Anyone want to guess what it means? If I didn't know Japanese, I would have absolutely no clue. Heck, ask me a month ago, and I still wouldn't have been able to tell you! (And I have been studying Japanese for two and a half years now.) Just goes to show you how important Japanese teachers think the dentist is I guess. I haven't been keeping up my end of blogging... I originally said I wanted to blog every day, but we all know how that ended up! In the end I won't blame myself. Blame it on having nothing to write. But! Today I went to the dentist! It's the most exciting thing I have done in a while! Lately all I have been doing is trying out meditation with a real Buddhist monk, learning about education by observing a Japanese elementary school class, hiking in the various mountain ranges around Tokyo, learning to play the Shamisen and Koto, somehow managing to go to class despite all of this other stuff, and going grocery shopping. Lots of grocery shopping. Because I finally learned how to make food for myself. I mean, look at this masterpiece! So yep. The most exciting thing in my life right now is going to the dentist! I'm sorry I can't bring any more fun info from Japan! I know I am most of my readers most realistic and reliable source for information on everything important going on in Japan. But there's truly nothing to report up until now! Anyway, without further ado, I present to you: My Trip to the Japanese Dentist OfficeFirst of all, let me start off by telling you that the dentist is the dentist, even in a foreign country. My cavities have become "tooth bugs" but in the end, it's just clean, polish, spit, and pray there are none. (Which there weren't of course!) On the other hand, I would say that's pretty much the end of similarities. You still have to fill in paperwork when you first go in, but the manner of the staff and even the set up of the office is completely different!
When I was waiting to be taken back, the dentist told me, "Just a check up and cleaning, right? Don't be scared! It won't hurt!" (Because I went to an office that has an English speaking dentist, this was said in English) Can you imagine it? A dentist telling a 21-year-old girl not to be afraid of having her teeth cleaned? I can't, and I was there. I was so touched, I didn't even have time to be flabbergasted. Next, when it was time to head back to go through my scary ordeal, I had to take off my shoes. I'm assuming many of you know that you have to remove your shoes before going into someone's house in Japan, but I wasn't expecting it at the dentist's! They also provide plastic slippers for you to walk around in. Makes the trip feel kind of homey in a way! Padding past the reception desk in my slippers, I couldn't believe my eyes! True, usually dentist's offices don't really have their own rooms for patients, but this office didn't even have the cubby-like areas for the chairs. Everything was just out in the open! Mine in particular was right next to a door leading to who knows where, but people were going in and out of there during the cleaning process. I would say that makes me worry that it could cause a distraction and the dentist could end up hurting me with the dental scalar, but even that was different! It's hard to imagine it being as effective as the metal scraper that American's use, but all they use here is a high pressure water squirter! The even weirder thing was that it felt similar to when the dentists in the US use the metal apparatus to scrape at my teeth. It makes me wonder just how strong that water stream is? It's at least strong enough that before starting the dentist puts a towel on you, on top of the typical paper bib, while also giving you a pair of protective eye wear. It's like science class all over again, except that they give you the fancy plastic glasses instead of the clunky goggles. After the intense spray down is the relaxed spray down. Instead of having a sprayer that looks like the typical scraper, the next sprayer looks just like the typical polishing brush, but this one also sprays water! So, to recap, first scrape with water, then rub with water. I started to get excited thinking I might be able to save money on toothpaste! But then the next step is to polish, so I figured maybe a dollar every three months is worth it to get rid of morning breath. The polish came out of a normal toothpaste looking tube, and the dentist's assistant (who actually did everything in this transaction) put it on her glove, kind of like those make-up artists who test the color of the make-up by applying it to their hand first. Then, using an assumedly normal brush, she polished my teeth. Finally, using a mini-marshmallow size cotton ball, they rubbed a weaker version of fluoride on my teeth. The dentist also stressed not eating or drinking for the next 20 minutes. And that's how it happened. While the dentist's assistant was cleaning my teeth, just after starting each process she would stop and ask me if it hurt and if I was okay. Also, before cleaning any of my teeth, she would announce in which part of my mouth she would be working in with detail. Front of the bottom teeth, back of the top teeth, etc. She was super gentle and extremely nice. She even answered all of my weird questions. For my mom's sake, I wanted to get a Japanese dentist's take on wisdom teeth. They said as long as there is no inflammation or visible problems with the other teeth, the there they won't remove the wisdom teeth even if they aren't growing in! No unnecessary surgery, mom! Also, it seems that unless you have a cavity or something wrong with your teeth, then they won't do the X-Ray, though I didn't interrogate them enough to know this for sure. And that was it! All the details about the Japanese dentist that no one really cared to know! Please enjoy these weirdly in English but great pictures that they had hanging in the reception area. I know I did.
