Thursday I had the first session of my Japanese Economy and Business class at Shiga University. I had been to Shiga U before for field trips and a festival, so I knew my way around the campus and cafeteria. I biked over early with a group of JCMU students to get lunch in the cafeteria, and I had an excellent squash curry. Eating lunch made us late for the class, so I’m going to have to work out something for eating lunch.
The class is about 15 JCMU and 15 Shiga U students. The room was small and hot, but Professor Maeda said we’ll be moved to a bigger room later. Professor Maeda has a master’s degree from Indian University and therefore speaks English well. Unfortunately, few of the Shiga U students seem to have a firm grasp of English. Since we work in groups to give presentations on newspaper articles, I can see the JCMU students doing a lot more work translating for the Shiga U students. Nevertheless, meeting the Japanese kids is a great experience. One of the group members, Shoko, lives at the JCMU and is taking English language classes. The other Japanese student is a kid from Kobe, who makes a 5 hour commute to Hikone. My JCMU partner is my friend Kevin, so that at least will work out fine.
A group of students from Waseda University in Tokyo came out on Tuesday and is staying in Hikone until Saturday. Last night a group of girls came by JCMU and hung out for a while. The program at Waseda is taught in English and all the Japanese students I’ve met are nearly fluent. We’re supposed to hang out with them more tonight, which should be fun. Also, the typhoon heading for Osaka is now going to Tokyo so there shouldn’t be any insane weather this weekend.
Friday, September 19, 2008
Wednesday, September 17, 2008
Adventures in Cooking
Tonight Kevin and I decided to eat the steak we bough from Iruha. Marie-Angela provided the recipe and when we seemed to vacillate in the face of cooking such a nice piece of meat she graciously seized the initiative and did the cooking. We fried the steak on a skillet before it went in what passes for an oven in my small kitchen. We put some pepper on the steak before cooking, and Marie-Angela put margarine on it in the oven. The steak exceeded out expectations. If the cut of meat cost less than $18 I would likely be making that every single night.
The Respect-for-the-Aged Long Weekend
On Friday after a grueling first exam the afternoons’ entertainment was provided by the front office staff. At one Fujii-san, the Shiga Prefecture bureaucrat in charge of the front office gave the student body the safety lecture. We are to maintain our “composure” if there is a fire and leave without causing a “commotion”. There are defibrillators in both the dormitory and the academic building, and Fujii-san instructed us that in the event of a person losing their “conscience” we were to defibrillate the person. Afterwards the municipal fire department visited the center with an earthquake simulation truck. We sat around a table and the truck vibrated up to the highest level earthquake the Japanese have experienced. Hikone is pretty safe as far as earthquakes are concerned, yet the locals take earthquake prevention seriously here. At three representatives of the American Consulate-General for Osaka-Kobe came by to offer us ballots and give a recruiting speech. Since I ought to have a ballot on the way from Lyon Township, I skipped most of the forms they brought. Friday night was relaxing; we hit Yabus’ bar and I nabbed a few Heartland beers before we took off at midnight to get some sleep before Kyoto.
Kyoto is still awesome; while not as big as Osaka or Tokyo, Kyoto is much more manageable. Nate and I guided twelve other students around Kyoto, which was a mistake. I took everyone to the Seibu Burger restaurant on the tenth floor of the Kyoto station. After two weeks in Japan that was a mighty good burger. Once everyone had made it through lunch we went through the station to get a good view of Kyoto, and the off to the Temple of the Golden Pavilion. I’ve decided that before I leave I need to see the Pavilion during a snowfall. The building is stunning in person; pictures do not capture just how neat the Golden Pavilion is.
By the time everyone was through the Golden Pavilion grounds the sun was starting to go down, so we made our way to the Teramachi shopping arcade. The bus ride was long since we had to go from the north-west corner of the city to the south-east, but I found another fencing store in Kyoto on the bus ride. At Gion the group slit up and I took my group to Sukiya, a donburi restaurant. Sukiya is basically a diner; there are only a few items on the menu but everything is tasty. After dinner the shopping arcades were closed but we walked around a bit and enjoyed a few beers on the banks of the Kamo River, listening to a jazz quartet that had setup nearby.
When I came out of the Lawson convenience store with a beer in hand I ran into a friend of Megan’s, an Australian named Jerame. Jerame lives in Hikone and teaches English for a private company. Jerame had a friend of his from the same company with him on Saturday, and both the guys really seem to hate Japan. I met a guy at Yabus’ like this as well. I’m really thrilled to be here, but I’m not contractually obligated to stay in Japan as these guys are. Still, I continue meeting foreigners who don’t really appreciate what being abroad really means. We’re definitely going to be seeing Jerame again, so I’m going to have to pick his brain about why he’s in Japan.
