The title of this post literally means "moving house" in Japanese. No, I am not actually moving. But my Japan blog is moving to a new site:
http://gabrielellsworth.tumblr.com/
I'm writing this now in case anyone is still checking this site for updates on my summer in Japan. Head on over to my Tumblr site! If you're curious about why I made the switch, you can find an explanation there. You can follow my Tumblr posts via RSS subscription, Google Reader, and/or Facebook. Or, if you're already on Tumblr, follow me there! If you have any questions, please feel free to get in touch with me.
Saturday, June 26, 2010
Sunday, June 6, 2010
生活シェア、嵐山、兵庫県、サッカーの試合
This post has two raisons d'être. The first is to explain more about my housing situation, as I promised that I would do. The second is to update you on my first week of classes and this weekend. (Important note: Japan is 13 hours ahead of Eastern Daylight Time. As this post goes to press, it's about 5:00 on Sunday afternoon. Just thought I would clear that up in case any readers get puzzled by the timestamps on my posts.)
Okay, so the housing situation. I applied to two summer programs in Japan this year: CET and the Kyoto Consortium for Japanese Studies, which is run by Columbia and based in (you guessed it!) Kyoto. Both programs were highly recommended by my professor and the Light Fellowship, but I chose CET primarily because I preferred its housing program. All CET students share a two-person apartment with a student from 大阪学院大学 (Osaka Gakuin University, or "OGU" for short) who applied to participate in the housing program and was selected by CET staff. KCJS students generally live alone. I figured that the opportunity to live with and among Japanese college students was an invaluable one. Last summer, I had one of the best housing situations imaginable: living with relatives, which meant a real (and clean, and new!) house, a family environment not unlike my own, and—perhaps best of all—home cooking from my obasan for two or sometimes three meals a day. In the States, I basically have two living situations: (1) life at home with my family when Yale is not in session and (2) dorm life when it is. Last year I got the chance to compare the former to its analogue in Japan, and thanks to CET's housing program, now I get to compare the latter! And getting to know what the lives of Japanese college students are like is not just fun; it also brings with it great language practice. Though I cannot say enough good things about my living situation last year, I didn't get to learn about how Japanese students "hang out." This year, I not only get to observe how it works, but I also get to participate in it! This brings me to the title of this post. It's pronounced "sei-katsu shay-ah," and it literally means "life/living share." CET didn't want to call the housing program "the CET Roommate Program," since that might suggest a sort of one-way dynamic between CET student and Japanese roommate. As I hope to convince you, 生活シェア, corny though it may be, is really a more accurate descriptor of what life is like in this program.
To explain why this is so, I first have to make a confession: I had some culture shock. "What," you say, "a veteran Light Fellow experiencing culture shock? By George, that's impossible!" (Well, you probably didn't say "by George," but the enduring Anglophile in me really hopes you did.)
Yes, it's possible. Hear me out. When I first arrived and met the Japanese students who are participating in the 生活シェア program, I was a bit nervous about settling into the social group I found. I don't think I'd ever really experienced culture shock before in Japan, at least not in a way that actually made me feel uncomfortable. I think I've figured out why this was the first time, and allow me a long-winded explanation. The first visible difference I noticed between this group of students and the Yale student body was their proclivity for dyed, stylized hair. In my view, this is one of the most remarkable features of modern Japanese culture: it seems that Japanese college students who have neither (a) dyed their hair nor (b) stylized it in a way that I never could have thought up are the exception rather than the rule. Naturally, this is generalization is only that (a generalization), but it did strike me when I first arrived. Now of course, I didn't decide that simply because hairstyles are different here, I would have trouble fitting in, but I think this first instance of perceiving a cultural difference between my Yale friends and my OGU friends brought out a mild anxiety that could have been triggered by anything. You see, with the exception of one of my second cousins, I didn't really spend any time with Japanese college students last summer, so I was never placed in a group of people who were my analogues in Japanese society. In all of my past experiences of Japanese culture, if something seemed foreign, that was fine, because it was supposed to be foreign. If I don't feel entirely at home while practicing zazen meditation in a Buddhist temple, that doesn't prevent me from appreciating the experience, because I'm a Christian. But the OGU students are college students, and I'm a college student ... so we're supposed to connect, right? The fear that we wouldn't was lying somewhere in my mind for the first couple of days here.
