First Week!

So I don’ｔ　have a whole lot of time (it:s the 10 minute break between classes), and I apologize for the typos - Japanese keyboards are set up very differently from American ones. This first week has been crazy! Class is very intense, but should be very helpful. We covered 12 chapters in 2 days.. I would not recommend this. But I think it will be very helpful. Ah! Gotta run - but a more detailed post will follow.

Pictures! In no real order, sorry

While I was waiting for my oral interview and the kids in the other rooms were freaking out, trying to cram, I liked the pretty view. This was a temple I saw.
Again, the same view
Thanh on the bus to Haneda, where we flew out of to get to Hakodate
On the way to Haneda.. it was raining.
I just had to be a creeper and take a picture of this guy and the huge pink box he had on the back of his tough guy motorcycle.
This was our hotel room the one night we stayed in Tokyo. On the bed is the yukata pajamas they provided us with (for free). In case you're wondering, of course I stole it.
My roommate from that one night, James - he's really intense. He's taken like... 4 years of Japanese or something like that.

The view from our room. Yay Tokyo!
This was the hotel we stayed at. Yay!

Day 2

Today was a pretty relaxing day, which was really nice. Well, it started off really insane because of the SPOT test we had to take in the morning. The format of this test is pretty interesting: there are 45(ish) sentences, each missing a single hiragana (the Japanese phonetic writing system). The teachers then played audio clips of native speed readings of each sentence. Listening comprehension in Japan is NOTHING like it is in the U.S. – we heard each sentence one time, full speed, and had to fill in the missing hiragana. I think it went alright, but I ended up relying more on a sort of cheat system I developed – I read only the word before the missing hiragana and just listened intently for that word and the following sound. It worked pretty well for the most part, but there were a few kanji I couldn’t read, but what can you do? Anyway, after the really intense 15 minutes, we had a brief orientation with the different teachers, where they told us about the different parts of the program that we could participate in. Once again, they spoke completely in Japanese, so I only understood a small part of what they said, but it (in conjunction with what some of my friends understood) was enough to get the general gist. So after that, we were done for the day – we walked to this gelato place by our school to try out some Japanese gelato. On the way, these little Japanese schoolkids said hello (in English) to us, so we started a conversation with them. It felt really cool being able to talk to regular Japanese people (even just 10 year olds) and actually use the language in a non-academic setting. It made me feel pretty damn accomplished. Of course, this was quickly crushed. As we were eating our gelato (amazing, by the way – tried mango, which actually tasted like mango, and had tiramisu, which had actual tiramisu rolled into the ice cream, Cold Stone style), a man came up to us to ask us a favor. It took us a few minutes to get what he was saying, but he was doing a really interesting project to see about people’s dreams in different parts of Japan. He asked us to write our dream on a pad of paper, then took a picture of us with it. His friend was doing the same thing in Kyushu so that they could compare. So anyway, after we took the picture, we tried talking to him for a little bit (still on the high of being able to talk to 10 year olds), but we made virtually no sense whatsoever. We attempted to ask him about what he thought the results of his experiment would show, but it definitely got lost in translation. Oh well. Can’t win them all. After finishing our gelatos, we decided to go to one of the famous hot water baths in Hokkaido, called おんせん (onsen). We started out talking to the lady at the reception desk (again, making me feel awesome about being able to communicate) for the best way of getting to the one we had looked up, finding out prices, etc., eventually deciding on taking the bus. The bus is pretty cool, and very different from those in the U.S. When you get on, you take a ticket that lists your stop number (our bus had 24 stops, ours being stop 1). At the front of the bus, there’s a giant electronic board that has each number, as well as the fare people who got on at the corresponding stop would have to pay (if they got off at the next stop). As you travel to more and more stops, your fare increases. You pay when you get off. It’s pretty crazy. Anyway, the actual onsen was really nice too. It was set up like kind of a hot tub, but definitely much bigger and without jets. The way it works: Before getting in, you have to take off all your clothing and wash yourself off in one of the small showers there. Then you just simmer, naked, in the onsen. I didn’t actually go in, because I didn’t want to take my clothes off (and it’s considered very disrespectful, one of the kids told me, to be in the onsen with clothes on), but it was still a really cool thing to see. Plus, while we were all hanging out, an old Japanese man came to talk to us. Granted, I didn’t understand much of what he said (he spoke really quickly, my Japanese is terrible, and he didn’t have any teeth so his accent was sort of weird), but it was still cool getting to interact with more native Japanese people. He also told usa bout a cheap ramen place close to the onsen, which was nice. For about 750 yen, we got really filling bowls full of ramen noodles (which isn’t as… college student-y as it is in America). But yeah, after that we just took the bus back. I don’t know what’s planned for the rest of the night, but I think I’m going to upload some pictures from the first half week. I don’t have many of Hokkaido yet, but I’ll work on it.

