"I will sit in front of you for 4 hours. As long as you don't talk to me."
Cori is the only student in her Comparative Religions class, as in she sits in front of the teacher and he lectures -- at her -- for four hours. Naturally, a college student doesn't have the ability to focus for that long, and she actually ZONED OUT only to realize that he had asked her a question and was waiting for the answer.
Just outside the south gate, on Mitaka's main street, there are two ramen shops side by side sending the steamy smell of oily brother wafting down across the sidewalk, momentarily filling the air as we shoot by on our bikes.
Today I got upset when the dictionary.com translator wouldn't translate Icelandic to English.
"You can lie in class, but you have to live with the reputation." ~Ichikawa sensei
"I'm a black person." ~ Z
I think that I made progress in Japanese language today: I found that my roommates and other people from Global House would often speak to me in Japanese and I would completely understand and respond in English. That's a step in the right direction, right? I'm a little hesitant about responding in Japanese because so far I've only learned formal Japanese and it sounds kind of stupid. But tomorrow in class we'll learn short form so hopefully I'll be able to start using it soon.
10/5/08
"Sorry, I'll give the book back as soon as I can."
"I can't read your apologies at night before I go to bed!"
~Me and Erykha
"I wanna be a ... ペンギン。” (penguin, with Japanese accent)
~Cory
"I feel like we're foreign."
~Eyrun in Shibuya
What the hell is Tokyo Tower? Is it really a copy of the Eiffel Tower? Does it have a function? Are Japanese people proud of it? How does it relate to Western culture?
10/6/08
Eyrun told me all about her culture's (Iceland's) belief in fairies while we were studying last week. They lure people into large rocks, so the government actually builds roads around rocks rather than moving them.
"Never follow a fairy into a rock."
She also said that Santa Clause's mother eats children? And her cat too.
Japan is such a homogeneous, group-oriented society that there are countless grammar structures based solely on asking for agreement. Even giving information in Japanese should be followed by "でしょう” or "I think" (whether you're sure or not) in order to lighten the blow of one person knowing more than another.
I'm thinking about writing really formal looking letters to my family in Japanese and including a dramatic translation that has nothing to do with the actual content.
10/10/08
The natives can take pictures of the gaijin!
I started a bucket list last night. It includes so far:
random long-distance bike ride
live in France more than one year
Visit New York
Visit Iceland
Visit Rome +
Learn 5 languages by 30 (at least advanced level)
Finish 'Running' (old story from high school)
The kanji for medicine is in two parts; the symbol for gross and the symbol for fun. o_0
Z dropped a paperclip down her shirt in the middle of class one day and she quite discretely laughed about it and fished it out. I mean seriously, we were sitting in a circle and I was the only one who noticed. Kudos to Z.
The same day as the paperclip incident (I think), I was pretty giddy so as the teacher went around the room showing the class the kanji on her chapstick, I pulled mine our and showed it off to Z who oohed and aahed.
ーせんとうからかえってからごはんを食べます。
lit: bath from returning after food eat
<-----You read it this way in English! <---
I read an article back home arguing that English and Japanese grammar were complete opposites. This amazes me, especially now that I can completely see it!
Tuesday, September 30, 2008
Wednesday, September 17, 2008
Japan Stories
Stories I've recorded the past two weeks of living in Japan.
9/10/08
One of Tyler's roommates keeps falling asleep in Tyler's bed. Tyler says they're just talking, then they wander into his room, still talking. Then Ko lays down and covers up, still talking. Then they stop talking for a second and when Tyler turns around, Ko is fast asleep. So Tyler turns off the light, locks the door, and leaves like he's not even there.
There is a legendary dog statue in Shibuya. Apparently about 70 or 80 years ago, a man's dog used to wait for him there every day after work, and when the man died, the dog continued to wait. So they built a statue in the station to commemorate the dog.
In contrast to Tyler's roommate, Erik (a classmate) gets no sleep! He lives in a men's dorm (which has no private rooms or air conditioning) and he's busy all day and can't go to sleep until his roommate does, usually around 2 a.m. He says he sometimes naps during the day, but only sleep for about four hours a night. I'm so lucky to have my own room!
