I slept in a little bit
today. I awoke a little after 6, and immediately turned on the TV to absorb the
most that foreign television has to offer. Japanese TV is about as crazy and
interesting as Americans think it is. Literally everything they air is crazy
and bright. Even their commercials are interesting! Have you ever seen
a Japanese commercial on the internet or through some other form of media?
Chances are it contained either an adorable jingle, crazy scenario or adorable
cartoon mascot. They're all like
that.
Before going to sleep I watched a Japanese sitcom. At least I think it was a sitcom...it had a laugh track, after all. The main character was an ojisan, or grandfather. He was a wacky old man that lived with 2 young men and 2 young women, all probably in their 20s. After returning from commercial, we see the old man urinating into a toilet. You couldn't see his penis, but even the simple act of showing a man in a bathroom stall with his hands below his waist wouldn't fly in America.
It turns out the old man was only dreaming that he was taking a piss. He awoke to realize that his dream made him wet the bed. The five characters were all laid out on sleeping mats in what looked like a traditional Japanese home; a large flat area in the center with no furniture. As the old man realized what he'd done, he tried to cover up his embarrassing mistake by flipping over the girl next to him and stealing her blanket. He then proceeded to replace the soiled cloth with the girl's and replaced hers with his freshly soaked sheets. He rolled her back over and proceeded to fall asleep. The girl awoke and realized something was wrong. She thought she wet the bed! Looking around frantically for what to do, she then rolled the old man over and stole back her own sheets, replacing hers with his. Everything was back the way it was! She fell asleep once again, and the old man awoke to find that his blanket had been returned. What to do? Sentaksuru! (to do laundry) He ran to the wash room to get his laundry done, but the youngsters barged in on him and caught him red handed. Silly old man!
I'm not sure if this reflects aspects of the Japanese culture, (aside from full frontal urination) but I got a kick out of it and thought it would be worth noting. Only 5 minutes of this show was better than years worth of sitcom dribble in America. I actually laughed at this one!
Japanese television in the morning is similar to American television; you can find a lot of programming aimed at young children. Today I saw a show aimed at preschoolers that taught them basic things like the days of the week and how to pronounce certain words and phrases. Perfect for somebody like me who only has an incredibly basic understanding of the language. Can we get a feed of shows like this online somewhere back home? Hiragana was spelled across the screen. It read 'yonkibiu'. Yonkibiu? That's a word I never heard before. Curious, I watched to see what it meant. Surely they would show a picture of what this word stood for. As it turns out, it was a word I knew, only the letters were arranged incorrectly. They were re-arranged into a word that I learned early on in my first Japanese class: kinyobi. Kinyobi! (Friday!) The kanji for the word popped up and an adorably high pitched voice said 'kinyobi' over and over again. Genius!
Another segment of the same show was an adorable song called 'atashi neko', or 'my cat'. (the female version of 'my') As soon as I heard the word neko, I immediately grabbed my camera knowing some kind of crazy Japanese cat thing was about to happen. I held the camera steadily as I recorded the TV screen for the entirety of the song. It was so cute! Unfortunately, I think either something happened to the video or I lost it somehow because I can't find it on my camera. Oh well, maybe it will show up again someday...
After easing into my responsibilities for the day by playing some Theatrerythm, I packed up my things so I could quickly grab some breakfast before departing for Osaka University.
Before going to sleep I watched a Japanese sitcom. At least I think it was a sitcom...it had a laugh track, after all. The main character was an ojisan, or grandfather. He was a wacky old man that lived with 2 young men and 2 young women, all probably in their 20s. After returning from commercial, we see the old man urinating into a toilet. You couldn't see his penis, but even the simple act of showing a man in a bathroom stall with his hands below his waist wouldn't fly in America.
It turns out the old man was only dreaming that he was taking a piss. He awoke to realize that his dream made him wet the bed. The five characters were all laid out on sleeping mats in what looked like a traditional Japanese home; a large flat area in the center with no furniture. As the old man realized what he'd done, he tried to cover up his embarrassing mistake by flipping over the girl next to him and stealing her blanket. He then proceeded to replace the soiled cloth with the girl's and replaced hers with his freshly soaked sheets. He rolled her back over and proceeded to fall asleep. The girl awoke and realized something was wrong. She thought she wet the bed! Looking around frantically for what to do, she then rolled the old man over and stole back her own sheets, replacing hers with his. Everything was back the way it was! She fell asleep once again, and the old man awoke to find that his blanket had been returned. What to do? Sentaksuru! (to do laundry) He ran to the wash room to get his laundry done, but the youngsters barged in on him and caught him red handed. Silly old man!