I’d like to say something interesting happened on Sunday and Monday, but I pretty much wasted time and did some work. Nothing remarkable happened. Everyone has formed cliques and after a few weeks I am not surprised. There are a lot more odd people at JCMU this semester than the last, and I’m disappointed. I cannot escape the feeling that the anime freaks bring down the Japanese image of Americans. The summer had a lot more interesting people, but at least the core of my clique is made up of some rather awesome people.
Sayonara
Kyoto is still awesome; while not as big as Osaka or Tokyo, Kyoto is much more manageable. Nate and I guided twelve other students around Kyoto, which was a mistake. I took everyone to the Seibu Burger restaurant on the tenth floor of the Kyoto station. After two weeks in Japan that was a mighty good burger. Once everyone had made it through lunch we went through the station to get a good view of Kyoto, and the off to the Temple of the Golden Pavilion. I’ve decided that before I leave I need to see the Pavilion during a snowfall. The building is stunning in person; pictures do not capture just how neat the Golden Pavilion is.
By the time everyone was through the Golden Pavilion grounds the sun was starting to go down, so we made our way to the Teramachi shopping arcade. The bus ride was long since we had to go from the north-west corner of the city to the south-east, but I found another fencing store in Kyoto on the bus ride. At Gion the group slit up and I took my group to Sukiya, a donburi restaurant. Sukiya is basically a diner; there are only a few items on the menu but everything is tasty. After dinner the shopping arcades were closed but we walked around a bit and enjoyed a few beers on the banks of the Kamo River, listening to a jazz quartet that had setup nearby.
When I came out of the Lawson convenience store with a beer in hand I ran into a friend of Megan’s, an Australian named Jerame. Jerame lives in Hikone and teaches English for a private company. Jerame had a friend of his from the same company with him on Saturday, and both the guys really seem to hate Japan. I met a guy at Yabus’ like this as well. I’m really thrilled to be here, but I’m not contractually obligated to stay in Japan as these guys are. Still, I continue meeting foreigners who don’t really appreciate what being abroad really means. We’re definitely going to be seeing Jerame again, so I’m going to have to pick his brain about why he’s in Japan.
I’d like to say something interesting happened on Sunday and Monday, but I pretty much wasted time and did some work. Nothing remarkable happened. Everyone has formed cliques and after a few weeks I am not surprised. There are a lot more odd people at JCMU this semester than the last, and I’m disappointed. I cannot escape the feeling that the anime freaks bring down the Japanese image of Americans. The summer had a lot more interesting people, but at least the core of my clique is made up of some rather awesome people.
Sayonara
Thursday, September 11, 2008
"What we have here is a failure to communicate."
Toyo-san and I enjoy a bottle of Heartland at Yab's BarLast night Kevin and I went over to Yab’s for an evening beer. Wednesday nights are slow at Yabs’; when we got in at 8 there was only one other patron. The Japanese slowly came in and Kevin convinced me to talk to one of the locals. Toyo-san ended up being very friendly, and with two dictionaries and nearly all the other bar patrons we were able to have a pretty decent conversation about the American music videos on the TV.
During the day we found an awesome family-owned liquor store in Hikone: Sazanami. The old man behind the counter offered us some Nihonshu brand sake to try. While he described it as gasoline the sake went down smoother than any liquor I’ve have recently. The nearly two liter bottle was a mere two thousand Yen, and Breanne bought one. Nathan and I stuck to beer. Sazanami has an extensive offering of European beers; mainly Belgian and German but a few British as well. I grabbed a few cans of Tokyo Black, a rich and smooth porter while Nathan is trying the Aooni India Pale Ale. We’ll see if that’s good.
During the day we found an awesome family-owned liquor store in Hikone: Sazanami. The old man behind the counter offered us some Nihonshu brand sake to try. While he described it as gasoline the sake went down smoother than any liquor I’ve have recently. The nearly two liter bottle was a mere two thousand Yen, and Breanne bought one. Nathan and I stuck to beer. Sazanami has an extensive offering of European beers; mainly Belgian and German but a few British as well. I grabbed a few cans of Tokyo Black, a rich and smooth porter while Nathan is trying the Aooni India Pale Ale. We’ll see if that’s good.