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I've always wanted to consider myself spontaneous, and now I finally can! As Fall Break was approaching and exam season was roaring it's ugly head, I decided that I was going to go to Korea! No, not North Korea. Why does everyone keep asking me that? South Korea! Duh! The land of KPOP and Korean Dramas. And, what's more, from the moment I decided, my departure date was set for the next week. How's that for spontaneous? It was surprisingly easy to get everything set up. Buying a place ticket, booking a hotel(?) room, finding someone to go with, everything went rather smoothly. For the last thing, all I had to do was ask a few friends if they wanted to go to Korea with me next week, and voila! I had a taker. Although the rushed planning was a bit stressful for Mia, because she was going with me, I no longer felt any worries. I knew everything would work out fine! And, of course, I am writing this from Japan after the fact. Spoiler Alert: I made it there and back without dying. It is amazingly cheap to be able to fly to Seoul, South Korea from Tokyo, Japan. It didn't even cost me $200 for a 5 day trip. The hotel(?) was even more amazing! For 4 nights for 2 people it was even cheaper than the flight! Mia and I each spent only about $80! Pretty awesome, right? Of course, with the drop in price, there are bound to be things not so desirable. For one thing, the room at the place was TINY. Like puny. Like, half of the size of my bedroom in my dorm at ICU. There were bunk beds in it that were better than sleeping on the floor, but only just barely. The mattresses were quite solid and the pillow wasn't the typical awesome hotel pillow that you dream about before going on a vacation. It was mediocre at best. The bathroom was also small, and the whole thing doubled as a shower and apparently the water pressure was horrible! But there were good things too! The room itself was a pretty nice quality and didn't feel dirty. There was a TV and a heater/air conditioner that allowed you to control the temperature (although that did end up falling off the wall randomly). And it was a private room, just for Mia and I, with a lock and everything. Although I find it difficult to really consider it a hotel, it didn't feel like a hostel in the slightest. On the other hand, although it was cheap, the flight was great! It almost felt like the amenities on it were the same, if not better than the flight I had to Japan! Asiana gets an A+ from me! From tons of leg room, to a foot rest, to a remote for the TV on the seat, to a nice adjustable headrest, it felt completely different from my Delta flight, and any others that I've been on for that matter. Although the flight was less than 3 hours, they gave us a full meal too! It was extraordinary! The only thing lacking was that you only were allowed one bag. Whether you checked it or brought it on the flight, it was still only one. And this was an international flight! That was the only thing I found weird. Here's some pictures I took of the flight amenities :) All in all, despite having very little time to prepare, everything worked out well and I didn't have to fork over my entire wallet to do so! The spontaneity made me feel adventurous and excited, and the good results make me want to continue being so! 