For Jim-san
15 Dec 2010 1 Comment
This is a post for Jim-san. I met his friend Shimoda-san when I was in Yamanashi, and never got to show him the photo of us together. Life is so fleeting.
The Brighter Side
04 Nov 2010 8 Comments
Wednesday was by far the toughest day for the GSE team. I think 2.5 weeks in a foreign place with limited communication and freedom was getting to us. But, we persevered. As for my part, I was doing fine. In the morning we toured a graden, but we were ushered to the various places in the park and not allowed to look around freely. Later, we ended up going all of the way to another prefecture, to Hakone, to ride a pirate ship ferry across a lake. On the other side, we went to a glass and lace museum, which was not at all Japanese, but still beautiful. The museum was based on old English, and the gift shop was huge. The garden outside had many trees made of glass crystal.
Tired and worn out, I was happy to return to my host-family, eat yummy udon, peruse the internet, and get to bed by 9:30. Speaking of my host family, my host father carves stone as a hobby. Here is one of his pieces:
Today was a more relaxing day. We took a long bus ride to a temple where we added incense to a shrine, and practiced calligraphy. Bri learned to draw the kanji for “samurai”, while I learned the one for “to believe in”. After enough practice, we painted a final version which was stamped by the monk.
We had lunch at a Rotary meeting, but we did not have to present. There was no time, largely because a Japanese exchange student to Germany for 2 years was presenting about his experience. It was actually a relief not having to present. Next we went to another shrine, which was large and white at the top of a hill. Then we went to another garden, and a tea house before head back to Mishima. I must admit, the days are starting to blur together, and it’s difficult to recall the order of events or the names of the places we have been. Also, I have learned to sleep on the bus. It’s almost instantaneous now.
Tuesday In Mishima
03 Nov 2010 Leave a Comment
Today in the morning the GSE Team met at a hotel and proceeded to our first tour of the day. It was at a Mishima fire station. Bri was very excited, because the fire station had its own call-center located in the building. It was a small call center. It turns out that when people dial 119 in case of an emergency, the call is answered by a larger call-center a few towns away. If the emergency is in Mishima, the large call-center transfers the call to Mishima. Bri even got to prank-call 119!!! She and Jerry also when up in the fire truck bucket to 30 meters, since Bri didn’t get to in Shizuoka-city.
After the fire station, we had lunch at a sushi restaurant. The sushi was on a revolving conveyer belt, and you could just choose what you wanted, or special order items. I had tuna, crab, and sweet egg. I also had vanilla ice cream for dessert!
Next we when to a hotel where us girls were fitted in Kimono. The kimono are very tight around the ribs, and they had trouble dressing me because I am tall, and the kimono was too short. But the kimono were very beautiful, and I was excited.
Next we attended a music performance in kimono. Craig’s host-mother plays Koto, and Japanese stringed instrument. He had practiced a song “Sakura” with his host-mom the night before, and they performed it for us. What a surprise! Next we all got to try playing the koto. It was quite difficult. Then we watched two performances by Craig’s host-mom and her student. The music was quite trance-like, and Jerry even fell asleep. I began to have a coughing fit in the middle of the second song, and had to excuse myself in search of water.
We changed out of our kimono, and p0roceeded to take a quick onsen, as we were running out of time. Jerry and Craig took onsen in the same hotel where we were dressed for kimono. Windy, Bri and I were driven to a separate hotel for our onsen. Only Bri and I took an onsen, as Windy did not want to. She hasn’t done it yet, and doesn’t know what she is missing!!
Now I am back with my host family, getting ready to have dinner. I am very tired and I think I will go to bed early.
Week Two Summary
03 Nov 2010 1 Comment
Much has happened since I last wrote in this blog! I will attempt to pick up where I left off…
On Monday, after meeting my new host-sister, Naomi, the Group met up once again to take a tour of Yamanashi Broadcasting, where they do radio, television, web services, newspaper, basically every kind of media you can think of. It was an amazing tour! We got to have our photos taken on the sets of the daily programs which are filmed live. We stood in front of a green screen and pretend to give the weather forecast. We watched a famous Japanese celebrity, Maya, doing a radio show. And they served us hot chocolate, which is not very common in Japan. Yum!
