would expect from the Iowa State fair before I'd expect it from Japan. Still, I can't complain. After all, it is めちゃくちゃおいしい. Tempura is vegetables or shrimp that are battered and deep-fried. My favorites are the sweet potatoes, squash and asparagus.

>Lastly for now, umeboshi. The other day I bought onigiri, a triangle-shaped rice clump that always has something in the center, i.e. fish flakes or beef. I was unpleasantly surprised to find something kind of sour and vinegary and not tasty in the center. The culprit of my unpleasant eating experience was umeboshi, a pickled fruit that is supposedly kind of like a plum. Except I like plums. For the record, I know a lot of people who love umeboshi, so maybe you would, too. To each his own, I guess.

Did I mention how many kinds of pickles there are in Japan? Pickled ume, radish, cabbage, cucumber. The only thing missing is dill pickled cucumbers. Where are my dill pickles?

Did I mention how many kinds of pickles there are in Japan? Pickled ume, radish, cabbage, cucumber. The only thing missing is dill pickled cucumbers. Where are my dill pickles?

ARI

A few days after arriving in Tokyo, Charity and I traveled a few hours north to Nasushiobara, where the Asian Rural Institute (ARI) is located. ARI is a 6 hectare farm that uses integrated organic farming to grow food and raise livestock. Every year about 30 participants recieve a scholarship to come to ARI for 9 months, where they are trained in leadership skills, community development and sustainable agriculture. Participants, workers, and volunteers live on or close to the farm and almost solely eat good grown on the farm. After the 9 month program, the participants (who are mostly from Africa and Asia) return home and work with their home communities. ARI is a really cool place and the people there are wonderful.

Charity and I stayed at ARI for about 2 days as farm volunteers. I am from Iowa, but pretty much the only farm experiences I've had have been fall-time church hayrides and the occasional tour of Living History Farms. My level of farming experience probably isn't uncommon for kids growing up in Des Moines but it still strikes me as a little ironic that I had my only experience doing actual farmwork (i.e. feeding chickens, planting things, transporting and spreading chicken manure over fields) not very far from the huge city of Tokyo.

I'm not sure farming is my calling in life, but it was a cool experience.
ARI is a good place to keep it real in Japan, anyway.

Pumpkin Pie

My dear friends,

I am in Japan! Right now I am staying in Tokyo with Charity Hall, a St. Olaf alumn who teaches English at a girl's dormitory here in Tokyo.  It is very nice.  Last night we went to a play that one of her English students performed in.  The play was called パンプキンパイ　(Pumpkin Pie) and it was an original play written by a University student, performed entirely in Japanese.  That being the case I did not understand much, but between our limited Japanese Charity and I were able to pick up this much:

1. The characters were mostly well known fairy tale characters but periodically during the the play they would suddenly put on black hooded capes (becoming different characters) and run around the stage, dancing and yelling.  

2. There was some sort of love triangle between Peter Pan, Cinderella, and Tinker Bell.

3. I kind of doubt the sincerity of Cinderella's professed love for Peter, as she was not very upset at the end of the play when she found out he had been made into a meat pie.  I think I would be upset in that case.

Anyway, Love you all!