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! Bathroom, oh bathroom, where can you be? I've been out all day and really must pee. Hark! I've spotted it, to the right over there. I truly must hurry, there's no time to spare. Upon entering the room, I sprint to the stall, to find the porcelain throne is not there at all. Instead on the ground, what do I find? But a porcelain hole. A toilet redefined. Some people say this is better; that it's cleaner, and good posture But to me it's a pain, hard to aim, and takes longer If you manage your business without peeing on yourself Then good for you! Truly cleaner and a workout For those of you less lucky, leave the stall quickly, head to the sink But what do you find there? Just water and a mirror, which really does stink There's no soap, no paper towels, no dryers, no nothing Lesson be learned, bathrooms in stations aren't worth trusting. Thank you! I just felt like writing a poem, no matter how silly. This is one possible situation that you can find yourself in when trying to go to the bathroom in Tokyo, but I've found there is such a ridiculously huge variance between different places, that I truly don't know what to expect anymore. On campus the bathrooms usually have one squatty potty with the rest being normal toilets, some sinks, and soap. In certain buildings, they go above and beyond to give you toilets with options (like a bidet and shower functions, a de-stinkifier, flushing noises to drown out any flatulence or other unmentionable bathroom sounds, a seat warmer, a help button, and many more. Not all of these are found on every high tech toilet, and I am positive there are some features that I haven't seen yet but still exist.) and hand dryers as well. The point is, when walking into a Japanese bathroom, you really have no clue what you are getting yourself into. To be safe, I've been told to walk around with a pack of tissues JUST IN CASE they don't even have toilet paper, but I have yet to see that happen. I would however suggest carrying around a handkerchief. It is very nice to have when there are no paper towels or dryers. BTW this is a post dedicated to Paupo, my grandpa. He always told me about the bathroom in this restaurant in Ohio that had a fancy toilet, so I just wanted to let him know that in Japan, you can indeed find a treasure trove of such places. Paupo, you should visit me in Japan just for the bathrooms! I know most people may not care to see pictures of toilets and their features, but if that statement doesn't describe you, then please enjoy these pictures that I've taken in some of the bathrooms that I've encountered. There's just so many things wrong with this picture... First of all, in what world should the button to flush a toilet be next to an emergency help button? What if you are in a hurry and you don't look properly??? That almost feels like putting the "self-destruct" button next to an intercom.... Secondly, I can't possibly imagine what you would need to call for help for while sitting on the toilet. Part of me wants to press it just so I can ask the response team what sort of emergency they are expecting. Do a lot of Japanese people have heart attacks while in the bathroom or something??? Looks pretty interesting, right? Basically, face towards the the arch (on the left) and squat down with your feet on either side of it. The toilet paper can go directly into it as far as I know and then you still have to flush it just like a regular toilet. If you actually want to try one of these, which I'll admit I did want to just for kicks and giggles, then they can be found at most train stations. Sometimes, they are even the only option! I also saw them at the airport. It's a great way to stretch your legs after a long flight, don't you think!? Somehow, when a toilet comes with directions I can't help but wonder if it isn't too complicated... This was on the wall of the bathroom in my hotel room when I first came to Japan. Below is a picture of what the control panel actually looked like. They are so nice to write everything in both English and Japanese! I've seen it both ways, but even when it's in Japanese it's pretty much self-explanatory from the pictures.
Another text only post! I know you must be disappointed. But! Don't fret! My next one I'll load with pictures of my hotel room for you. Don't blame me for the suspense though, blame chronological order.