I'm not sure if this reflects aspects of the Japanese culture, (aside from full frontal urination) but I got a kick out of it and thought it would be worth noting. Only 5 minutes of this show was better than years worth of sitcom dribble in America. I actually laughed at this one!
Japanese television in the morning is similar to American television; you can find a lot of programming aimed at young children. Today I saw a show aimed at preschoolers that taught them basic things like the days of the week and how to pronounce certain words and phrases. Perfect for somebody like me who only has an incredibly basic understanding of the language. Can we get a feed of shows like this online somewhere back home? Hiragana was spelled across the screen. It read 'yonkibiu'. Yonkibiu? That's a word I never heard before. Curious, I watched to see what it meant. Surely they would show a picture of what this word stood for. As it turns out, it was a word I knew, only the letters were arranged incorrectly. They were re-arranged into a word that I learned early on in my first Japanese class: kinyobi. Kinyobi! (Friday!) The kanji for the word popped up and an adorably high pitched voice said 'kinyobi' over and over again. Genius!
Another segment of the same show was an adorable song called 'atashi neko', or 'my cat'. (the female version of 'my') As soon as I heard the word neko, I immediately grabbed my camera knowing some kind of crazy Japanese cat thing was about to happen. I held the camera steadily as I recorded the TV screen for the entirety of the song. It was so cute! Unfortunately, I think either something happened to the video or I lost it somehow because I can't find it on my camera. Oh well, maybe it will show up again someday...
After easing into my responsibilities for the day by playing some Theatrerythm, I packed up my things so I could quickly grab some breakfast before departing for Osaka University.
Today was the day that we all prepared for. Well, when I
say 'prepared' I use it as a pretty broad term. All of the students on this
trip have made different progress through Japanese language studies. Some have
completed past the intermediate stage and are working on more advanced stuff.
Others have completed only 1 class so far. I myself have completed the first 2
classes, grasping only an elementary understanding of the language. I
understand the grammar pretty well, but at this stage my vocabulary is still
pretty low. Its frustrating, but that's something that will come in time.
We traveled to a new part of Osaka. The University is where we were to meet up with Japanese students our age that were also taking part in international studies. It was going to be communication practice with real live people face to face. Exciting! Some of the Kakehashi participants were nervous. "Relax!", I said on the bus ride over. "I know all of the phrases I need to communicate what I want to. C'mon, it'll be fun!" This didn't reassure the person I was talking to.
We hadn't only prepared for this day by working through Japanese language studies. It was made apparent to us before departing the States that we were to give a presentation on our school and American college student life in general. About 2 months prior to the trip, at our first meeting, we were split up into 3 groups and given specific talking points to help the Japanese students understand who we are and where we came from. After an introduction and tour of the University we were sent into a small conference room to have lunch and meet our new Japanese friends. The room had no tables or chairs set up, ensuring maximum space for mingling. We all waited anxiously for them to arrive, spending about 10 minutes in nerve-churning anticipation.
Finally, the students began to trickle in. They were all on different schedules so they didn't arrive all at once. The first one to enter the room was a sweet Japanese girl who looked almost as nervous as some of the members of our group. The poor girl; she was swarmed by a small crowd of the more bold and daring of us. We chewed her ears off for a little bit, but she was allowed some respite as more students arrived in strange intervals. The food was unwrapped and we were allowed to eat and officially begin interacting with them. I have to admit that I was a bit nervous at first, but maybe that was only because I was pretty hungry at the moment. I know, excuses excuses, but grabbing some food really did make me feel better. I filled up the tiny plate I was given and chose the most American drink possible: Coca-Cola. Then I turned toward the crowd to begin sharpening my communication skills.
It turns out that most of them had about the same knowledge level of English that we had in Japanese. If that was the case, what were the other Kakehashi students worried about? And if I knew this, what was I worried about? After creeping around a little bit behind some of my American friends, I decided to just forget about it and jump right in.