Zee is Italian, has been in Italy all her life save for one years in Chicago for college, and because her mother and aunt are American and helped raise her and spoke English to her, she has a nearly flawless American accent. it's disconcerting when she says she's Italian and she sounds so American, or at least it was at first. I think I'm getting used to it now.
For the first time today, I sat with friends in Japan and laughed and mad stupid jokes and was completely at home. I can't believe I've only know these people for 9 days! We get along like we've known each other forever.
9/14/08
Erykah, Eyrun, and I ended up at a shrine festival yesterday when we were visiting Kichijouji. it was amazing; I'd seen shrine festivals in anime and manga, full of food and half the people in traditional clothing, but seeing it come to life was almost a shock. We even had some of the food and it was different. one thing we had was pretty much grilled bread with BBQ sauce.
A bunch of us went out for an Italian restaurant for dinner Friday night and Dominique next to me said something of which I only picked out the words "librarian" and "cute." Now the librarian at our school is cute, so I quietly agreed and Dom was confused so I was confused until finally I realized that she'd said his daughter was cute, because he was at the table right next to us. We had a laugh, (all this time I think he knew that we knew him because he kept his face turned away -- he's shy about his English) and we talked about something else, until Cori, across from us, who was apparently the only one at the table who didn't get the whole conversation, blurted out loudly, "So you think the librarian's cute?" And then everyone starts laughing as quietly as possible and Dom, red in the face, whispers, "No, I said his daughter is cute!" And we all try to gesture to his table until she realizes what she did and she starts laughing and gets red too. he left soon after that and I never saw his face even halfway turn toward us.
We had our first official dorm meeting today, and since two thirds of the students are Japanese and most of the remainder speak Japanese, much of the discussion was in Japanese. They translated everything they could, but when students started asking questions and arguing, there was no time to translate what was going on. So there were long stretches when maybe 15 or 20 of us couldn't follow. One OYR, a Middle-Eastern students who I don't know well, stood and asked that all discussion be conducted in English. There was an awkward silence and then the people in the front row explained to the leaders that he had requested more translation (they couldn't understand him for his accent) and the leaders sort of whispered amongst themselves about it and the whole thing felt really awkward. But then it seemed ok, because the leaders genuinely accept his concern, and there actually was more translation for the rest of the night. I look forward to spring, when we'll all know enough Japanese to ignore English.
9/15/08
"No offense, Eyrun, but Spanish poeple are dicks."
Z told us a story today about a friend whose boyfriend followed he to England (from Italy), and it was really romantic at first but then they got into a fight and he kept following her and they ended up arguing in the rain and finally he says, "You know what your problem is? You like me. But I love you." Apparently they started making out soon afterward. ^_^
9/16/08
I found out today that the microwave in my kitchen is also an oven, a boiler, and an ice cream maker. An ice cream maker.
On Friday during writing class, the teacher asked Cory to read the directions, which were in English. It was weird. We're so used to reading Japanese. He kept messing up.
Eyrun is the only person in this whole school who is from Iceland. She whispered something to herself in Icelandic, and it shocked her -- she isn't used to hearing it anymore.
9/17/08
Last week I had a cool moment; a Japanese girl and I bumbed into each other and at the same time she said "I'm sorry," I said "Sumimasen."
Today we had our bakayama performance, which went well. Afterward, our 'cool' teacher, Komatsu-sensei, told us about when she was a student at ICU. She had bright pink hair, loads of earrings, and always dressed punk. When she returned to teach, her former teachers didn't even recognize her! She told us that she once burned down the bakayama! She and a friend built an igloo there and doused it in water, freezing it solid. It wouldn't melt, so campus police were getting angry and were going to smash it in with axes. Komatsu wanted to do it herself, but they decided it was too much work to smash it. So they filled it with newspaper and set it on fire. The fire spread through all the grass! The campus police started to come -- they could hear the siren -- so they both ran! No one ever kew it was her, and she made us swear not to tell anyone. She used a mixture of Japanese and English when she was talking, and it was very cool.
