Breakfast at cafe on the subway station, then headed for adapter after saying bye bye to Masako. I ended up buying a very cheap (50 kr and YES I should stop being surprised) laptop battery chord with Japanese socket.
Headed for the train with Yumi back to Mie. We arrived around 8 pm, had dinner, and then her dad and brother came home, Yumi`s mom`s friend, who I had dinner with in Sweden, invited me to their home, I saw pics of her son who also goes to Kansai Gaidai so I will probably meet him ! He might go to Spain as an exchange student. I was given a beautiful paper fan as a present, arigatoo !
Came back home and had a political/historical/culture comical discussion with Yumi`s dad and brother. Her dad is really funny; " This is a pen" ,which is the only thing in English he really know, turned Mr Pen san, which I will contact whenever in emergency in Japan. SL = Short Legs which is a description of Japanese according to him haha, or rather a description of himself !
He kept speaking really fast in Japanese but ended up describing things with English words !!
Yumi´s brother aka tonton is really good at history, he knows dates by heart.
Pen san thought that Yumi was mean for dragging my around a lot, but I had enjoyed it so much, had seen so many things this past week.
Wednesday 27th August
Yumi was packing for Sweden and I payed my bills. So later in the afternoon we went to a second hand bookstore where I found KODOMO NO OMOCHA manga !!! 5 volumes for 35 kr hahaha !!
Kodomo no omocha; or Kodocha is a anime and manga about Kurata Sana, tv show star who fights her arch enemy Hayama Akito who later develops a secret crush for Sana. So funny, because Sana is really hyper !!
While leaving the bookstore we ran into a group of boys; around 10-11 years old, who started staring at me ( because Im a gaijin aka foreigner). They started calling HELLO !! So I said hello back then they giggled and went inside. So as we sat in the car they came back out and kept staring so Yumi made me say Bye bye to them, and they became excited and waved and yelled Bye Bye back !
This is not my first encounter with the gaijin effect. People sometimes stare at me on the train or subway; a group of guy went `Look at that pretty girl gaijin` in Japanese :) . And another group of teenagers went wow look it is a gaijin ! They dont think I can understand Japanese though ..
Anyways, back home to get dressed for a tea ceremony, chanoyu ! Yumi`s mom had invited her friend who is skilled at tea ceremonies, to come and teach us how to make it. I wore a yukata which is a kimono for girls. Kimono is a robe which is nowadays worn at festivities such as weddings and other occasions. Yukata is often worn at summer festivities.
I got dressed and went downstairs to be seated on my knees and then I was brought green te and okashi, japanese sweet to which I had to bow and request permission to eat.
Then time for change of role, My turn to make the tea and serve it. I had to fill a bowl of hot water, empty it, add 2 spoons of tea plus 3 mouthful of hot water into the bowl, then whisk it with the bamboo whisk until a foam is created and end it with making the hiragana NOの to remove the big bubbles. Then head out to serve it. The bowl is awefully hot but you cant hurry this procedure, especially while wearing a yukata which requires small steps to be made, or else you will slip and fall flat on your head and have the tea land in the lap of the customer.
I had to enter the room with my right foot and leave it with my left foot first. It was a lot of fun, though it was hot in the room and I had to make tea for Yumi`s parents which made me feel a bit nervous, but it turned out great.
Yumi`s dad kept joking around while Yumi was filming and her mom worrying of whether or not I was tired. Grandma looked at me with amusement and said that I looked pretty in yukata.
Maybe I forgot to tell you, their house is a 2story house, with Grandma and the deceased grandpa who lived on the main floor and Fujino family living on the second floor, but they use it all together. The house has a main entrance where you take off your shoes and then either put on slippers or not. Then you have tatami mats in the bedrooms and ceremonial rooms. Other parts have rugs and wooden floor. The bathroom has a shower and a bathtub which is used only for bathing, not showering. This means that you wash yourself; hair, body and everything, scrubbing carefully, before entering the bath water in the tub. This water is used by all to save water and lying in the tub is meant for relaxation.
Yumi kept packing at midnight, then it was time to sleep.