"Hajimemashte! Casper-des. Gamu ga ski deska?" (nice to meet you! do you like video games?) It turns out the first person I asked didn't like them as much as I expected. Well shit, there go all of my talking points. How are we supposed to find common ground if they don't like video games?!
But that first person was the exception. The very next person I talked to said she liked Pokemon. Well what a coincidence! I also like Pokemon! "Pocket Monsta ga daiskides!" (I love Pokemon!) She said she liked Ruby and Sapphire. Cool! That's the only game in the series I haven't played. "Pocket Monsta ga jouzu des.", (I am skilled at Pokemon) I said to another student. It turns out she liked Ruby and Sapphire as well. Were those particular games in the series more popular over here, or were these girls just mentioning them because they're being remade at the end of this year? I wonder.
I approached three girls and asked, "Anata wa watashi no neco o mi maska?" (would you like to see my cat?) They perked up. They're Japanese girls, of course they wanted to see pictures of my cat! I grabbed my phone from my pocket and first showed them an adorable picture of Splinter. They squealed. I pulled up some pictures of Meowth as well. They were impressed with his beauty. The pictures of him that I have on my phone were very flattering; the sun hit his fur from behind and does a great job of highlighting just how soft and fluffy he is. All men should take note; own a cat. Girls love them, and they require much less maintenance than dogs.
The lunch/mingle time went well. I met a lot of new people, Japanese students who were as enamored with my culture as I was with theirs. Next we would move downstairs to give our presentations and formally introduce ourselves as a group. The presentations went smoothly. Scott Horton gave a great speech about what North Carolina is like and explained much of its famous and not so famous aspects. We then played an ice breaker game in which we all got to get to know each other a little bit better. After the ice breaker we were given more free time to mingle and talk. Our personal backgrounds were explained. Facebook information was swapped. New friends were made. All in all, it was a good time.
We traveled to a new part of Osaka. The University is where we were to meet up with Japanese students our age that were also taking part in international studies. It was going to be communication practice with real live people face to face. Exciting! Some of the Kakehashi participants were nervous. "Relax!", I said on the bus ride over. "I know all of the phrases I need to communicate what I want to. C'mon, it'll be fun!" This didn't reassure the person I was talking to.
We hadn't only prepared for this day by working through Japanese language studies. It was made apparent to us before departing the States that we were to give a presentation on our school and American college student life in general. About 2 months prior to the trip, at our first meeting, we were split up into 3 groups and given specific talking points to help the Japanese students understand who we are and where we came from. After an introduction and tour of the University we were sent into a small conference room to have lunch and meet our new Japanese friends. The room had no tables or chairs set up, ensuring maximum space for mingling. We all waited anxiously for them to arrive, spending about 10 minutes in nerve-churning anticipation.
Finally, the students began to trickle in. They were all on different schedules so they didn't arrive all at once. The first one to enter the room was a sweet Japanese girl who looked almost as nervous as some of the members of our group. The poor girl; she was swarmed by a small crowd of the more bold and daring of us. We chewed her ears off for a little bit, but she was allowed some respite as more students arrived in strange intervals. The food was unwrapped and we were allowed to eat and officially begin interacting with them. I have to admit that I was a bit nervous at first, but maybe that was only because I was pretty hungry at the moment. I know, excuses excuses, but grabbing some food really did make me feel better. I filled up the tiny plate I was given and chose the most American drink possible: Coca-Cola. Then I turned toward the crowd to begin sharpening my communication skills.
It turns out that most of them had about the same knowledge level of English that we had in Japanese. If that was the case, what were the other Kakehashi students worried about? And if I knew this, what was I worried about? After creeping around a little bit behind some of my American friends, I decided to just forget about it and jump right in.
"Hajimemashte! Casper-des. Gamu ga ski deska?" (nice to meet you! do you like video games?) It turns out the first person I asked didn't like them as much as I expected. Well shit, there go all of my talking points. How are we supposed to find common ground if they don't like video games?!
But that first person was the exception. The very next person I talked to said she liked Pokemon. Well what a coincidence! I also like Pokemon! "Pocket Monsta ga daiskides!" (I love Pokemon!) She said she liked Ruby and Sapphire. Cool! That's the only game in the series I haven't played. "Pocket Monsta ga jouzu des.", (I am skilled at Pokemon) I said to another student. It turns out she liked Ruby and Sapphire as well. Were those particular games in the series more popular over here, or were these girls just mentioning them because they're being remade at the end of this year? I wonder.