Wednesday, September 10, 2008
"The Return of the Native"
Air guitar at 'All Days' karaoke parlourI’ve been in Hikone now for a little over a week and it is great to be back. The city is the same and the familiarity has been a gat comfort. Several times I have encountered Japanese who came up to me to say it was good to see me, although they’ve all been shopkeepers. When I went back to Yab’s bar the waitress Minami had my usual bottle of Heartland beer opened for me as soon as I walked through the door.
The first few days in Hikone were a lot of fun. Along with my fellow returning students Nate and Katherine, I gave the new students tours of the best spots in Hikone. We’ve already been to a few restaurants I only tried briefly. I got a chance to take the group to CoCo Curry House for dinner, and then to karaoke.
Last Friday some high school students from Maibara, the city one train stop north of Hikone, came by the JCMU to speak English. The two girls in my group ended up knowing very little English, so I got a chance to practice my Japanese. The one girl kept lying to us, stating with a straight face that her father was a professional golfer and that her family owned four cars. The lying students’ friend was in complete hysterics over my skepticism. The other American student in our group was a first year, and had only studied Japanese for two days, and had no idea what was going on.
Yesterday another group of English language students came by, but this group was mainly college students and adults. I spent most of the time talking to a middle-aged housewife who was not confident speaking in English. I helped her translate the ice-breaker questionnaire and then we talked about sports; she plays golf and I explained fencing to her. The other housewife nearby kept told us we were very “attractive young people” and invited us all out to dinner sometime soon.
On Saturday we went for brunch at the coffee shop across the road. For a mere 950 yen I got one cup of coffee and two pancakes! Never again…
On the top floor of a local mall I found a museum to feudal Japanese horsemanship. Models of horses decked out in 16th and 17th century military armour decorate the room, and there is a fantastic view of the city from that floor. I got a chance to use my Japanese with the docent who attempted to explain Japanese riding to me with limited success, yet I think it was a rewarding experience.
Right now the biggest shock for me is that the students have already split up into cliques. Over the summer the cliques seemed larger and much more permeable, now there are distinct groups. I think this may be because there are a lot more otaku, the slang given to fanatics of Japanese anime and culture. I’ve not gotten into any arguments with these people yet, but they irk me. I feel like their complete adoption and emulation of the strangest fashion trends casts all foreign students in a poor light.
However, I’ve found a group of pretty interesting and adventurous students. I’m looking forward to exploring the local area more thoroughly. Starting next week I’m taking a class on the Japanese economy at the local Shiga University. I’ll be in the class with some local students who I’ve already met before, so getting better acquainted with them will be nice.
The first few days in Hikone were a lot of fun. Along with my fellow returning students Nate and Katherine, I gave the new students tours of the best spots in Hikone. We’ve already been to a few restaurants I only tried briefly. I got a chance to take the group to CoCo Curry House for dinner, and then to karaoke.
Last Friday some high school students from Maibara, the city one train stop north of Hikone, came by the JCMU to speak English. The two girls in my group ended up knowing very little English, so I got a chance to practice my Japanese. The one girl kept lying to us, stating with a straight face that her father was a professional golfer and that her family owned four cars. The lying students’ friend was in complete hysterics over my skepticism. The other American student in our group was a first year, and had only studied Japanese for two days, and had no idea what was going on.
Yesterday another group of English language students came by, but this group was mainly college students and adults. I spent most of the time talking to a middle-aged housewife who was not confident speaking in English. I helped her translate the ice-breaker questionnaire and then we talked about sports; she plays golf and I explained fencing to her. The other housewife nearby kept told us we were very “attractive young people” and invited us all out to dinner sometime soon.
On Saturday we went for brunch at the coffee shop across the road. For a mere 950 yen I got one cup of coffee and two pancakes! Never again…
On the top floor of a local mall I found a museum to feudal Japanese horsemanship. Models of horses decked out in 16th and 17th century military armour decorate the room, and there is a fantastic view of the city from that floor. I got a chance to use my Japanese with the docent who attempted to explain Japanese riding to me with limited success, yet I think it was a rewarding experience.
Right now the biggest shock for me is that the students have already split up into cliques. Over the summer the cliques seemed larger and much more permeable, now there are distinct groups. I think this may be because there are a lot more otaku, the slang given to fanatics of Japanese anime and culture. I’ve not gotten into any arguments with these people yet, but they irk me. I feel like their complete adoption and emulation of the strangest fashion trends casts all foreign students in a poor light.
However, I’ve found a group of pretty interesting and adventurous students. I’m looking forward to exploring the local area more thoroughly. Starting next week I’m taking a class on the Japanese economy at the local Shiga University. I’ll be in the class with some local students who I’ve already met before, so getting better acquainted with them will be nice.
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