Placement Exam... Ohhh boy

So today was the first actual day of work, I guess - it was EXTREMELY rough. For starters, we had to catch an obscenely early flight (6:30), which required us to get up around 4:30 and meet in the lobby by 5:15. Of course, we ended up getting delayed, so we cut it pretty close with the flight. Anyway, I started cramming on the plane, realizing how little Japanese I actually know. Plus, it seems like most of the kids here have done about 2 years of study, so I'm feeling pretty inferior already. So after we arrived in Hakodate, dropped our stuff off at the hotel (which, by the way, is totally sweet), and got to the HIF center, we had to go straight into the placement exam, which was a total nightmare. I had the oral section first, where the lady (who was really nice, but intimidating at the same time) asked me to introduce myself. Of course, I got off to a great start by not knowing the word she used for "introduction." I think it kinda set the tone for the whole interview - me not knowing words to explain myself. She asked me about my hobbies, to which I replied "本 をよく 読みます" (I frequently read books). Good start. Now, she moves on to the followup questions: What are some of your favorite books? I mention Michael Crichton and the book Next. So she asks me to describe the plot. Soo... I don't know if this was just a day of class I missed or something, but I don't know how to say anything about genetic research in Japanese. I started making up some stuff, trying to explain genetic engineering, which just kinda made it sound like a virus. So anyway, after she got the idea of "virus," she asked me about swine flu protection procedures in America vs. Japan, for which I was completely at a loss. Gah. Anyway, the written part was prett bad too.. didn't know a lot of kanji, didn't get a whole lot of voacb, etc.
But afterwards, we had our brief little orientation thinger (with the program director, who is perhaps the most adorable old man ever), where they talked to us about swine flu before giving us our money and taking us back to the hotel. Me, my roommate, and two of our friends went out for dinner at this really cool Japanese hamburger place. I got a shrimp burger for $4 - it was sooo delicious. Plus, the restaurant itself was just awesome - they had swings for seats, and the whole atmosphere was just very 50s (they were playing Elvis, it was like a really old school burger joint with milkshakes and stuff). It was a great time. After that, we just walked around Hakodate for a while (such a beautiful city - it's unbelievable how peaceful and quiet everything is) and talked, getting to know each other a little bit better. And now comes the weekend! Yay! I'm excited to have full days without plans, being able to just go places for fun and such. More to follow!

First Day!

Sooooo today was the first day in Japan/the day of my trip. Yeah. It got a little crazy with the whole crossing-the-international-date-line thing. But anyway. I'll start off with the flight. Japan Airlines is kinda awesome. Their food was INCREDIBLE - I had specified a no-meat meal which allowed for seafood/fish, so I was expecting just some vegetables in the dish, but for lunch they gave me some really good cooked fish as well as some salmon sashimi that was really really yummy. Dinner/whatever meal it was at that time was shrimp ravioli with blueberry yogurt, which was also delicious. But yeah, the service was also really good - I ended up sleeping through lunch, but the flight attendant brought me my meal after I woke up without me having to ask her. Plus, they served green tea all the time!!! I love green tea! Plus, the entertainment was pretty good - I watched the second Pink Panther movie and that Clint Eastwood movie where he saves his neighbor from a gang.. I think it's called Gran Torino? Oh well. I slept for most of the 14 hour flight (no stops), so it was pretty manageable. Plus, I think I avoided jetlag entirely, which is a plus. So yeah, all in all the flight was a good experience.
On to the airport. Holy cow. The airport was so crazy busy and confusing and EVERYTHING was written in kanji that I totally couldn't read. There are two main terminals, 1 and 2, where international flights can get it - my plane got in at terminal 2. The HIF counter was at terminal 1, however - I spent about 15 minutes searching around terminal 2 for the counter (trying and failing miserably to ask for help.. I think I got out "HIF カウンターはどこですか?") Finally, one businessman who I guess understood my really bad Japanese told me I was in terminal 2, and that I needed to take a bus to terminal 1 to find the counter. Disastrous. But yeah, after that I found the HIF counter (and met Thanh there! Yay!) and got to meet a few of the other HIF-ers. One kid's a basketball fan, so we talked about the Lakers' imminent victory in the playoffs, which was fun. Then we took a bus to the Hotel Pacific Tokyo - on the ride, I remembered I had a camera, so I took a bunch of creepy pictures of people. One guy had this huge pink box on the back of his motorcycle, which I found hilarious. Then, of course, I had to take a picture of a woman in a kimono. Yeeah. It got really creeper-esque.
Anyway. On to the hotel. This place is awesome. The rooms are pretty comfortable, and my roommate is really nice. Granted, the third person has yet to show up. But still. They gave us cotton ゆかた! I'm totally planning on stealing it to weat around. But yeah. My roommate and I talked for a little bit about our hobbies and interests before meeting some of the other kids for a dinner/exploration session. We found a pretty cheap noodle shop kinda close to the hotel, so we decided to eat there. However, we ran into some problems because I don't eat meat - trying to convey this to a Japanese waitress is not the easiest thing for a group of first year students. Luckily, Elliot was there and helped me out. Plus, another businessman was eating next to us and helped let the waitress know what we were saying. Afterwards, we walked around exploring Tokyo for a bit. There were some crazy souveneirs, which I'm really tempted to buy, but can't really afford. We went to this place called the Aquastadium, which was pretty cool - they had covered the walls of the outdoor walkway with animal pictures, made of LED lights. It was really cool to walk through. Plus, some of the stuff you see here is really insane.
So, first thoughts about Tokyo - I really like how it's got a good blend of urban and rural. Like, as we were riding on the bus to the hotel, we passed through both industrial parks and rice fields. Plus, there are a lot more trees here, which I'm digging. I think it's really nice to see a city built into the environment like this. On the negative side, there is a LOT more smoking than I had expected. In most public places, people can be seen smoking. Also, it was really humid today =(
Annd thoughts about Japan now. Ohhh boy. I'm just now starting to fully understand the limitations of my communicative ability. It's somewhat intimidating to be in a country and being unable to convey your thoughts to the people around you. Even something as basic as "I don't eat meat" took a solid 2 minutes to say. It was a first day, and definitely eye-opening. I sure hope that it gets better through the summer. Being unable to read street signs, building names, etc. is not a fun place to be.

