Goodbye Part 1

My apologies everyone, I meant to write a blog post sooner. That being said, this one is going to have to be short as well. Tomorrow I begin my journey back to the good old USA, my mouth already watering for a decent slice pizza :-).


Lots of mixed emotions going on. On one hand, having the week off and no finals due to swine flu really made me want to go home, I had finished everything I needed to do. I was growing antsy to get out of here with little to do. However, seeing my friends for the very last time (possibly ever?) can be really heartbreaking. We all go into this process, knowing that it must come to an end, and yet, people still get involved in each other's lives. Yet, I write these words still not feeling that ache in full. Maybe it hasn't hit me yet, or maybe I'm growing up, but I don't really feel the pain or shed the tears that others have. That's not to say I haven't loved the relationships I've formed here (losing my wonderful speaking partner really makes me upset), but at the end of the day, I've accepted this program for what it is, a brief escape into a new world. However, leaving that new world itself is a bit harder to do. I really fell for speaking in a totally different language, and while I will never give myself the credit of becoming fluent, I now have the confidence to speak Japanese in public without fear. I cannot wait to bring this revamped mentality back to Tufts next year. I also loved adapting to a new culture. It was difficult at first, but I think I've really blended in to Japan. My only regret remains that I did not come here sooner.



Anyway, I'd love to continue to wax philosphically with you all, but I need to get some rest for a long 18 hours of travel ahead of me. I will be adding some more pictures, giving you all some lists of my favorite things in Japan for my final post back in the USA (quick spoiler, Karaoke is an easy #1). As for a final recommendation, either go watch the show Dexter because it is amazing, or listen to this song "Lullabies" by All Time Low, it kind of gets my mentality right now, and is also my goodbye song (oops long sentence >_<)

Much love Japan

SWINE FLU....and Souvenirs

Swine flu has come to Japan in a nearby city, people are running in the streets, masks are everywhere, and oh yeah, my finals got canceled!!!! Minus the one I took today before the news spread, I am now donezo for the semester. With not a lot of time left, I am definitely going to make the most of it. Hot damn, May has been a hell of a month so far me.

Nothing else to report, I was doing a lot of work and studying and such last week, went to a friends birthday party on Friday and it was crazy. I'm going to miss this place so much!

Most importantly though, this is a quick call for souvenirs. If you want something specific, drop me a line and I'll do my best to find you what you'd like. Much love to you all back home.

Jay

PS Celtics did a decent job all things considered, Bruins broke my heart. GO SOX

Hanshin Tigers and the Beginning of the End

First and foremost, a very special Happy Mother's Day to all the Moms out there, with a special Happy Mother's Day to my own mother. Thanks for everything Mom, I wouldn't be the man I am today if it weren't for you!

Now then, what's going on everyone? So I finally got to go to a Japanese Baseball game, and it was sick! Here's a little background info for you to soak in:

-My seats were 10 rows from Home Plate
-The local team (Hanshin Tigers) were playing the Yomiuri Giants, which is akin to the Red Sox playing the Yankees back home, so the atmosphere was electric
-Unsurprisingly, there were a ton of differences between a typical day at the ballpark in the U.S. and Japan.

Alright, so the game was amazing, the Tigers beat the Giants 6-0 for their first win against the Giants this season, and the crowd was pumped up the entire time. Now time for the really weird/awesome differences. First off, people are just as insane for the Sox back home as they are for the Tigers here. No body paint or anything like that, but Tigers sweatpants, towels, facepaint, you name it, they most likely have it. The next obvious difference was the food at the ballpark. Peanuts and Cracker Jacks? Try Gyoza and Ramen. All the typical Japanese foods were here (sushi, yakisoba, etc), but little sign of the American goodies we've come to love back home. As for the vendors, while they might not have been the typical yellow uniformed fellas you're used to in Fenway, the Koshien dome has "beer girls". The Beer girl is a girl dressed fully in pink who carries around a mini-keg backpack to disperse to her patrons. It was so hilarious I had to get a picture with one, check it out below this picture! This picture directly below is my friend Yugo and I. Yugo invited me to the game, and he will be studying abroad at the University of Vermont next year, so I'm hoping to repay the favor with a trip to Fenway in the fall!