But, as you might have guessed when I referred in the previous paragraph to "my OGU friends," we did connect, and I'm delighted that 生活シェア is working out so well. Sure, a lot of my friends here have hairstyles that I wouldn't see in America, and sure, the guys have a curious ability to refrain from wearing shorts even when it's 86 degrees and high humidity (perhaps more on that aspect of Japanese culture another time) ... but we also have a lot in common, and all high-minded theories of culture aside, it's just plain fun hanging out together! Though I could comment further on the nature of the fun in general, I know that showing is often more interesting (and effective) than telling. Hopefully, future posts on this blog will show you what I mean.
Okay, on to some specifics. My roommate is named Teru. Well, that's his nickname, but it's what I and everyone else in the 生活シェア program call him. His major is 情報学 (literally "information studies," as far as I can tell it's the equivalent of what we call "computer science" in the States). He's a junior, but as the Japanese academic year runs from April to March, he's only four months younger than I am. His hometown is near the eastern shore of 琵琶湖, which is not too far from Osaka, but far enough that before this program started he was living in an apartment near campus by himself. Don't let that fool you, though; it's very normal for Japanese college students to live in single apartments, and he's a very social guy. We share an apartment that's small but cozy. Pictures and a description will have to wait for the next post! Too much to cover already in this one.
Now, on to what I've been up to since my last post.
After all the trouble I went to buy a new (to me, used previously by someone else) camera before I left for Japan, I managed to forget to bring it to Kyoto on Wednesday! However, those who are Facebook friends with me can see two photos tagged of me that were taken at 天龍寺, and if you click on the name of the temple, the link will take you to the Wikipedia article, which has some good photos. The pond really is spectacular. Anyway, here's how Wednesday went. We woke up early, took the train up to 嵐山 (Arashiyama, one of Kyoto's outer neighborhoods), and had a tour of the grounds of Tenryū-ji that was guided by a monk who is (was?) American. This tour included a lesson in 座禅 (zazen) meditation. After we left the temple, we took a group picture in the famous bamboo forest that is adjacent to the temple grounds:
Almost everyone in the 生活シェア program is included in this photo. Teru is the farthest to the left, standing. Bonus points if you can pick out all four of the Yalies in this picture! (There are actually five of us in the CET program, but one is not pictured here.)
Then we had lunch. I had 湯豆腐定食 (literally "hot-water tofu set meal"), which was delicious. After lunch, we went to 嵐山モンキーパークいわたやま. Can you guess what that is without clicking the link? Hint: the katakana in the name is pronounced "mohn-kee paah-ku." Of course! A monkey park! Official website (Japanese only) is here. Pictures of Japanese macaque monkeys can be found at both links. This place was as at least as fun as it sounds. The highlight was watching a mother pick something (bugs? salt? we weren't sure) off her baby, who was sitting in her lap. A few seconds after we started staring at them, although we were of course silent in awe, mother and child both turned to look at us at the same time. Priceless.
After we left the monkey park, I tried out 船岡温泉 (Funaoka Onsen), on the recommendation of my Lonely Planet guidebook. It was extremely relaxing and enjoyable, as all onsen visits are (although I think this might have been a sentō, strictly speaking). When I got home, I was so tired that I fell asleep on my homework and had to wake up early Thursday morning to finish it!
This weekend, I went to stay with relatives in 兵庫県 (Hyōgo Prefecture), which is the prefecture west of Kyoto and Osaka. I stayed with them for two days last year while sightseeing in the 関西 (Kansai) area. Note to readers: if the word "Kansai" doesn't mean anything to you, please click on the link. You're going to see the word a lot on the blog this summer. Friday night, I played a Wii Mario game with two second cousins (one my age and one a couple years younger) and my obasan. I slept in yesterday (Saturday) and then went to a driving range with my ojisan and second cousin Shōtarō (my age). Playing golf in Japan was quite an experience! My ojisan gave me very helpful instruction. He's quite good, regularly hitting balls upwards of 250 yards! After we got home, we had a delicious traditional Japanese-style home-cooked dinner. The highlight: I discovered that 油揚げ is one of my new favorite foods. Rather, I should say that it's one of my new favorite varieties of tofu, since tofu has always been one of my favorite foods.