I had just finished telling a story today at a Ramen place when Z said I had a really good American accent. She said it was clear and easy to understand and that I enunciated well. I was kind of shocked at first. It's something I've never heard before. But it made me happy.
Tyler didn't get much sleep last night because Ko fell asleep at the end of his bed. So Tyler had to curl up at the head of it.
9/10/08
One of Tyler's roommates keeps falling asleep in Tyler's bed. Tyler says they're just talking, then they wander into his room, still talking. Then Ko lays down and covers up, still talking. Then they stop talking for a second and when Tyler turns around, Ko is fast asleep. So Tyler turns off the light, locks the door, and leaves like he's not even there.
There is a legendary dog statue in Shibuya. Apparently about 70 or 80 years ago, a man's dog used to wait for him there every day after work, and when the man died, the dog continued to wait. So they built a statue in the station to commemorate the dog.
In contrast to Tyler's roommate, Erik (a classmate) gets no sleep! He lives in a men's dorm (which has no private rooms or air conditioning) and he's busy all day and can't go to sleep until his roommate does, usually around 2 a.m. He says he sometimes naps during the day, but only sleep for about four hours a night. I'm so lucky to have my own room!
Zee is Italian, has been in Italy all her life save for one years in Chicago for college, and because her mother and aunt are American and helped raise her and spoke English to her, she has a nearly flawless American accent. it's disconcerting when she says she's Italian and she sounds so American, or at least it was at first. I think I'm getting used to it now.
For the first time today, I sat with friends in Japan and laughed and mad stupid jokes and was completely at home. I can't believe I've only know these people for 9 days! We get along like we've known each other forever.
9/14/08
Erykah, Eyrun, and I ended up at a shrine festival yesterday when we were visiting Kichijouji. it was amazing; I'd seen shrine festivals in anime and manga, full of food and half the people in traditional clothing, but seeing it come to life was almost a shock. We even had some of the food and it was different. one thing we had was pretty much grilled bread with BBQ sauce.
A bunch of us went out for an Italian restaurant for dinner Friday night and Dominique next to me said something of which I only picked out the words "librarian" and "cute." Now the librarian at our school is cute, so I quietly agreed and Dom was confused so I was confused until finally I realized that she'd said his daughter was cute, because he was at the table right next to us. We had a laugh, (all this time I think he knew that we knew him because he kept his face turned away -- he's shy about his English) and we talked about something else, until Cori, across from us, who was apparently the only one at the table who didn't get the whole conversation, blurted out loudly, "So you think the librarian's cute?" And then everyone starts laughing as quietly as possible and Dom, red in the face, whispers, "No, I said his daughter is cute!" And we all try to gesture to his table until she realizes what she did and she starts laughing and gets red too. he left soon after that and I never saw his face even halfway turn toward us.
We had our first official dorm meeting today, and since two thirds of the students are Japanese and most of the remainder speak Japanese, much of the discussion was in Japanese. They translated everything they could, but when students started asking questions and arguing, there was no time to translate what was going on. So there were long stretches when maybe 15 or 20 of us couldn't follow. One OYR, a Middle-Eastern students who I don't know well, stood and asked that all discussion be conducted in English. There was an awkward silence and then the people in the front row explained to the leaders that he had requested more translation (they couldn't understand him for his accent) and the leaders sort of whispered amongst themselves about it and the whole thing felt really awkward. But then it seemed ok, because the leaders genuinely accept his concern, and there actually was more translation for the rest of the night. I look forward to spring, when we'll all know enough Japanese to ignore English.
9/15/08
"No offense, Eyrun, but Spanish poeple are dicks."
Z told us a story today about a friend whose boyfriend followed he to England (from Italy), and it was really romantic at first but then they got into a fight and he kept following her and they ended up arguing in the rain and finally he says, "You know what your problem is? You like me. But I love you." Apparently they started making out soon afterward. ^_^
9/16/08
I found out today that the microwave in my kitchen is also an oven, a boiler, and an ice cream maker. An ice cream maker.
On Friday during writing class, the teacher asked Cory to read the directions, which were in English. It was weird. We're so used to reading Japanese. He kept messing up.