After visiting YBS, we toured Takeda Temple, at the foot of the mountains near Yamanshi Gakuin (University). The temple was very beautiful. Once of the buildings had an amazing painted ceiling. Afterwards we attended the weekly meeting of Kai and Kofu Rotary Clubs.
Finally, around 8:30 p.m., we went home to our new host families. For the first time I met almost all of my host family together. I called the host-father Horiuchi-san, even though his given name is Toshihiko. His daughter is Naomi, and her husband is called Kyuu-chan, which is a nickname. A very cute one J Naomi and Kyuu-chan have five children. The oldest is Sayaka. She is 15 years old, and always very busy studying for university exams. The nest daughter is Seika, who is 13 years old. She is a junior high school student, and likes to make funny faces in photographs J The next child is Taka-kun, who is 12. His brother, Kazu-kun is 11. They both are big fans of the local soccer team, Ventforet. It was their room that I stayed in for the week I was there. Kazu-kun also spoke good English! The youngest son is Toshi-kun, who is 5 years old. He is a very friendly and energetic boy! The first night I was there, he was running all over the house and following me everywhere! It was soooo cute! I would go into my room to get something, and he would sneakily follow me, and then run away when I caught him in the hallway J I felt very welcome in their home. It was so lively with lots of children around, and they didn’t mind if I left my toiletries in the bathroom or used the washer and dryer whenever I pleased.
On Tuesday the GSE Team toured another tea shop, and had a short tea ceremony. Then we proceeded to be driven as far up Mount Fuji as one can drive. I believe it is known as the Fourth Station. Next we quickly visited a frozen cave located in a beautiful forest.
On Wednesday the GSE Team visited the Yamanashi City Mayor, visited a fruit park, went to a winery,… honestly it’s all a blur.
But Thursday, I remember well. It was a free day!!!! First I went to Yamanashi Gakuin and visited Shimnoda-san, who is a long time friend of Jim Silvia, who was in my Japanese class two semester ago. I was able to meet and have lunch with him, and he spoke very good English. Unfortunately, it was raining so he was unable to give me a tour of the campus. Then I got my finger nails done at a salon!! The lady who owned the shop, Eri-san, put the cutest lace and rhinestones on my nails!
The my host-family went shopping at the grocery store. It was complete fun and madness! We literally had 10 people running around the store buying anything they wanted. Five adults, five kids. It was really fun. Here is a picture of all of us together.
Friday, the GSE Team visited two museums, and gorgeous canyon and we went bowling. My nails survived the two games of bowling!
On Saturday, we departed for Mishima. I was sooooo sad to leave my host family! I felt like I really bonded with them, and I promised Naomi I would come back again. Tears everywhere.
Yamanashi
27 Oct 2010 2 Comments
Sorry folks, once again I have no internet… but for a quick update, my host family is very nice. They have 5 children ranging from 5 years old to 15 years old. The company business is drilling borings for hot spring water. Therefore, they have a full size onsen in their house which I get to enjoy every night 
The past few days we have toured a marketing firm where they do TV, radio, newspaper, etc… We have also drive as far up Mt. Fuji as possible, toured two wineries, visited 3 Rotary Clubs, visited a place that keeps owls and botanical gardens, toured another botanical garden, and probably more which I am forgetting.
Today is my free day, so I am visiting Yamanashi University, touring my host family’s company, getting my nails done, having steak dinner made by my host father, and going to the movie theatre.