Thursday 28th August
We woke up at 5 am to have breakfast and then head for the ferry which left for Nagoya at 8.20. Yumi was taking the Finnair flight for Helsinki and I was going to meet up with her sister to do some sightseeing in Nagoya. I fell asleep and was woken up by Yumi`s mom racing the streets to arrive to the ferry on time. We ran towards the ferry and the staff at the ferry quickly helped us getting on board. However, Yumi`s mom was still holding my makeup bag while Yumi and I took a seat. I saw it and told Yumi that she could bring it on Saturday. But, while the ferry was ready to leave, Yumi`s mom had them turn back to the dock and then she handed over the bag to them. People on the ferry were laughing in amusement (thank god that nobody got angry) and I got my precious bag ! If you ever wanted to feel like VIP, then this is the occasion to do so ;)
So we arrived at the airport in Nagoya where we met up with Yumi´s sister Hitomi (who works for Ikea Kobe at their restaurant) and after waving Yumi off, me and Hitomi went to Starbucks and then took the train for Nagoya and had some lunch, tonkatsu , pork cutlet. It tasted very good !
Hitomi has a friend at the mall in central Nagoya who works for Dolce n Gabbana so we got to take a look around and she gave us some catalogues in a bag to browse, people kept staring at my bag afterwards lol. Hitomi´s other friends worked at an expensive French brand clothing store with amazing clothes.
So off for Nagoya Castle, or so we thought ! Heavy rain !!! The street turned into a swimming pool, and while standing there waiting for the rain to stop, there was this kind lady who came up to us with her umbrella and asked us if we wanted some cover to the nearest conbini aka convenient store to buy an umbrella ! So nice of her to do so. I bought a transparent one, I think they are really cool.
Off to Nagoya Castle, built in the 1600:s, destroyed by air raids in Second world war, now back in restoration. Extremely beautiful and magical. Went up 7 stories, it was that high !
Had some matcha soft icecream and then headed back for Kobe.
Back in Kobe, we went to an izakaya for yakitori which is barbecued chicken marinated in soy sauce, mirin and sugar. The yakitori sauce can be purchased in Sweden ! I had some tofu kimchi as well (kimchi is Korean fermented hot cabbage, really tasty). Tofu is soy bean cheese.
The grillmaster at the izakaya looked like a chubby Charlie Chaplin, kind of. He said that I was the first Swede he had ever met and that I didnt look like a 23 year old (duh never heard that before).
Bought a Japanese fashion magazine and went home to crash in bed.
Friday 29th of August
Hitomi went to work, and I slept a lot because I was really sleepy after all those days of travelling. Got up, fixed some papers and just chilled with some ramen for lunch and dinner.
Saturday 30th of August
D as in departure day, Yumi´s parents and their friend came to pick me and Hitomi up to head for lunch at Bikkuri Donkey, a hamburger restaurant, and then head off to IKEA.
IKEA was just like IKEA is in Sweden with kids running around and so many couples checking out their dream home. It was cheaper than Sweden but at the same time most products are made in China.
I bought some Daim, licorice, Ballerina crackers and Sourcream chips!
Off to Hirakata ! We arrived at 5pm and checked me into Seminar House 4, my roomnumber is 4326 and it is just exactly as the video I posted and cleaner if possible ! Modern, fresh, new.
Went to meet Takkun, Yumi´s parents friend´s son who was so slim and had such a long ponytail. His hair was even longer than mine before I cut it and so thick. He was very nice and bought me sweets and gave me a tour around campus. Then we had dinner at a okonomiyaki shop (okonomiyaki is an omelette made from eggs, flour, cabbage and onion plus meat such as pork and seafood). You eat it with a special brown sauce and Japanese mayo.
After dinner it was time to buy slippers at Saya, a huge department store. I got slippers and a cardigan, and body milk.
Back to Seminar House at 8pm, went to my room, took a shower and talked to my room mate Chikako, she is 19 and 2year student, majoring in English. Decided to meet up with Sachiko on Sunday for lunch. Slept on futon beds on the floor. We each have our own desk and chair and closet and we share a table. The floor has tatami mats. We have cards to access our rooms and computer rooms, just look a hotel!