This morning, I woke up early and came back to my apartment. As luck would have it, my second cousin had a soccer game against OGU's team, so he was driving right back to my neighborhood anyway! Getting a ride with him was very convenient (it took five different trains to get out to my relatives' town on Friday). I watched the match, which ended in a 4-1 victory for OGU. Don't tell my friends in the 生活シェア program, but I was rooting for the team that lost—family comes first, after all. I took some snapshots and footage of the game. Here's a clip with some fairly intense back-and-forth, including an unfortunately failed goal attempt:
After the game, the two teams lined up on each side of the midfield line and bowed to each other before doing the "good game, good game, good game" style handshake walk that we're accustomed to in the States. I wish I'd captured the bowing on video.
Okay, that was a lot of blog post! Now back to that homework for tomorrow ...
Okay, so the housing situation. I applied to two summer programs in Japan this year: CET and the Kyoto Consortium for Japanese Studies, which is run by Columbia and based in (you guessed it!) Kyoto. Both programs were highly recommended by my professor and the Light Fellowship, but I chose CET primarily because I preferred its housing program. All CET students share a two-person apartment with a student from 大阪学院大学 (Osaka Gakuin University, or "OGU" for short) who applied to participate in the housing program and was selected by CET staff. KCJS students generally live alone. I figured that the opportunity to live with and among Japanese college students was an invaluable one. Last summer, I had one of the best housing situations imaginable: living with relatives, which meant a real (and clean, and new!) house, a family environment not unlike my own, and—perhaps best of all—home cooking from my obasan for two or sometimes three meals a day. In the States, I basically have two living situations: (1) life at home with my family when Yale is not in session and (2) dorm life when it is. Last year I got the chance to compare the former to its analogue in Japan, and thanks to CET's housing program, now I get to compare the latter! And getting to know what the lives of Japanese college students are like is not just fun; it also brings with it great language practice. Though I cannot say enough good things about my living situation last year, I didn't get to learn about how Japanese students "hang out." This year, I not only get to observe how it works, but I also get to participate in it! This brings me to the title of this post. It's pronounced "sei-katsu shay-ah," and it literally means "life/living share." CET didn't want to call the housing program "the CET Roommate Program," since that might suggest a sort of one-way dynamic between CET student and Japanese roommate. As I hope to convince you, 生活シェア, corny though it may be, is really a more accurate descriptor of what life is like in this program.
To explain why this is so, I first have to make a confession: I had some culture shock. "What," you say, "a veteran Light Fellow experiencing culture shock? By George, that's impossible!" (Well, you probably didn't say "by George," but the enduring Anglophile in me really hopes you did.)
Yes, it's possible. Hear me out. When I first arrived and met the Japanese students who are participating in the 生活シェア program, I was a bit nervous about settling into the social group I found. I don't think I'd ever really experienced culture shock before in Japan, at least not in a way that actually made me feel uncomfortable. I think I've figured out why this was the first time, and allow me a long-winded explanation. The first visible difference I noticed between this group of students and the Yale student body was their proclivity for dyed, stylized hair. In my view, this is one of the most remarkable features of modern Japanese culture: it seems that Japanese college students who have neither (a) dyed their hair nor (b) stylized it in a way that I never could have thought up are the exception rather than the rule. Naturally, this is generalization is only that (a generalization), but it did strike me when I first arrived. Now of course, I didn't decide that simply because hairstyles are different here, I would have trouble fitting in, but I think this first instance of perceiving a cultural difference between my Yale friends and my OGU friends brought out a mild anxiety that could have been triggered by anything. You see, with the exception of one of my second cousins, I didn't really spend any time with Japanese college students last summer, so I was never placed in a group of people who were my analogues in Japanese society. In all of my past experiences of Japanese culture, if something seemed foreign, that was fine, because it was supposed to be foreign. If I don't feel entirely at home while practicing zazen meditation in a Buddhist temple, that doesn't prevent me from appreciating the experience, because I'm a Christian. But the OGU students are college students, and I'm a college student ... so we're supposed to connect, right? The fear that we wouldn't was lying somewhere in my mind for the first couple of days here.