New Surroundings
24 Oct 2010 6 Comments
Today (Monday) I move in with my new host family. Theyare called the Horiuchi’s. So far I have met my new hostDad, and his daughter Naomi-san, and her husband whom they call Kyuu-chan, which is very cute. My host parents have two daughters, and six grandchildren. They have five grandchildren living at their house!! On Saturday we drove from Shizuoka to Kofu, stopping for a quick view of Mount Fuji on the way. Everyone in Shizuoka and Yamanashi are very proud of Mount Fuji. We arrived at the hotel in Kofu, had a few hours of free time, and had a dinner with Rotary members and our new host families. The dinner was quite relaxed, with lots of sake and wine going around. After dinner, the guys took an onsen, while the girls relaxed for a while. Thyen Craig, Windy and I went out with a couple of the Rotary members to a “local’s bar”, where we were presented with another 4 courses of second dinner (I should ention the first dinner was HUGE). I didn’t eat any of second dinner, except for the ramen, because it was sooooo delicious. The bar was super small, with only two other people, icluding this old ojiisan (gramps) who came in absolutely tanked and kept trying to talk to me. After that we went back to the hotel where our hosts bid us good-bye. As we were walking to the elevator, Craig, Windy and I noticed a karaoke bar in the hotel… And yes, Craig sang metalia.
Yesterday (Sunday) our group went to a festival, called the Enzan Oyochoi Festival. There were many street performers, and a junior high marching band, and many food stalls. There were even tents where they gave away free sake. That would never happen in America. Our Rotary hosts gave us bright turquoise robes to wear around the festival, which made us easy to spot in a crowd. As news crew even came and filmed us slurping ramen. Besdies food and festiviteis, there was an odd custom where the mayor and other prominent people I assume would climb to the top of a platform and throw thngs into the crowd. Apparently if you caught anythihng, it ws lucky. The objects thrown included candy, tissue boxes, bags of potato chips, tatami mats, and even a whole raw fish (in a bag). It happened twice during the day, and the first time it happen, we were told they threw candy, but we didn’t expect it to be so big! And not only were the objects being thrown big, people fought over them!! They would scramble around on the ground and yank stuff away from others. Even the old people!! It was complete madness.
After the festival, we went back to the hotel where I discovered the amazingness of onsen (Japanese hotspring). You wash before you get in the bath, abnd each washing station provided shampoo and body wash. After bathigng, there was a large vanity with various hand, face and body lotions. It was so relaxing. Afterwards, our group had dinner alone at the hotel. Very nice dinner. Then I took another onsen
Catch-up Post: Tuesday
22 Oct 2010 1 Comment
On Tuesday morning, I woke up bright-eyed and bushy-tailed at 5:30 am… urg. Anyway, I finally got a good look at my new surroundings in the daylight. And it was beautiful. My host family has a huge house, more like a compound of three houses. It right across from a scenic river, and the front garden is beautiful. They have a koi pond.
And here is their cute dog, Sakura:
Besides a dog, they also have a 17 year old cat, and a ferret. Breakfast was rice and miso soup.
At 9:30 my group went to a restaurant called Ouhana, where we learned to make Japnese obento (boxed lunch), and we taught the Japanese Rotarians to make American lunch (sandwiches).
We packed up our boxed lunches and headed for the Nihondaira Zoo. There we walked around and looked at all kinds of animals. Even 人 (hito= people)
But, cuter than any of the zoo animals were the hundreds of Japanese school children wearing different colored hats to differentiate their grade and class.
The we ate our handmade lunches at some picnic tables. After the zoo we took a very narrow road to a tea house where we were to experience a Japanese tea ceremony. The bus drivers driving skills were very impressive on the narrow road.
As it turns out, my host-mother Shigemi-san does Japanese tea ceremony, and was on of the attendants. This is her in a beautiful kimono.
