Two Months

Now that I've been in Japan for two months, fall is starting to actually begin with crisp mornings and leaves changing. Although it is not quite cool enough for me yet, I look forward to November. Not a lot has happened lately, except midterms and going to Kobe last Sunday with my host mom again. Occasionally I am frustrated from culture shock and at times enjoy Japan very much.

This last week has been very long. I've been through a lot of pain (physical) with my bad back so have been taking painkillers, which make me very sleepy and unable to pay attention. So I spent my midterm week on painkillers and in pain. One of my grammar exams I received a 100% and the other 88% (unsatisfactory!); as for kanji exams one with 100% and the other with 96%. Not bad, considering.

The week hasn't been all bad, I did get Pokémon X and Y. I started with X and only have one badge but am really enjoying it. There are a few things I'm disappointed by such as them taking away seasons (it would have been so aesthetically pleasing with the new cel-shaded 3D graphics), and the fact that there are only 69 new Pokémon added to this generation! What the hell? They added a whole new type but couldn't be bothered to add at least 100 new creatures? Now I have to look forward to Generation 7 prematurely (maybe it will bring back seasons! Grrr). Though, this game is based off of France and it makes me extremely nostalgic, so let's go into the next topic ...

The last thing I would like to talk about is my experiences with host families. I have been so lucky to have them. From my first host family in Angers, my second in Grenoble, my third that only lasted the last week I was in Grenoble, and now my host family in Osaka. They have all been so wonderful. One of my favorite parts is that I have gotten to meet parts of their extended families (besides the third one, but the host mom took me to the Alps and made the most delicious rhubarb crumble I've ever had). Having dinner during Christmas Eve and spending Christmas in Angers with my host mom's sister's family was great. Meeting my second host family's grandchildren really required for me to exercise my French skills, and I really enjoy trips to Kobe with my host mom here in Osaka to see her daughter's family as well as meeting my host mom's son.

My first host family was so relaxed and easy-going, which I think made my first months in France and my first time living in another country so much better than it could have been. My host mom taught me to cook rice, and my host dad was funny and kept me on my toes. Also, my host dad was an awesome cook and I learned so much about cheese and wine. Of course, there were two other students staying there, another American and my friend from Osaka (who I've mentioned quite a few times and have reconnected with while here). As my first host family, they will always have a special place in my heart.

My second host family in Grenoble was a little bit different. Because I was the only student, all of their attention was turned towards me. My host mom and I would talk for long periods of time about deep subjects after dinner, and I would play chess with my host dad. We'd watch Doctor House and The Voice in French during the evenings and weekends. They were an older couple and I really enjoyed them. We'd go to the movie theatre, art exhibitions, and go snow-shoeing.

My third host family was only for a week since I had to leave a week later than expected and my host family had already made reservations to go after I had left. There was another student there as well, along with there being a host-brother and just a host mom. She really made my last week in France memorable. We talked for long hours about environment, climate change, and cold countries such as Russia (her daughter was abroad there and she was very interested in tundra landscapes). We went to the Alps and explored several villages there.

I remember when I got home in Alaska and was so melancholic for a month or two. Occasionally when I look through French photos or talk of France, this mixture of nostalgia and melancholy overwhelm me. It was such a beautiful place, and kudos to Pokémon for making their newest game based off of France and letting me relive it a little (even though a lot of it is stereotypes instead of real France).

Lastly, my fourth host family, and current, here in Osaka is fantastic. My host mom is so kind and really has a good heart. Although my Japanese is not very good for deep conversations (sometimes we try, though), I look forward to when I can express myself better so that I can learn even more things from her. Going places and meeting her previous students, her friends, and family is always exciting. I've been able to meet so many people thanks to my host mom.

All of my host families have been so wonderful and I couldn't place any of them to be worse or better than the others. Every day I learn so many new things, and these people helped me learn even more than I could have without them!

That is all for now ...

~Until Next Time

Late Update

I know that I missed last week, but a lot has been happening these past two weeks. Last weekend I went to Kobe with my host mom again in order to see her granddaughter's chorus performance. It was very long and very hot. Afterwards I had dinner with my host mom's daughter's family where we had some very interesting alcohol. I didn't get home until late and then Sunday I went with my host mother to a food festival kind of thing, not totally sure what to call it. There was a lot of unique food, especially from Okinawa.

Monday was a holiday and I had a date. It was very lovely and on Tuesday I entered a new relationship. He is not Japanese nor American, but German. Since I find romance to be very much personal and this is a public blog, I don't really want to put too many details here. Just know that I am having a wonderful time.

Wednesday was when a typhoon hit Japan, killing people in Tokyo. It missed Osaka for the most part, besides some rain and a bit of wind the night of. The rest of the week was preparing for Kishibe-sai, our university's festival. For that, we had Friday off which I spent catching up with my previous roommate from France. I have mentioned her in older blog posts when I was in Angers. Together we shared a host family and during New Year's we went to Paris, Ireland, and England. Yesterday we caught up, walked around, and went to a small temple in Ibaraki.

Today was the festival and I spent most of it working at one of our booths. It was busy and fun, and tomorrow may look a bit similar ... except that I get to sleep in tomorrow.

Since I was lame and didn't update last week, I will make it up by sharing some things I've noticed in Japan!

1. Stealing bikes must not be a problem as I have noticed that almost all bikes, if not all, in bike parking spaces are not locked to anything.