Now to the actual game. As most people who follow baseball know, the Japanese play a vastly different game in comparison to the United States. The strike zone is larger, the key component is small ball (i.e. singles, sacrifices), and pitching changes are very frequent. The players also tend to swing at the first pitch, which as an American baseball fan, makes me die a lot on the inside. Moreover, whenever a hit is made by the home team, noisemakers erupt. Seriously, it felt like a was watching an intense BC or Celtics basketball game with thundersticks, real crazy stuff. Another weird thing I saw is that there is actually a cheering section for the opposing team. I'm sure all of you would agree with me when I ask what the heck? There would never, ever, EVER be a cheering section speicifically designated for Yankees fans at a Sox game, it really freaked me out. However, leave it to Japan to be the polite nation it is and respect the enemy team's fanbase. The funniest thing I found is how the crowd sings. Whenever an opposing pitcher gets knocked out of the game, the crowd begins singing a song to the tune of Auld Lang Syne, and if Hanshin wins, they sing a specific Hanshin song (with music video and all), really interesting stuff.


While it may not have been the same as singing my good old "Sweet Caroline" after the 8th inning at a Sox game, the Tigers had another really cool tradition. In the bottom of the seventh inning all the fans begin blowing up balloons, and in between the 7th and the 8th inning, they let them all fly. It only lasts a few seconds, but it is something you have to see. Lucky for you all, I took a video of the experience, enjoy!


So that was my Hanshin Tigers experience. I'm really hoping to get back there one more time before I leave Japan, but it might not be able to happen, we'll see. This brings me to another point, turns out I'm coming back stateside in less than 3 weeks, and I'm filled with a lot of mixed emotions. I'm really excited to see my family and friends back home, but the honest truth is I don't think I'm ready to leave Japan. I came into this experience not really knowing what to expect. I had done my studies on the culture and the language, so I wasn't expecting to be culture shocked, and yet, I still was. The weird thing is, I enjoyed the culture shock. I enjoyed being thrown into the public where no one who could speak english, relying solely on my studies. As a result, my speaking skill has increased significantly. That being said, there is so much more to do here. While I've done a lot of sightseeing and had a lot of fun on the weekends, I'm still a student looking to do more research. After meeting Japanese people and getting to know their personal histories, I have come to find the culture and the people all the more interesting. Their personalities, their relationships, their emotions towards others, I find that all very unique, mainly because it is so different than how we emote, and you cannot learn that in a classroom.


The thing that really bogs me down the most is that while this experience has been unforgettable, it is also irreplacable. While the idea of something being irreplaceable may sound like a good thing in theory, the fact of the matter is that for the rest of my life I will never have an experience like this ever again. I'm one year away from graduating and going off on my own, and while I'm sure I'll be back in Japan to work (no question now, I'm coming back sooner or later :-P), I don't think I'll be able to take on this academic mentality again, and that kind of hurts. By being here, I've come to terms with the evanescence of life and these experiences, but that doesn't mean I have to like it. I'm sure by reading this I must sound like I've matured a bit and I think I really have, but at the same time, I don't want to mature. That may come across as ignorant, but the truth is, you don't really appreciate the value of being young or innocent until it's too late, and I'm sure my elders can agree to that, right?

