Some of you may be wondering how my trip is going, seeing as I haven't really been uploading blog posts very often. Or at all. For a whole month. Well, I would like to make up for that with this post! Here's an interview with yours truly:
Q. I hear you've been in Japan for just under two months now. That should be enough time to really get into the groove of things and experience what it's like to live there, right? So, tell me, how is Japan so far? A. Amazing. Q. Amazing indeed. I'm sure any study abroad would probably be that way, but I'm glad to hear that it is suiting you well. With that being said, I've also heard that you are taking a full class load, fuller than what is recommended, and on top of that are participating in an Intensive Japanese course that is famous for breaking souls. Are you actually able to find time to enjoy yourself? A. Yes. Q. That is very heartening. I was worried that you were running yourself ragged without any breaks. Of course, I didn't even mention that you seem to have joined some clubs. That's also taking up a lot of your time I suppose! How many did you say you joined, again? A. Four. Q. That's right! It was Softball, Wandervogel, Shamisen, and Koto. I remember now. That's quite a mouthful isn't it!? Which one is your favorite do you think? A. No comment. Q. Not a very talkative person, are you? Well that's okay. I will break you! Let's get down to the nitty-gritty shall we? I'd like to hear more details about your typical day. How much time do you spend talking in Japanese? Answer in three words or less. I dare you. A. Around 5 hours. Q. Dang. Three words exactly. Well, I suppose that probably varies day by day. With Intensive Japanese requiring about 3 hours of only speaking in Japanese, along with the clubs you've joined primarily using Japanese, and including your Japanese roommates and dorm mates in general tending to use Japanese, it is probably more accurate to say that it varies depending on the day, don't you think? A. Well, as an interviewer, I think you are probably the worst. You dare me to use three words on a question like that and then criticize my answer.... Honestly, what do you want from me? If you don't want one word answers, ask better questions! ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- And that is where I'll have to end the interview. I can't very well get into a heated argument with myself and still claim to be sane. Minor kerfuffles only please! In all seriousness though, I am having the time of my life. Every day I feel blessed to be here. I love talking with the people here. I love challenging myself to talk in Japanese as much as possible. And there are so many moments where I can appreciate just being blissfully happy. I especially enjoy the moments that I spend talking with the various people in my clubs. It's always fun to find out the cultural differences through chats about holidays, movies, dating, etc. It's even more fun to mix my patched together Japanese and a type of onomatopoeia charades together and attempt to convey my own culture. If I had to choose one bad thing about being here, I would say that I miss my friends and family that I left in Ohio. Social media and such is good for communicating in some ways, but it can't help the fact that I can't hug my mom. I can't watch movies and play softball with my dad. I can't talk truly face to face with any of my friends and family. If I was at Ohio State, would I be doing any of these (besides talking face to face with my friends at OSU)? No. No I wouldn't. But that doesn't change the ache that I feel. To truly understand, let me use an analogy. It's like sharing a bedroom and sleeping in the top bunk of the bunk bed. You climb up ever so carefully, not making any noise or shaking the bed and waking the person below you, and just when you've found the perfect spot to sleep, you realize you need to go to the bathroom. Had you stayed sitting at your desk and doing your homework, you wouldn't need to go at all, but knowing that you can't go without putting in supreme efforts really changes your outlook. It makes going to the bathroom before going to bed just that much more important. And that is what it's like to live on the opposite side of the world from your loved ones. If you know they are right there, then you won't miss them too much. Social media is more than enough to satisfy most of your interacting needs. But, being so far away your sleeping and waking times are switched.... Well, now I feel pretty lonely in the fact that I can't see them. Thankfully I have made friends in my classes, dorm, and 4 clubs so I can't feel truly lonely! Other than that though, there is nothing I truly miss! Except for the American style breakfast. Because my cooking skills really just can't cut it and it isn't served anywhere that I've found so far. With these two exceptions, everything else is great. I'm so happy that I was chosen to attend ICU. I can't imagine a more perfect school for me to be studying at in Japan.