After finally making it through customs, it was pretty much a straight shot to get out of the airport. Stop to grab your luggage which is probably dizzy from revolving so many times on the conveyor, wait in another super short line to hand in some final paperwork, and then skedaddle! You are finally free to enter the country. After I was done, I walked out to see a huge crowd of people waiting for the rest of the travel weary internationals still stuck in customs. There, right in front, was Kanako who came to pick me up from the airport. She waved, I waved, and we both were probably feeling a large sense of relief at that moment. Me because I wouldn't have to traverse Japan alone for my first time, she because she had been waiting for me for over an hour with practically nothing to do. Why did Kanako come to pick me up you might be wondering? I signed up for a pick-up service through my Japanese school. Japanese students already attending school volunteer to pick up clueless foreigners like me and make sure we don't have any problems reaching our hotel/dorm/apartment during our first time in Japan. She is one such magnanimous student. Kanako was super nice and amazingly helpful! She went above and beyond her calls of duty to help me set up a delivery service for my two huge suitcases, purchase a Suica card, which is mainly used to bypass buying tickets for the trains, and, after finally dropping me off at my destination, she still kindly helped me look at my various cell phone options (more on that later). The luggage delivery service I used was called Yamato Transportation. It's an amazing service where all you have to do is bring your luggage to the counter, have it weighed, and fill out a short, simple form. Voila! Your luggage will get to your destination without any hassle on your part. For someone who can't speak or read Japanese, you might have some trouble filling in the form and communicating with the service agent, but Kanako was able to solve all these problems for me. I had my luggage delivered directly to my dorm on ICU's campus, and I even had them hold it for two days so it would get there at the same time as me. A little disclaimer though, I chose to have it delivered between 2pm and 4pm, but it got there a little before noon. I've heard that Japanese services will often run early, so if you need to be there when it's dropped off, you should plan accordingly. For me, they dropped it off at my dorm without me even realizing. I just went downstairs and found it already there. The price to hold and deliver my two huge suitcases (35lbs, 49lbs) was around $35. I highly recommend trying this if you want a hassle free adventure. The only downside might be that if you need the stuff in the baggage, you might not be able to get it the same day. For Tokyo, it will probably arrive the day after, and for other cities it could take up to three days. After removing my heavy burdens, Kanako brought me over to a representative to purchase a Suica card. I spent 2000 yen, or just under $20, to get one. This put over 1000 yen onto my card for travel purposes, the rest was the card deposit and handling fees. If you decide to return it, whatever money you have left on the card, plus the ~$3 deposit, will be returned to you. When traveling in Tokyo, in order to ride the trains, merely swipe this card at one of the gates to get into the train station instead of buying a ticket. When you get to your destination, you will swipe it again, and the costs of the trains you rode will automatically be deducted from it. Super convenient, right? The Suica can also be used for buses, arcades, in some stores/restaurants, transportation in other big cities, etc. So, if you don't like keeping lots money with you, it could truly be a life saver. I thought about exchanging money at the airport as well because it was convenient and the rates are probably better than wherever you might exchange in the US, but I decided to exchange with Ninja Money Exchange in Akihabara instead. Their rates are pretty good and there isn't an exchange fee, the only downside is that it's slightly difficult to locate. When I get to the part where I traveled to Akihabara in a later post, I will give you more info on how to find it. Until then, you should once again blame chronological order. (Feel free to message me if for some odd reason, you need this information before I post it. I will be happy to give a spoiler.) So, when everything was finally in order, Kanako and I left on the trains together. I believe we took the Airport Monorail over to another station, then boarded the Yamanote Line, and finally exchanged it for the Chuo Line before finally reaching Musashisakai, but I must confess I wasn't paying close attention. I was too busy looking around and talking with my first Japanese friend. The whole trip probably took somewhere between 40 minutes and an hour. All in all, it went super smoothly. I think that's why the world wanted to give me trouble elsewhere, namely with my phone. You can look forward to hearing about that fiasco! I am sorry for all those who only come here for the pictures. For this leg of my journey, I didn't actually take any... For my more erudite readers, you may continue on!
