すごい！

So because I don't have constant internet access here (which is absolutely wonderful) I will be writing offline and then posting when I am able to. I will post the dates above the entries. It's basically gonna be journal style.

8/20/2013

Four days have gone by already and it doesn't seem like any have past. It’s incredible. Even though it’s only been that short amount of time, I think my Japanese is improving slightly.

Today I meet Okita-san in person. I emailed with him before coming to Japan. He and his wife (Hiroko-san) gave up a whole day to spend with me. First, they took me out to an udon noodle restaurant. It was oishi (delicious)! They were served in a broth with leeks and a piece of deep-fried shrimp. Next, we drove to Osaka harbor where the Osaka aquarium is located.

 This was our primary destination and we spent most of the afternoon wandering through it. I don’t know that I've ever been in an aquarium with such active animals. It was fantastic! The otters were wiggling, the sea lions were diving, the capybara was capybara-ing, and the jellyfish were jelly-ing. The aquarium’s main exhibit was based on the “Ring of Fire” around the Pacific Ocean. The main attraction was a 5,000+ ton tank in the center in which live giant stingrays, groupers, several shark species, and many other fish.

 Although that may sound rather normal for a tank (minus the fact that it’s 5,000+ tons of water), there was one species of shark that you would not find in your normal aquarium tank. The Osaka aquarium manages to house not one, but two wale sharks. Holy. Cow. They’re so cool!!!! I’ve never seen such a large fish before. The best part was that we were there for whale shark feeding time. I knew that they sucked in water and filtered it, but to see the quantity that they pull in is astonishing. I thought the divers arm would be sucked off!

If going to an aquarium weren't big enough treat, Okita-san and Hiroko-san also brought me to see Osaka Jyou (Osaka Castle).

 This relic was built over 400 years ago and has survived a couple wars. It’s an incredible building. It once was used for city purposes such as housing the police department, but now the entire complex is a city park. Complete with two moats and one-foot thick metal gates, I can’t see how it could be penetrated with today’s technology. It was phenomenal to read all the extensive history behind it and I wish that I could spew it all onto this page. Unfortunately, the lineage and wars between families is so complex that there’s no way I could remember most of it. If you’re ever in Osaka, I would highly recommend it as a place to visit.

So many things are different here from the US. The only way that I think that I can make it clear just how different it is, is to make a list. I may or may not have stolen this idea from Mari Arneson (RYE Germany).

1.       Roadways

a.       Driver sits on the right side of the car (unless it is an American car. Then they sit on the left). I jumped when I first noticed this.

b.      Automobiles drive on the left side of the road. This scared me more than a.

c.       Seatbelts aren't mandatory in the back seats. This means that the kids clamber all over the place. My little brother sits on my lap every time we go somewhere.

d.      The road is about 1/8 to ½ the size it is in the US. This also goes for car size.

e.      Lines are painted but they seem to be only suggestions. If everyone followed them precisely, there would be pile-ups everywhere.

f.        Telephone poles are made of concrete as opposed to a long log.

2.       Dining

a.       Chopsticks. Best invention ever. You can throw away that knife and fork now.

b.      If you leave a little bit of food, you will stop getting food. Very useful when you don’t know the language well and need to communicate that you are full.

c.       Food is continuously thrown at you. Maybe not literally, but it is offered so many times that it’s hard to tell what to do with it.

d.      Dining is a leisurely activity and it seems to be a time of contemplation. This is a bit of a change for me, especially after my canoe trip where you want to eat as much as possible as fast as possible in order to get more food.

e.      So many noodles!!!

3.       Personal Care

a.       The bathroom and the toilet are separate rooms.

b.      The bath and the shower are separate but in the same room.

c.       Toilets have a bidet built in. At least I think that’s what it is. I’m just getting that from the pictures that are on the control panel. It’s all in Japanese so I actually don’t have any idea.

4.       Interaction

a.       I don’t think I've ever bowed to anyone in my life before. That fact has now been changed as handshakes have been replaced with bowing. It happens in any kind of interaction with anyone else and is a sign of respect.

b.      I haven’t seen any sort of argument yet. Everyone is very patient with one another and keeps their voice very low.

5.       Living

a.       When you enter each house, you take off your shoes and put on a pair of slippers.

b.      The floors are either wooden or mad of tatami mats.

c.       Wall openings are covered with sliding doors as opposed to being hinged. They are also made of a thin layer of paper that is bordered and strengthened by a wood frame.

This list could go on and on but I will stop there so you all are not bored with a meaningless list. I would like to state that the reason I am stating all of this differences is not to make fun of or look down upon Japanese society. It is merely to show what differences there are between the cultures in the U.S. and Japan.

8/21/2013

I met Masahide Michimoto-san in person today. Like Okita-san, I emailed with him before arriving in Japan. He took me to a large city garden called Tondabayashi Savor Farm (Tondabayashi being the city the garden is located in).

 It was a cool set up. We paid ¥600 ($6) to enter into the entire place and then we were allowed into an enclosure with grape wines. We got to eat as many grapes as we wanted but we were only allowed to leave with two bunches.

 We each had 3-4 bunches and then went to a Japanese barbecue-style restaurant inside the farm. The way a Japanese barbecue works is that you get a plate full of meats and vegetables and then you grill them yourself on a tiny grill in the middle of the table you are sitting at. It was awesome. We had tako (octopus), ika (squid), carrots, potatoes, peppers, beef, and onions. We finished off our meal with soft-serve ice cream that’s the farms specialty: grape flavoring right from the field. It was delicious!

Next, we drove to 岩湧の森, a park in Kawachinagano that has a mountain as the centerpiece. We parked and hiked up to the visitor center. From there we could see all of Kawachinagano. We then went up to a lookout point only 30 minutes from the visitor center. The climb was hard and very steep but rewarding. We could see all the way to Osaka proper and part of Kobe to the west. To the north we could see where Kyoto lies.

 The park was incredible. All of the paths had very well built stairs of concrete and there were large rocks in place to hold everything together. It was an incredible feat.

Afterwards, Michimoto-san treated me to a soba noodle dinner, one of his favorite meals. While we ate, he taught me various useful Japanese phrases.

These last few days have been very tiring but rewarding. I am greatly looking forward to getting a better grasp on the language and having more in-depth conversations. It is very frustrating to not be able to communicate fully and efficiently.