Now that I've jumped off into a sad post let's bring it back to the good stuff. I came to Japan intially to do my time here, hopefully improve my language skills, meet some cool people, and head back home. While I've done all that, I did one more important thing as well: I fell in love with language again. Honestly, I love the challenge of being forced to speak another language that isn't my own on a daily basis. It has driven me to be a better student and has driven me to respect another group of people. Whenever I hear a word I don't understand or a tense that doesn't make sense, I either ask a Japanese friend for the meaning or whip out my electronic dictionary to quelm my thoughts. The beautiful thing about being a language student is that you'll never truly be entirely fluent, and while that may sound disheartening, in the right mind it is the exact opposite. In my head, it leaves me hungry to learn more. I'm never really satiated with the knowledge I've achieved up to this point, I want to learn more, and that's what continues to push me further. Anyway, I think I've trotted off the page a little bit, but I hope you enjoyed this post. Hopefully another culture segment concerning nightlife or some other fun subject will come up soon. See you soon!

Moss Temple and Tokyo Round 2

Hey Everyone!

I am currently running on a little over 2 hours of sleep right now, so this post may be a bit incoherent. Unfortunately, I wouldn't have slept at all if I didn't have to recharge my batteries. I enjoyed my time in Tokyo significantly, and I'm 90% sure that I am going to have to look into a career field that will let me live there for a period of time, or at least make trips routinely. However, before I gush more about Tokyo, let's talk about the Moss Temple!


So last semester, my Gender in Japanese Culture Professor spoke of this temple in Kyoto where there were 120 different types of moss. She said that it was unlike any other temple that you will ever visit. Naturally, I felt a sudden urge to go. What I encountered was an enlightening experience. Before we went though, my friend and I had to send a postcard ahead of time for a reservation, pay $30.00 to be let in, and go on a 2 hour ride to get there. Nonetheless it was definitely worth it.
The excursion in the temple first started with a Buddhist sutra, chanting different scriptures and what not, while us onlookers did calligraphy work. After doing some calligraphy and making a wish on our parchment (I chose happiness/good luck in Japanese, 幸), we were let loose to explore the temple grounds. Largely unchanged since 1339, the temple has a bunch of different moss everywhere, along with two little ponds. One of the ponds actually had rocks in it that resemble the kanji for heart 心 (The computerized character doesn't do it justice). The coolest part though is that we went around the grounds twice, the first time it rained and was hazy, which was really cool. However, the second time the sun came out, so rays of light would shine through the trees and onto the moss or pond, it was a really tranquil experience and I would highly recommend it because this is a very uncommon tourist trip.
Now, back to Tokyo! Basically, not a lot was different than last time actually (we checked out Ginza, Shibuya, Akihabara, and Harajuku again) minus seeing Asakusa, which was nice, but not overly exciting. There was alos Roppongi, which was quite an interesting experience. Roppongi is known as one of the club districts of Tokyo, yet it was extremely shadier than we all expected it to be, mainly due to the influx of workers trying to hassle us into going to their clubs. Nonetheless, we also checked out one of the clubs in Shibuya that is routinely listed in the top 5 of Tokyo's best clubs. It was a techno club and we all had a really good time.

As for hotel commodities, we stayed at a capsule hotel this time around. If you don't know what a capsule hotel is check it out on wikipedia or look below at my "room" for the past few days...


Finally, I just wanted to show you some pictures of my new girlfriends. One is a Lolita (which is a popular fashion style in Japan, and the other is asleep on a subway train. Hopefully these ladies and the deer from a few months ago can all get along.





I'm sure you all are wondering why I am crazy about Tokyo. Basically, it has everything I'd want in a city. It has the cool historical aspects and interesting museums that are a lot of fun to see. It has the geeky district, which is always fun to look at and become apart of. It also has the weirdness of different fashion styles and people (plus normal stores for me and other foreigners). Most importantly though, it is alive. You can really feel the energy in the city when you visit, and it makes you want to become a part of it. It's so individualized that I couldn't help but find something to like in most districts (minus Roppongi's creepiness). Either way, I think that whether you've learned Japanese or not, you'd be doing a disservice to yourself by not going to Tokyo at least once. With that, I bid you adieu, I'm going to see a Japanese baseball game tomorrow, so be sure to expect another update soon!