Eyrun is the only person in this whole school who is from Iceland. She whispered something to herself in Icelandic, and it shocked her -- she isn't used to hearing it anymore.
9/17/08
Last week I had a cool moment; a Japanese girl and I bumbed into each other and at the same time she said "I'm sorry," I said "Sumimasen."
Today we had our bakayama performance, which went well. Afterward, our 'cool' teacher, Komatsu-sensei, told us about when she was a student at ICU. She had bright pink hair, loads of earrings, and always dressed punk. When she returned to teach, her former teachers didn't even recognize her! She told us that she once burned down the bakayama! She and a friend built an igloo there and doused it in water, freezing it solid. It wouldn't melt, so campus police were getting angry and were going to smash it in with axes. Komatsu wanted to do it herself, but they decided it was too much work to smash it. So they filled it with newspaper and set it on fire. The fire spread through all the grass! The campus police started to come -- they could hear the siren -- so they both ran! No one ever kew it was her, and she made us swear not to tell anyone. She used a mixture of Japanese and English when she was talking, and it was very cool.
I had just finished telling a story today at a Ramen place when Z said I had a really good American accent. She said it was clear and easy to understand and that I enunciated well. I was kind of shocked at first. It's something I've never heard before. But it made me happy.
Tyler didn't get much sleep last night because Ko fell asleep at the end of his bed. So Tyler had to curl up at the head of it.
Friday, September 05, 2008
Global House
So I've been in my new dorm, Global House, at ICU in Tokyo Japan for five days. But it seems more like a month. Classes haven't even started yet, and already I feel like I've been here an entire semester. The week was filled with orientations and orientations and introductions for every part of the campus and lifestyle and programs and clubs and the dorm has meetings every day or twice a day and we're working on an initiation project involving mummy wrap and dancing on a hill during lunchtime for the other students. It's...fast-paced. Add to all of this that I know enough Japanese to introduce myself and talk about the weather, and it's been quite a week. Or five days.
And the thing I find the most annoying is that whenever I send a message or e-mail to someone in the US, I still keep expecting them to reply right away. Time after time, I forget the time difference (^_^), which is 13 hours, which means that right now it's almost 7 p.m. here but 6 a.m. in Michigan. No one will reply to my e-mail!
I have so many friends already; all of the members of Global House tend to stick together, especially the international students. I know almost everyone's name by now (which is amazing, I'm horrible with names), plus there are two French guys who I became friends with and an American girl who went to my home university who I've been hanging out with, so I always have someone to talk to and to do things with! It's weird, because there's so much to do and I'm so used to being bored and doing nothing all day after a summer of idling. The dorm has parties every night!
I already have a Japanese bike, cell phone, and bank account. It just doesn't really seem real...but now it seems so natural. Classes start on Monday and I'm taking an intensive Japanese course; it lasts 6 hours a day, five days a week! I'll improve quickly! A lot of the material, though, is for beginners, so I don't think I'll be too bogged down by material, at least not at first.
So...this is crazy.
And the thing I find the most annoying is that whenever I send a message or e-mail to someone in the US, I still keep expecting them to reply right away. Time after time, I forget the time difference (^_^), which is 13 hours, which means that right now it's almost 7 p.m. here but 6 a.m. in Michigan. No one will reply to my e-mail!
I have so many friends already; all of the members of Global House tend to stick together, especially the international students. I know almost everyone's name by now (which is amazing, I'm horrible with names), plus there are two French guys who I became friends with and an American girl who went to my home university who I've been hanging out with, so I always have someone to talk to and to do things with! It's weird, because there's so much to do and I'm so used to being bored and doing nothing all day after a summer of idling. The dorm has parties every night!
I already have a Japanese bike, cell phone, and bank account. It just doesn't really seem real...but now it seems so natural. Classes start on Monday and I'm taking an intensive Japanese course; it lasts 6 hours a day, five days a week! I'll improve quickly! A lot of the material, though, is for beginners, so I don't think I'll be too bogged down by material, at least not at first.
So...this is crazy.
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