Sunday 31 August 2008
I felt a bit dizzy when I woke up, it was really hot in my room, so I got a heat stroke because I didnt drink enough water. I had to meet Sachiko at 11.30 outside Hirakata library which is 2 minutes from my seminar house and while waiting I felt very hot. Fortunately there are vending machines everywhere to buy water, so it is very good.
Sachiko was a bit late and she had cut her hair so she looked very cute. We went to Hirakata station to have Soba aka noodle made of buckwheat floor, a bit thicker and more gray looking than regular noodles. After lunch we went shopping, I bought a bunch of tops at Sally and then we had icecream parfait at a café, I had strawberry, Sachiko had matcha. We even took purikura.
Then we headed off to Sachiko´s tiny apartment, it is very cutelooking. She even has loft where she can sleep in the winter if it gets cold!
I took the bus back to the Seminar house by myself, I just listened to the voice whenever we were heading for the next bus stop, I had to get off outside the Hirakata library.
I checked my orientation packet, filled with forms and sheets and maps and schedules. I talked to some American guys, Brandon, Bill, R.J, Wes, Garrick, Alex and Morgan. It was fun and they were very nice. Bill had done an intensive course during the summer in Japan so he knew a bit more Japanese than me. Alex is really good as well, I felt really bad next to them, but the Japanese say my pronounciation is good, plus I already use slangs such as majide (really), uso(liar, no way), mecha (totally, totally delicious = mecha oishii), yabai (awesome as in kore yabai = this is awesome, about food or anything) etc.
Our R.A:s are very nice as well, Maki san, Aika san.
I talked to a girl named Masayoh who is very sweet, she kept saying Aida wa Masayoh no aida desu. Aida means in between or in the middle in Japanese so everytime I say my name to a Japanese I do the sign of being in the middle and they start laughing, so everyone knows my name.
Masayoh told us that her birthday is the day after tomorrow so me and Bill had the brilliant idea of making a cake for her.
Monday 1th September
Bill already bought a bike but we decided to walk to campus, (which only took us about 25 minutes and it was really hot), alongside 3 Swedes and some Americans and Australians. The Swedes are David from Mälardalens högskola in Eskilstuna, Rebecka and Sebastian who study at Växjö University (Rebecka is actually Norwegian and a freemover and Sebastian is Finnish, but I couldnt tell because their Swedish is that good! ).
Neither 3 of them speak any Japanese at all, haha! I tried helping David out with some info.
We had a guided tour of campus at 11 and when we walked past the cafeteria Bill went wow now we talking ! So lunch for about 300 yen which is about 18 Swedish kr. We got fried chicken with rice and sallad plus water ;) .
Time for language lab at 2 pm ( Bill had his at 3pm so we decided to meet up afterwards to buy the cake). The language lab session was about handing out passwords and id:s and teaching us how to use the language lab programs to do recordings and download homework listening segments. We met another Swedish guy in the lab whose name I now have forgot.
Met Elin san from Japanese class at campus, she was staying in number 1 but she is doing homestay later.
I finally met Kim as well, I got to know her trough facebook, she is really kind !
Topworld supermarket, apparently no readymade cake but they had sponge cake. So we decided to buy readymade whipped cream, chocolate sauce and frozen strawberries to make the cake.
We told Maki san about it so she would keept Masayoh from the kitchen.
I was very dizzy so i decided to take a nap before hitting the books to study for the replacement test which we had the following day. Me and Chikako did our laundry together, but we made a mistake by adding her towels to the laundry so we had tiny pieces of cloth all over our clothes lol. We decided to buy hangers to dry the clothes up in our room.
Eating and studying a little bit, but mostly chatting up with people, Japanese guy Kaoshin, very charming and funny, he has been to the States to study. Arielle, American girl who is very good at Kanji, she has kanji cards which she made herself! Australian guy Todd.
Tako kun ( i think) is very nice as well, he wants to know more about Scandinavian countries so I offered to do my part !
I didnt really study that much in the end, because I felt like I knew my part. Everybody was pretty confident, some of them have studied Japanese for 6 years !
I just checked some emails and stuff that night and then went to sleep, still very dizzy and fevrish.
Thuesday 2 September
Replacement test time ! I have never felt so sick in my life, I have been drinking 3 litres of water and eating licorice and stuff to stabilize again but it seems to take a while. Now while typing I feel much better so I guess im good now.