But, as you might have guessed when I referred in the previous paragraph to "my OGU friends," we did connect, and I'm delighted that 生活シェア is working out so well. Sure, a lot of my friends here have hairstyles that I wouldn't see in America, and sure, the guys have a curious ability to refrain from wearing shorts even when it's 86 degrees and high humidity (perhaps more on that aspect of Japanese culture another time) ... but we also have a lot in common, and all high-minded theories of culture aside, it's just plain fun hanging out together! Though I could comment further on the nature of the fun in general, I know that showing is often more interesting (and effective) than telling. Hopefully, future posts on this blog will show you what I mean.
Okay, on to some specifics. My roommate is named Teru. Well, that's his nickname, but it's what I and everyone else in the 生活シェア program call him. His major is 情報学 (literally "information studies," as far as I can tell it's the equivalent of what we call "computer science" in the States). He's a junior, but as the Japanese academic year runs from April to March, he's only four months younger than I am. His hometown is near the eastern shore of 琵琶湖, which is not too far from Osaka, but far enough that before this program started he was living in an apartment near campus by himself. Don't let that fool you, though; it's very normal for Japanese college students to live in single apartments, and he's a very social guy. We share an apartment that's small but cozy. Pictures and a description will have to wait for the next post! Too much to cover already in this one.
Now, on to what I've been up to since my last post.
After all the trouble I went to buy a new (to me, used previously by someone else) camera before I left for Japan, I managed to forget to bring it to Kyoto on Wednesday! However, those who are Facebook friends with me can see two photos tagged of me that were taken at 天龍寺, and if you click on the name of the temple, the link will take you to the Wikipedia article, which has some good photos. The pond really is spectacular. Anyway, here's how Wednesday went. We woke up early, took the train up to 嵐山 (Arashiyama, one of Kyoto's outer neighborhoods), and had a tour of the grounds of Tenryū-ji that was guided by a monk who is (was?) American. This tour included a lesson in 座禅 (zazen) meditation. After we left the temple, we took a group picture in the famous bamboo forest that is adjacent to the temple grounds:
Almost everyone in the 生活シェア program is included in this photo. Teru is the farthest to the left, standing. Bonus points if you can pick out all four of the Yalies in this picture! (There are actually five of us in the CET program, but one is not pictured here.)Then we had lunch. I had 湯豆腐定食 (literally "hot-water tofu set meal"), which was delicious. After lunch, we went to 嵐山モンキーパークいわたやま. Can you guess what that is without clicking the link? Hint: the katakana in the name is pronounced "mohn-kee paah-ku." Of course! A monkey park! Official website (Japanese only) is here. Pictures of Japanese macaque monkeys can be found at both links. This place was as at least as fun as it sounds. The highlight was watching a mother pick something (bugs? salt? we weren't sure) off her baby, who was sitting in her lap. A few seconds after we started staring at them, although we were of course silent in awe, mother and child both turned to look at us at the same time. Priceless.
After we left the monkey park, I tried out 船岡温泉 (Funaoka Onsen), on the recommendation of my Lonely Planet guidebook. It was extremely relaxing and enjoyable, as all onsen visits are (although I think this might have been a sentō, strictly speaking). When I got home, I was so tired that I fell asleep on my homework and had to wake up early Thursday morning to finish it!
This weekend, I went to stay with relatives in 兵庫県 (Hyōgo Prefecture), which is the prefecture west of Kyoto and Osaka. I stayed with them for two days last year while sightseeing in the 関西 (Kansai) area. Note to readers: if the word "Kansai" doesn't mean anything to you, please click on the link. You're going to see the word a lot on the blog this summer. Friday night, I played a Wii Mario game with two second cousins (one my age and one a couple years younger) and my obasan. I slept in yesterday (Saturday) and then went to a driving range with my ojisan and second cousin Shōtarō (my age). Playing golf in Japan was quite an experience! My ojisan gave me very helpful instruction. He's quite good, regularly hitting balls upwards of 250 yards! After we got home, we had a delicious traditional Japanese-style home-cooked dinner. The highlight: I discovered that 油揚げ is one of my new favorite foods. Rather, I should say that it's one of my new favorite varieties of tofu, since tofu has always been one of my favorite foods.