When I first got off the plane, I didn't really notice much of a difference. I don't know if I was expecting a voice to say, "You've made it! The country you've always been waiting for is finally here!" or to have some sort of Eureka moment, but neither of them occurred. (At least, to the best of my knowledge. If someone had said that in Japanese to me, I probably wouldn't have noticed. I was a little too busy trying to have a Eureka moment and wasn't listening.) What I did notice was that Haneda airport rocks! For me, one of the best things about going to the airport is the moving walkways. I love the feeling of speeding by while merely walking along at a meander. Haneda airport does it right with moving walkway after moving walkway. From the moment I stepped off the plane, my whole journey was divided into these 75-ish foot segments. Even when I found myself turning corners, there were still plenty more to enjoy. Now, a little Japan etiquette that I've learned. It's clearly displayed on the moving walkways, but I'll give you a heads up now. The left side is meant for people who want to enjoy themselves for as long as possible. They stand there, and DO NOT WALK. If you, like me, want to set new walking speed records, stay to the right and don't feel shy about passing people. Coincidentally, this is also what happens on escalators. If you don't want to move, and there is room for people to pass you, stick to the left. The Japanese people will thank you! (Figuratively. In actual fact, it's more likely that if you do it wrong, they will just curse you in their heads. Break the rules at your own risk! Negative thoughts are scary!) The exception to this rule: stairs. They are so organized on their system for electronic movers, but when it comes to the stairs, chaos breaks lose. Feel free to choose your favorite side and walk there; I think that's what everyone else does too. It's not a game of chicken though, so be courteous. Don't obstinately stick to your chosen side if someone else is coming right at you. Now, back to Haneda Airport. Unbeknownst to me, practically between every break in the moving walkways, there are bathrooms. I waited in a line at the first bathroom I came to, but I don't think that was actually necessary. I think the line was because all the foreign people ahead of me that also didn't know there were more bathrooms, also found the toilets, with their many fancy features, captivating. SO! For all you readers who ever find themselves arriving at Haneda Airport in need of a bathroom, maybe walk a little more and hit one of the later ones. Then, you can stare at the toilets to your heart's content without creating a huge line behind you! Once all the fun is over, and you've finally reached customs, don't let the tiny little line fool you. There is a line for people to show they have their passports, probably like 4 people long, and then you can head past a little divider into the REAL customs. I thought the 4 person line was customs. I chalk this obvious fallacy up to my 13 hour flight. Others might chalk it up to extreme optimism and/or stupidity. Think what you like. The point is, don't be like me, stopping in front of the short line in order to get all my paperwork in order! There will be plenty of time to organize yourself in the real line without letting all the people who stand on the left of the moving walkways pass you. Once you do finally make it to customs, you will be wowed with just how many people there are. I initially was sticking with the optimism in thinking that the line I got into stayed on the left side of the huge room, and that there was another group of turnstiles on the right. Don't be alarmed when you realize they are all connected. Since I have no real pictures, to give you a mental one, imagine you just got into the line for the Top Thrill Dragster at Cedar Point, or some other equally popular roller coaster, on a beautiful sunny day in summer. That is what it looks like to wait in line for the Japanese Foreign International Customs. The only up side is that the line moves much faster than for a roller coaster. It's speed is much more comparable to rush hour on the highway. Move a few feet... Stop... Move a few feet... Stop.... Sometimes move a whole 10 feet forward only to... Stop again.... What a fun first hour in Japan it was!
Although having stuff to do might seem like a good idea, in all likelihood you won't use it and and will end up wasting valuable packing space. For a few hours, a downloaded audio-book on your phone will be perfect and take up no extra room in your suitcases. For longer flights, the planes have built in entertainment for you to watch, play, and listen to. With Delta it was free, others might make you pay though, so be careful with that! For longer flights as well you have optional Wi-Fi that you can purchase. For me, just under 13 hours of Wi-Fi would have cost $21. You can even break it down if you don't need it the whole time! 1 hour was $3, 3 hours was $6, and so on. If you have a phone or laptop with you, then this can also pass the time for a few hours. You might even be able to get some work done. With a USB port on each seat, you also don't need to worry about your phone dying, though your laptop still might.
I was able to pass the time by watching three movies, a few episodes of a TV show, eating the food they passed around, and sleeping. 13 hours "flew" by without too much pain! For my international flight, two nicely sized meals with acceptable taste were provided, as well as one snack of ice cream and flatbread pizza. They also gave each passenger slippers, an eye mask, ear plugs, ear buds, a small pillow, and a blanket, along with providing free movies, music, and games. Another nice feature available was a flight tracker which would show you where you were currently flying, and about how long until reaching your destination. The flight attendants all spoke in English to me, an obvious foreigner, and in Japanese to the two Japanese people beside me, and all important flight information was delivered first in English and then again in Japanese. All in all, I am impressed with Delta's services. I would definitely fly with them again! |
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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