Test was at 10.30 at the Multimedia hall. First we had a listening comprehension:
You can only hear each dialogue and question one time, and once the tape starts it cannot be stopped ! (Japanese instructor) the crowd went lol.
But then it wasnt that much lol anymore. It went very fast, too fast. Not like the dialogues one was used to listening to at Japanese class back in Sweden !
Next part, translation hiragana and katakana, did pretty good. Grammar contained of A-E, so depending on how long one had studied Japanese you had to do those levels, for 1 year like me; A and B. I did good and A but some parts on B where a bit difficult.
The thing is , the instructor told us we shouldnt do random guesses so everybody went oh whatever.
So kanji part, trying to recognize the kanjis. Out of about 80 kanjis I recognized about 6 !
We have learned 100 kanjis but not many of them were used, there were really difficult ones instead. Arielle later told me she knew almost all of them , which I knew she would !
Time to xerox Brandon´s funny book Making out in Japanese, contains the basic phrases ;).
Banking session for opening up an account. :O
You have never experienced a more complex procedure. We needed to copy our passport and then copy a page from our passport, write our home adress with a pencil, then copy that sheet, then fill out the 3 forms. So far so good. BUT,
1. you have to write the letters exactly the way they are written in the passport, for example small u in passport, small u on your application. A on your passport, dont write it A. Everything has to be the same !
2. Don´t write past any lines !
3. Don´t refill any letters !
4. Rewrite your signature from form 1 on form 3 and copy it EXACTLY the same way !
Some people had to redo it a couple of times, I was kinda nervous and still dizzy so I felt sleepy while waiting to go up and see if my documents were in order. I finally met Mykel Dodson from facebook as well, we chatted, he is staying at Seminar house 3, the strictest one as they say, but he likes it. It is more apartment style, 8 people share a kitchen and lounge. compare that to our massive dining room and lounge and kitchen shared by about 112 people !
So while staying in my seat, a guy came up to me and started talking, Sanrjar (I think), he is from Kazakstan but stays in the US. However, he has been studying for 2 years in Norway and even visited Denmark and Sweden, he liked Sweden the best. He is staying in Seminar house 2 , or was it 1 ?
When I told him my name is Aida, he went wow my aunt´s name is Aida. LOL
So finally my turn, and guess what? AIDA GOT AN OK !! wohooo, banking session done !
I had a meeting with my buddy, yes they have a buddy system here as well, it is called Speaking partner. I was going to meet her at 4pm, she was coming by train from Osaka where she lives.
She is very cute and tiny ! Her name is Tamaki and she is a 19 year old 2nd year student with a major in English. We went to the cafeteria where i had some cheap curry for 200 yen, yup 12 swedish ones and she had apple juice and ballerina which I gave to her as a gift !
We talked and laughed, her English is not so good compared to my Japanese but it´s ok, she will improve ! We went to Lawson´s convenient store where I got some balloons for Masayoh´s b day party and some scotch tape to remove the cloth from our clothes !
I took her to my Seminar house and she thought it looked very nice. One of her friends stays here as an R.A.
The rest of the evening just chatting, another Swedish guy from Växjö; Viktor, and Italian guy Michele who probably is the first one to get a cell phone, he just took his passport with him, usually we have to wait until our alien registration forms have been completed but evidently not. He got a pink one from Softbank.
There is a Turkish guy, Serkan, but I would never have guessed that he is Turkish, he has blue eyes and brown hair but a bit light for a Turkish guy. He guessed immediately that I was Persian because I looked like one, he has many Persian friends back home in the States where he lives.
So what´s up for tomorrow? Registration lottery for courses, so the better the number the better the chance of recieving your course of choice. We have a general meeting at 9.30 so I have to get to sleep now. And paying fees of course, plus in the afternoon us girls have a special Women´s meeting and ending the day with a mutual STD health issues meeting at 4pm.
Long day tomorrow.
Oh and about the pics, I have no internet on my laptop because of there being no wireless in the Seminar house or on Campus ( writing from the computer lab) so I will get back to you.
Goodnight from Japan ! and by the way it´s still warm here, around 28 degrees Celcius !
BIG LOVE