After the tea ceremony, my group took a vocational tour of on of Shizuoka’s Waster 3water treatment plants. It was very difficult for our translator to translate technical and scientific words, but it was okay since I recognized many of the treatment processes. My group, unfortunately had to suffer through the smell of the poo plant, which I’m used to and didn’t bother me at all I think Bri nearly passed out. Anyway, it’s nice to see a bar screen looks the same in other countries:
The tour ended around 5:00, at which time my host-mother drove us back home, still in kimono, and we had a big dinner with all 7 members of the family, and stayed up late talking about various stuff
Catch-up Post: Monday
22 Oct 2010 2 Comments
Monday morning was the start of my first full day in Japan. We left the hotel, and dropped out baggage off at another hotel where we would be presenting later that night. Then we went to Rinzai Temple, a Buddhist temple. There, we were given a tour by a Buddhist monk of a beautiful temple built on the bottom side of the mountains. Photos cannot even do it justice. After the tour, we were instructed as to how to practice zen meditation. The original schedule had our group meditating for 45 minutes. However, the tour took longer than expected, so we only meditated for 20 minutes. The monks first demonstrated how to properly sit for meditation, and how to half lower your eyelids for better concentration, but to make sure you don’t fall asleep. During one part of the demonstration, a monk slumped over, and another monk whacked him on the back with a big stick. Our group misunderstood, and thought that if we fell asleep during meditation, or did anything wrong, they would hit us with the stick to wake us up! Therefore, for the entire 20 minutes, we were afraid of doing anything wrong for fear of being hit. Besides that, the mediation was very relaxing, especially after the long plane and train rides. As it turns out, the “slumping over” was actually a bow asking to be hit to promote enlightenment and wishes for a good life (or something like that). Anyway, we were in the local paper the next day!
After the temple, we went to Shizuoka Prefectural University where we met professors from four different departments. After obento lunch and introductions, each team member split up to talk with professors who are knowledgeable in our profession. I got to meet with professors from the environmental sciences department. One lady from Vietnam specialized in solid waste and was researching a way to pass legislation holding polluters responsible for the pollution they create. I also toured the Environmental Sciences Laboratory and was given a demonstration where bacteria were used to turn ferric compounds into magnetite.
Next we toured the Bandai Corporation, which makes famous action figures. They are most popular for making Gundam action figures, and had an 18 foot replica outside!
And they have fancy equipment which can make super tiny figures!
Next we went to Hotel Nakajimaya where we gave our first presentation and met our host families. My host family is the Miyahara’s. My host-father, Kunio-san, and my host-brother, Shouzou-kun were attending the Rotary meeting. Our presentations went well for the most part. Jerry didn’t realize we had a translator, and so he never paused in his speech to give her time to translate, but it was funny
The hotel party ended, and my host family and I met up with my host-sister, Wakako-chan, and we went to their house. By this time it was dark and I couldn’t see any scenery, my I could tell they lived about 40 minutes west of Shizuoka in the mountains.
At the Miyahara’s house, I met the rest of my host family, which included another sister, Chi-chan, her French husband, Greg, and his grandmother whom everyone called Obaasan (Japanese for gramdmother). I later found out her name is Michelle
Appologies
20 Oct 2010 2 Comments
Sorry for not having any posts… My host family does not have the Internet, and I am typing this from my phone before bed. And the day time is too busy to write. Besides, we do around 3 tours everyday, so it would be inconvenient to bring my laptop. But, I promise to write a long post this weekend with lots of pictures
Shizuoka Day 1
17 Oct 2010 6 Comments
Last night, we flew into Tokyo/Narita airport! After going through the longest customs line I’ve ever seen, we boarded an express train to Shinagawa where we caught the Shinkansen (bullet train) to Shizuoka.
Here’s Japan from the airplane. It is very green.
We didn’t even have time to put our luggage in the hotel room, let alone freshen up before we were whisked off to a dinner party which the Japanese Rotarians. They were gracious hosts, and after many exchanges of greetings and meishi (business cards), gave us gifts of hashi (chopsticks), hand towels and a custom made picture book! There was tons of food, mostly unidentifiable, but all delicious I stuffed myself silly, and that was before desert.
Dinner provided me a sort of second wind, and after my first encounter with a Japanese toilet, I decided I really needed to go for a run. Here are the instructions for said toilet:
So, I changed into some shorts and a t-shirt and ventured out into the city at 11pm with my trusty iPhone in case i got lost. Shizuoka was bustling with young people drinking, singing karaoke, and generally having a good time. There were people and taxis everywhere. I must have looked like a ridiculous foreigner running around instead of dressed up and having a good time. Anyway, I took some photos of my adventure. The first one is a square I found with fountains, colored lights in the pavement, a tons of birds chirping in the trees. I ended up going back to it 3 times because I liked it so much.
I even took a picture of my reflection.
Tonight I will stay with my first host family. I will post again if I have the internet