I approached three girls and asked, "Anata wa watashi no neco o mi maska?" (would you like to see my cat?) They perked up. They're Japanese girls, of course they wanted to see pictures of my cat! I grabbed my phone from my pocket and first showed them an adorable picture of Splinter. They squealed. I pulled up some pictures of Meowth as well. They were impressed with his beauty. The pictures of him that I have on my phone were very flattering; the sun hit his fur from behind and does a great job of highlighting just how soft and fluffy he is. All men should take note; own a cat. Girls love them, and they require much less maintenance than dogs.
The lunch/mingle time went well. I met a lot of new people, Japanese students who were as enamored with my culture as I was with theirs. Next we would move downstairs to give our presentations and formally introduce ourselves as a group. The presentations went smoothly. Scott Horton gave a great speech about what North Carolina is like and explained much of its famous and not so famous aspects. We then played an ice breaker game in which we all got to get to know each other a little bit better. After the ice breaker we were given more free time to mingle and talk. Our personal backgrounds were explained. Facebook information was swapped. New friends were made. All in all, it was a good time.
Leaving the University behind, we headed into the heart of
downtown Osaka to get a crash course on what to do in case of an
emergency and see how Japan handles scenarios such as earthquakes and fires. This
is a very geologically unstable part of the world; nobody can stop earthquakes
from happening, and they are a part of every day life here. They're usually
small scale and not even noticeable half the time, but every now and then a big
one occurs.
As you may recall, the Japanese earthquake in 2011 was so devastating that it was national news. In this emergency action center, we experienced simulations of earthquakes and were taught what to do in various emergencies. We used Japanese fire extinguishers to put out digital fires, walked through a hallway filled with smoke and made mock phone calls to 119, their version of 911. God help me if I'm ever here and need to dial an emergency service without having a strong grasp on the language. I'd like to think I'd keep my cool in such a situation, but in reality I'd probably shit my pants. After all, wouldn't just about anybody who gets stuck in a national disaster while visiting a foreign country freak out a little bit? The earthquake simulators were neat. The one I rode was a mockup of real life earthquakes that happened in 1995 and 2003. Boy does the Earth shake! If I had stiff legs before getting on the simulator, I had spaghetti legs when I got off.
On the menu tonight was okonomiyaki. Also known as 'zombie pizza', it is a pan food consisting of batter and cabbage. Like American pizza, I assume that different toppings and ingredients can be put on it. Ours included fish skin and what looked, but did not taste, like barbecue sauce. It was quite delicious. This particular restaurant had booths that could sit up to six people with a small grill in the center. The food is placed on the grill to cook then stay warm, and patrons can choose how much they want to eat. Our table had 2 pizzas and 2 piles of noodles. Once again, I found myself seriously enjoying traditional Japanese cuisine.
Toward the end of the meal, I looked at a smattering of food that was leftover on the grill. "Hmm...that piece looks an awful lot like Texas..." I thought to myself. I had a crazy idea, and suggested to the other students sitting with me that we should leave the Japanese cooks and waiters a friendly parting message. How about leaving our leftovers in the shape of our home country? We shifted and moved the remaining food together and formed the shape of our homeland. Some of the leftovers had to be chopped up and smooshed to achieve the desired effect, but in the end we were able to recreate a hilarious and uncanny resemblance of the continental United States. (and Alaska, sort of)
As you may recall, the Japanese earthquake in 2011 was so devastating that it was national news. In this emergency action center, we experienced simulations of earthquakes and were taught what to do in various emergencies. We used Japanese fire extinguishers to put out digital fires, walked through a hallway filled with smoke and made mock phone calls to 119, their version of 911. God help me if I'm ever here and need to dial an emergency service without having a strong grasp on the language. I'd like to think I'd keep my cool in such a situation, but in reality I'd probably shit my pants. After all, wouldn't just about anybody who gets stuck in a national disaster while visiting a foreign country freak out a little bit? The earthquake simulators were neat. The one I rode was a mockup of real life earthquakes that happened in 1995 and 2003. Boy does the Earth shake! If I had stiff legs before getting on the simulator, I had spaghetti legs when I got off.