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In Japan, middle schools, high schools, and colleges all typically have what's called a school festival. Basically it's a day, or possibly two, where all of the classes (MS, HS only) and clubs put together fun games, cafes, haunted houses, food to sell, etc. to make money for the year. It's also a great way to have fun and advertise your school at the same time. ICU is no different! This weekend just happens to be the ICU festival. For the students of ICU, this means lots of big responsibilities, time commitments, effort, and is in general a royal pain, but in the end I think it's probably fun and worth the stress. At least, for someone like me who is getting the chance to experience her first school festival, I think it is well worth the effort. I absolutely love it. The school has been decorated with fun gates and signs everywhere and there are tons of booths full of clubs hawking their wares. The performance clubs are all holding concerts and collecting funds through ticket sales and there are still plenty of others that have taken over a classroom and set up displays or themed cafes. It's quite the fun experience! For me specifically, I am super busy as per usual. In between my various performances and duties I've had the chance to walk around for a few minutes and enjoy, but honestly, I almost enjoy working the festival more than walking it. I also must apologize in advance. I cannot show you many pictures of what the ICU festival looked like because there is, in fact, a typhoon approaching Japan at this very minute. While enjoying myself in the downpour, dodging puddles and playing bumper umbrellas with the throngs of people, I didn't have the desire to take out my phone and take pictures. You'll just have to make do with the videos from my performances and my descriptions. I dare you to find me in this performance. It's pretty hard right?!?
My first act as an ICU festival participant was to perform a piece on the Shamisen. It was apparently not required that you memorize it, but I didn't figure that out until I was actually "on stage" and someone had brought their music with them... It wasn't for lack of trying though! It's just that, as you may have noticed, I am the only foreigner in this club. Between other club members not knowing if bringing music is allowed, and the language barrier that is bound to happen with detailed explanations with musical jargon, I was unable to ascertain the truth until it was directly in front of me. Had I brought the music, I may not have messed up as much, but even with the slight forgetfulness I experienced at times, I'm actually pretty happy with my performance. I'm really looking forward to the next one in December because I will actually get to wear the traditional Japanese clothing called the Kimono! To get an idea of what that is if you don't already, the singers and the upperclassman on the left were wearing them! After the performance I had a short break where I ate some food and then I went to work at the Wandervogel (hiking/rock climbing) Club's game. I unfortunately don't have a video of this, but basically we played rock climbing air hockey. By projecting a puck onto a rock wall and using an XBOX Kinect to sense where two peoples' hands and feet were, you got to play air hockey while climbing. It's super fun, even though the technology was somewhat glitchy. I didn't actually help much, because again language barriers and there were already quite a few club members taking over the jobs, but I like to think that I gave them good old American moral support. And I made use of the fact that I was in the club to be able to play for free. But I was definitely not there with ulterior motives... Once I finished my "harrowing" hour long shift, I wandered the festival in the rain and hodge-podged some festival food into a lunch of sorts. I also visited my friend at his Ballroom Dancing cafe which was very enjoyable. Basically, you pay 300 yen (a little under $3) and you get a drink, snacks, a fifteen minute-ish dance performace, and a chance to learn some of the moves with the dancers afterward. Here's what some of the performances looked like:
The Disney theme was amazing, the dancing was fun, and I had a great time dancing with my friend afterward. It was a 300 yen well spent! Next up on day one of the ICU fest was my koto performance. We performed Sakura at the koto cafe and I did much better than when I was playing the Shamisen. This is namely because this song is the equivalent of an intense "Hot Cross Buns" for possibly all traditional Japanese instruments. It was the first thing we learned how to play on the koto, and it was the first for the Shamisen as well.
And there you have it! My first day at the festival. The second day would have started off with making and selling chocolate bananas with the softball club, but due to the typhoon not only was the tent area starting to flood a bit, but for fear of the tents caving in under the torrential rain, the outdoor portion of the festival was cancelled. Instead, I chatted with some of the softball team members, gave some more moral support to the Wandervogel Club, had another koto performance, ate some Otonomiyaki since the outdoor festival was cancelled and my roommate had a ridiculous amount leftover, and helped close up the gym with the Wandervogel Club after the festival was finished. If you can imagine, I'm beat! I also did no homework over the past weekend so I'm feeling quite overwhelmed. And, to deal with that, I am writing this blog post. Thankfully, the staff of ICU must understand that we students truly have our priorities straight, and to congratulate us on our good choices, have deigned to give us the morning off on the Monday after the festival. Thank you ICU staff! You are extremely kind and magnanimous!
All in all, it was a fantastic weekend. And it was such a Japan weekend. It's really one of those things that you need to experience once when here! |
AuthorThe name's Sarah. From September, 2017 to June, 2018 I will be your guide through life as an exchange student in Tokyo. (Some guide I am. It's like I just left you in the middle of nowhere so that I could go off on my own adventures!) Archives
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