Host Family! Well... more like, host person!

So we got our host family assignments a few days ago. This was one of the things that had really kinda scared me during the wait - I mean, spending that much time with one family could be really painful/traumatizing if we didn't get along. That being said, my host family ended up being just one person - a 73 year old grandmother named Ryuko Takasaka. At first, this really scared me; with just one other person in the house, I need to make a great impression. Plus, I think that she, as an elderly person, might expect more in terms of traditional etiquette and stuff. Not to mention I can't read any of the kanji (characters) that describe her job or her interests. Thanh translated some stuff for me. It has something to do with color, industrial arts, and other stuff that I still don't know how to make sense of. So I was kinda worried for the first day.
But I talked to my parents, and, as always, they talked some sense into me. They reminded me of all the good stuff that would come out of this. They reminded me that I chose HIF because it was a less urban setting with a more traditional lifestyle, so having an elderly host would just make the experience even better. Plus (and this is what I'm still hardcore psyched about), she'd have been alive during World War II! That's so exciting to me - how many times will I get to interact with someone who lived through that? And she'd have been old enough to remember it, too - she'd have been just younger than me when the bombings happened. I'm so excited to get a firsthand account of it! I think this is going to be great. You guys can expect a lot of posts that deal with that. I'm so excited to talk to her!!! ...If you can't tell, I'm something of a history nerd.
Anyway, I tried sending her an email, but I think the program might have made a mistake - my email got returned =(. They said the designated address wasn't valid. Oh well. I emailed HIF about it, so they should get back to me soon.
So I guess that's really it. I'm now even more excited than before to go over - the history nerd in me is pumped. Only 9 more days!

EDIT: Oh, wow - totally forgot to mention something I found morbidly funny. Because of swine flu outbreaks, we're being quarantined for a week in a separate facility!! YES! But seriously, it shouldn't be that bad. I mean, it'll be the only time I get to live with the other HIF-ers, who will all be as jetlagged as me! Plus, they give us a good amount of money for food. Yay for quarantining!

Pre-departure thoughts

Gah. Two weeks(ish) until Japan. I think it's just starting to hit me now that I'll actually be there for two months, so I've been kinda freaking out about it. I kinda suck at the language already, so I think I might just crash and burn when I get there. Plus there's so much stuff about etiquette that I don't know at all and I really don't want to mortally offend my host family or anything... so "Gah" pretty aptly sums up my feelings about it right now.
Despite worrying, I'm still excited to go - even if I suck at Japanese, getting to go/see places should be fun. I mean, how many other times will I get to travel to such a cool place with full funding? It's a great opportunity. Plus, some people I know are going to Japan (Soyoon, Tommy, and Juliana from my college, Morse). Thanh's also doing HIF and we both kinda suck, so we'll probably be in the same level of instruction.
Oh, yeah - I got my gift for my host family today ("omiyage"). It was such an annoying task to complete - I didn't want to be too typical and get them some Yale gear, but I didn't want to get something inappropriate. I mean, Maruyama sensei said that we should get stuff that's tough to get within Japan. I ended up getting them something from India (a decorative good luck plate)... hope it's OK.
But yeah, that's about it for now. More to follow when I start packing and actually planning for this trip.