On the menu tonight was okonomiyaki. Also known as 'zombie pizza', it is a pan food consisting of batter and cabbage. Like American pizza, I assume that different toppings and ingredients can be put on it. Ours included fish skin and what looked, but did not taste, like barbecue sauce. It was quite delicious. This particular restaurant had booths that could sit up to six people with a small grill in the center. The food is placed on the grill to cook then stay warm, and patrons can choose how much they want to eat. Our table had 2 pizzas and 2 piles of noodles. Once again, I found myself seriously enjoying traditional Japanese cuisine.
Toward the end of the meal, I looked at a smattering of food that was leftover on the grill. "Hmm...that piece looks an awful lot like Texas..." I thought to myself. I had a crazy idea, and suggested to the other students sitting with me that we should leave the Japanese cooks and waiters a friendly parting message. How about leaving our leftovers in the shape of our home country? We shifted and moved the remaining food together and formed the shape of our homeland. Some of the leftovers had to be chopped up and smooshed to achieve the desired effect, but in the end we were able to recreate a hilarious and uncanny resemblance of the continental United States. (and Alaska, sort of)
We would be staying at yet another hotel tonight. Named the
Hotel at Osaka Castle, when we arrived to check in, each room was only
given one room key; that's one room key to be shared by two people. And it
wasn't like the room keys that you find in most hotels. You know, a credit card
shaped piece of plastic that opens to door electronically? No, this was an
actual key, not just an electronic
card. It sent the wrong message and gave me an unsettling vibe about this
place.
Turns out this hotel is a relic compared to even the lowest common denominator Best Westerns back home. Everything here looks and feels old. The thermostat in our room isn't digital, it was just a dial. The center console doubled as a small table, and the lamps and clocks all looked like they were built in the 60s or 70s. Worst of all, the rooms here didn't have Wifi. First world problems, indeed! Each room had an ethernet port that could provide internet in rooms for those of us that just so happen to be traveling with an ethernet cable. (fun fact: only one member of our group brought an ethernet cable along with them) Wifi could be accessed in the lobby. Our entire group huddled around each other to get online and send messages to friends and family back home. I can live without internet for a while, but it had been about 2 days since I sent messages back home to my folks. I was able to do so tonight, however.
A mall was attached directly to our hotel. We could access a book store right from the floor our rooms were on, and from there we could go into an 8 floor traditional shopping mall. It was another example of stimulation overload, but tonight I was more calm and composed. We had more time to look around, but once again it was getting kind of late and the shops would be closing soon. I went to an electronics store called 'EdOn' and purchased some souvenirs for my friends. I also picked up some copies of 'Nintendo News', a Japanese circular displaying the games that are going to be released in the coming months. One of them was entirely Smash Bros. themed. How nice! Right next to Pokemon, Smash Bros. is my game of choice. I squealed on both the inside and the outside, grabbing some copies for myself and my friends back home.
Browsing all of the neat BanDai toys, I found a cool and super detailed Mario figure that I had seen online. Balancing the stuff I was going to buy in one hand, I picked up the figure to inspect it with the other. I lost the balance in my other hand and accidentally dropped the Mario figure on the floor. A loud alarm began to sound. Attached to each one of these figures was a security brick that would sound if somebody attempted to carry the product out of the store without paying. Removing the brick would also set it off, so dropping the Mario figure and jostling the brick made the alarm sound. It was so loud, and I couldn't escape!
Oh no! This was it. They were going to throw me in the Japanese slammer for stealing. I would be breaking rocks for the rest of my life in the salt mines for not doing anything wrong! It wasn't a big deal, however. I placed the product back on the shelf and one of the store's employees came and fixed the alarm. Whew! That was close. I paid for my items and my buddy and I left the store to go do a little exploring.
After shopping, Bledsoe Sensei found us taking pictures on the streets and said he was going to find an ATM in which he could use American cards to take out Japanese currency. We followed him. I needed to take out some more yen myself.