2. On the television, so far I've noticed that every time there is an American and they voice them over, the males are given really deep voices and girls are given these adorable ones.

3. The one time I went to the theatres here, I watched Miyazaki's last film (a cartoon). Pre-film, almost all the commercials were of American cartoons coming to theatres.

4. There are a lot of Halloween decorations, but mostly only cute ones. Lots of purple and orange too. I think that in the U.S. we use a lot more black and orange in our Halloween decorating (and fake blood).

5. I am surprised Halloween is even recognized here.

6. Americans from the Lower 48 and Americans from Alaska and Hawaii are kind of different. I actually noticed this a long time ago, but the more I meet Americans from the Lower 48 the more I come to realize just how different we are ... sure, we have some loud Alaskans but loud Alaskans seem to be different from loud Lower 48ians.

7. Mosquitoes here are evil. They give me huge bug bites that itch severely and leave marks afterwards even if I do manage not to scratch.

8. They have Kit-Kats in the flavor of green tea. I have yet to taste it.

9. Although I know it is normal here for people to push you while trying to get on/off the train, it still irritates me when it happens. The trains are frequently full of people.

10. They really do slurp their noodles here, and I have yet to get used to it. I am always surprised for a split moment when it happens.

Well, that is all for now! Thank you for reading!

Until next time~

Let's Talk Japan

Here we are, Monday (月曜日). Not a lot of terribly fascinating things have happened since October started besides the usual classes. My host father's 65th birthday was Saturday and my host family's daughter's family came over for dinner and to visit for the weekend. Friday I went to karaoke, and I did sing with the microphone once but laughed through most of it from embarrassment. Since Friday afternoon my lower back and side has been in some agonizing pain, luckily not enough to where I can't walk but enough to feel a bit unlike myself (I have severe chronic pain). I mostly stayed at home after karaoke, going to pottery with my host mom on Saturday before lying around for the rest of the night.

On top of the normal chronic back pain (that rides on the muscles that stretch from the spinal cord to my side), my stomach has been upset lately. I think it is adjusting to the diet, as the same thing happened in France after about a month or so of eating completely different foods. So hopefully it will quickly pass. It's odd, though, as I am really sure the food that I am eating here is much better than what I eat at home. I have rice every day, Japanese pears for breakfast every morning (they are apparently high in fiber), lots of green tea, and many other strange "really healthy Japanese secret" type foods.

So Japanese food is delicious. Some of it is strange. I'll admit I was a little surprised to see an entire fish sitting on a plate for me one night for dinner. I suppose this is normal for East Asian countries, and I shouldn't really be too weirded out considering some of the things I have eaten in the past (Blood Sausage, pork intestines, et cetera). I took it on fearlessly, though, but the real problem was not its little fishy guts nor the weird caramelized scales ... but it was that every bite had tiny little bones. I can't eat them and I don't want to spend more time taking every single little bone out than it would to just eat the damn thing. I've tried to just eat the bones, but there is something about it that just ruins the taste of the fish.

WARNING: Lots of Wiki articles. Mostly because there are pictures.

I unfortunately have not eaten some of the 'weirder' dishes here such as:

natto fermented beans that are apparently slimy and have a strong smell and taste. People warn me about it tasting terrible but people warned me about Blood Sausage as well. I will taste this!
(This photo is courtesy of Wikipedia)




fugu puffer fish. Yeah, that poisonous one that only super master chefs can make. Unfortunately it is very expensive and I'm kind of poor so yeah. My host mom said the cheapest she ever found was 5000 yen (50 bucks!) I guess it is expensive to toy around with poison. But everyone I've talked to who has tasted it said it was delicious and the best is when you get it with a sauce to dip it in (the poison) and then it makes your lips numb or some shit. Awesome e_e I will eat this eventually. There were a lot of fugu restaurants in Namba.
 I will eat you and you will be delicious.      (Photo: Wikipedia)


I have eaten some of the funner foods though!

Onigiri balls (triangles?) of rice with some vinegar like stuff to keep it in shape ... with a piece of seaweed on it. Seaweed is so delicious.
(Photo: Moi) Look how cute they are.






Okonomiyaki I've mentioned this one a few times. It is simply the best food that can possibly exist. Ever. They say that they are Japanese pancakes, but they really aren't. It's some kind of batter with lettuce and pork or whatever you have laying around the fridge smothered in this fantastic sauce.
(Photo: Moi) SO DELICIOUS.

Dango The little weird ball things in the photo (not the tea, obviously). It is like ... really sweet. Some kind of mochi. I wasn't very fond of them at first but now they are like candy to me. Very sticky and I can never figure out how to eat the lowest one on the stick ... e_e
(Photo: Moi)



Mochi It is like pounded rice that makes this gooey, sweet ... thing. They eat it every full moon and during New Year's (or whenever ... I had them last full moon with my host mom then a strawberry one after pottery with the ladies who come every weekend). Sometimes they have bean paste in them, which is somehow sweet and I don't think I fully understand the concept of beans being sweet.
(Photo: http://justjennrecipes.com/mochi-filled-with-nutella/2011/01/27/ omg Nutella Mochi?! Mochi is already sweet as it is!)

And well, I've had many other foods here, but for now I have to head to dinner to eat something. Maybe I will write another post this week before next week's update!

~Until Next Time