This morning, I woke up early and came back to my apartment. As luck would have it, my second cousin had a soccer game against OGU's team, so he was driving right back to my neighborhood anyway! Getting a ride with him was very convenient (it took five different trains to get out to my relatives' town on Friday). I watched the match, which ended in a 4-1 victory for OGU. Don't tell my friends in the 生活シェア program, but I was rooting for the team that lost—family comes first, after all. I took some snapshots and footage of the game. Here's a clip with some fairly intense back-and-forth, including an unfortunately failed goal attempt:
After the game, the two teams lined up on each side of the midfield line and bowed to each other before doing the "good game, good game, good game" style handshake walk that we're accustomed to in the States. I wish I'd captured the bowing on video.
Okay, that was a lot of blog post! Now back to that homework for tomorrow ...
Tuesday, June 1, 2010
もう一度日本へ！
Well, this is a bit embarrassing. It appears that I never got around to posting on this blog after I arrived in Hakodate almost a year ago. A lot has happened since then, so I'll have to skim over it very quickly! The rest of my traveling around Japan was very enjoyable. I have a huge stack of JR reserved seat tickets and a lot of great memories to show for it. Then there was the rest of the summer and a whole academic year at Yale. Now I'm in Japan again!
How is that possible, you ask? Well, the short answer is that Yale's Light Fellowship is extremely generous—so generous, in fact, that they've given me funding for another summer study abroad experience in Japan! This time, I'm at a different program: CET's Intensive Japanese Language & Area Studies in Osaka, which would apparently be about six and a half hours' drive from where I was last year (I say "would" because it seems that no one ever actually drives that far in Japan).
I arrived in Japan a week ago today and spent the first few days in Yokohama, staying with the same relatives who hosted me last year. I had a chance to walk down to the Pacifico Yokohama and see the building where my classes at IUC were held, but of course the best part was catching up with my relatives. On Friday, I took a highway bus that took basically all day to get to Osaka but was very comfortable, clean, and inexpensive. Program orientation started on Saturday and finished yesterday (Monday). Today was my first full day of classes! Tomorrow, I'm headed to the Arashiyama area of Kyoto for a field trip! One of the perks of Osaka is that Kyoto is just a 25-45 minute train ride from here, depending on which part of the city is your destination.
I actually have to run now, since my roommate (more on that in the next post) and I are going to have dinner with some of my/our new friends at one of the neighboring apartments. For now, consider yourself warned: after my long absence, more posts are coming!
How is that possible, you ask? Well, the short answer is that Yale's Light Fellowship is extremely generous—so generous, in fact, that they've given me funding for another summer study abroad experience in Japan! This time, I'm at a different program: CET's Intensive Japanese Language & Area Studies in Osaka, which would apparently be about six and a half hours' drive from where I was last year (I say "would" because it seems that no one ever actually drives that far in Japan).
I arrived in Japan a week ago today and spent the first few days in Yokohama, staying with the same relatives who hosted me last year. I had a chance to walk down to the Pacifico Yokohama and see the building where my classes at IUC were held, but of course the best part was catching up with my relatives. On Friday, I took a highway bus that took basically all day to get to Osaka but was very comfortable, clean, and inexpensive. Program orientation started on Saturday and finished yesterday (Monday). Today was my first full day of classes! Tomorrow, I'm headed to the Arashiyama area of Kyoto for a field trip! One of the perks of Osaka is that Kyoto is just a 25-45 minute train ride from here, depending on which part of the city is your destination.
I actually have to run now, since my roommate (more on that in the next post) and I are going to have dinner with some of my/our new friends at one of the neighboring apartments. For now, consider yourself warned: after my long absence, more posts are coming!
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