Osaka is a different city from Tokyo. The parts of the city I saw today showed Osaka in a better light than what I saw the day before. Downtown was much more colorful, (literally) and was more tourist friendly than the gray and dismal looking industrial complex we saw the day before. This city reminds me more of NYC. There's a lot more garbage on the streets, although still not that much of it. Tokyo was immaculate in comparison. I think the Japanese view Tokyo as the greatest example of a desirable and cutting edge city not only in Japan, but all of Asia. It certainly made that impression to me.
Another thing that hit me hard tonight was the amount of bicyclists on the streets. The Japanese are more eco-friendly than us energy gluttons back home, so people used bikes just about everywhere. Walking down the street, I was unprepared when one bicyclist came too close to me. Even though he had a light on the front of his bike, I didn't notice him and nearly got hit! I quickly looked up and jumped out of the way, hearing the man on the bike mutter 'gaijin!' as he sped by.
I know I stand out here and look like a super tourist, but up until this point I didn't really feel like one. I wasn't offended, though. I thought it was pretty funny.
Turns out this hotel is a relic compared to even the lowest common denominator Best Westerns back home. Everything here looks and feels old. The thermostat in our room isn't digital, it was just a dial. The center console doubled as a small table, and the lamps and clocks all looked like they were built in the 60s or 70s. Worst of all, the rooms here didn't have Wifi. First world problems, indeed! Each room had an ethernet port that could provide internet in rooms for those of us that just so happen to be traveling with an ethernet cable. (fun fact: only one member of our group brought an ethernet cable along with them) Wifi could be accessed in the lobby. Our entire group huddled around each other to get online and send messages to friends and family back home. I can live without internet for a while, but it had been about 2 days since I sent messages back home to my folks. I was able to do so tonight, however.
A mall was attached directly to our hotel. We could access a book store right from the floor our rooms were on, and from there we could go into an 8 floor traditional shopping mall. It was another example of stimulation overload, but tonight I was more calm and composed. We had more time to look around, but once again it was getting kind of late and the shops would be closing soon. I went to an electronics store called 'EdOn' and purchased some souvenirs for my friends. I also picked up some copies of 'Nintendo News', a Japanese circular displaying the games that are going to be released in the coming months. One of them was entirely Smash Bros. themed. How nice! Right next to Pokemon, Smash Bros. is my game of choice. I squealed on both the inside and the outside, grabbing some copies for myself and my friends back home.
Browsing all of the neat BanDai toys, I found a cool and super detailed Mario figure that I had seen online. Balancing the stuff I was going to buy in one hand, I picked up the figure to inspect it with the other. I lost the balance in my other hand and accidentally dropped the Mario figure on the floor. A loud alarm began to sound. Attached to each one of these figures was a security brick that would sound if somebody attempted to carry the product out of the store without paying. Removing the brick would also set it off, so dropping the Mario figure and jostling the brick made the alarm sound. It was so loud, and I couldn't escape!
Oh no! This was it. They were going to throw me in the Japanese slammer for stealing. I would be breaking rocks for the rest of my life in the salt mines for not doing anything wrong! It wasn't a big deal, however. I placed the product back on the shelf and one of the store's employees came and fixed the alarm. Whew! That was close. I paid for my items and my buddy and I left the store to go do a little exploring.
After shopping, Bledsoe Sensei found us taking pictures on the streets and said he was going to find an ATM in which he could use American cards to take out Japanese currency. We followed him. I needed to take out some more yen myself.
Osaka is a different city from Tokyo. The parts of the city I saw today showed Osaka in a better light than what I saw the day before. Downtown was much more colorful, (literally) and was more tourist friendly than the gray and dismal looking industrial complex we saw the day before. This city reminds me more of NYC. There's a lot more garbage on the streets, although still not that much of it. Tokyo was immaculate in comparison. I think the Japanese view Tokyo as the greatest example of a desirable and cutting edge city not only in Japan, but all of Asia. It certainly made that impression to me.
Another thing that hit me hard tonight was the amount of bicyclists on the streets. The Japanese are more eco-friendly than us energy gluttons back home, so people used bikes just about everywhere. Walking down the street, I was unprepared when one bicyclist came too close to me. Even though he had a light on the front of his bike, I didn't notice him and nearly got hit! I quickly looked up and jumped out of the way, hearing the man on the bike mutter 'gaijin!' as he sped by.
I know I stand out here and look like a super tourist, but up until this point I didn't really feel like one. I wasn't offended, though. I thought it was pretty funny.
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