Japan✯Glam

2010-08-04T12:13:00.001+09:00

I've moved over to http://kanjouaru.blogspot.com

Check me out there!

Settling In

2010-08-02T08:08:00.000+09:00

It's the beginning of my third full day in my new life and things are already out-of-the-ordinarily exciting. I've had dinner with a bunch of local ALTs in Kanazawa (KZ), gone to a drinking party with adult students of the English conversation classes and today one of my friends from college arrived one my doorstep fresh from a music festival in another prefecture. In a few hours we're headed out to a "Summer Festa" in Kahoku.

But I suppose I should start from the beginning.

On Wednesday, my first introduction to Kahoku, I was picked up from the Komatsu airport, shuttled with my supervisor, who speaks no English at all, and another ALT to a sushi lunch in Kanazawa. We stopped on the way to Kahoku to get some ID pictures so I could apply for my alien registration card. We then rushed to the mayor's office where we arrived just 2 minutes late for our appointment. I was thrown, sweaty and winded from running around in heels and a full suit in 90-degree weather, into the mayor's office and a television and newspaper interview. My Japanese faculties weren't exactly up and running, but my predecessor was there for the interview, too, and he helped me through a bit.

From the mayor's, we headed to apply for my alien registration and then on to the Board of Education where I did my self-introduction for people in various offices and sat down with the Superintendent for a chat. I was presented with my official terms of employment and then headed on my merry way to see my apartment.

I spent the rest of the day at the apartment settling in.

On Thursday I went to the BoE in the morning and then headed out to meet the staff at one of my schools, an elementary. I'm left with a really good impression of the people working there and I know that, if nothing else, I'll at least enjoy my Mondays.

I spent the rest of Thursday cooling down under the fan in my apartment.

On Friday I popped in to the BoE to let them know I was going to try to walk to my schools. Although I did try, I definitely didn't succeed. I collapsed in a sweaty mess under the A/C in my apartment until my neighbor and fellow JET dropped in. We did some shopping at the local mall, I used some of my mad Japanese skills and then we came back to the apartment.

I droped into the BoE at the end of the work day to let them know I was alive and that my adventure was only a partial success and then headed home to wait around until the party, which involved a lot of food, a lot of drinking and general merriment.

The Summer Festa/Cats Festa/random festival in Kahoku was generally amusing and made all the more exciting by Adam's arrival in Kahoku that afternoon. We ate festival food, made a quick appearance on TV, I met a bunch of my future students and one of the other JETs and I were forced into doing a traditional dance with a bunch of the ladies of the town. Plus, one of the JETs, who had shown up in a traditional yukata, was un- and re-dressed by a kimono teacher in one of the tents in the middle of the festival. Good times were had all around.

Sunday, an amateur sumo competition, a soccer game and then crashing at home.

It's a new week.

I made it

2010-07-27T20:13:00.000+09:00

I'm here after a long bus ride that followed a long wait in the immigration line which followed a very long flight which followed a slightly shorter flight.

I've now been in Japan long enough that I think tonight I will finally overcome the jet lag from the 13-hour time difference. The process of recovery has not been pretty, involving drinking absurd amounts of water and vitamin C drinks, searching for passable cold medication in Japanese and waking up every few hours starting at 2am each morning.

Despite all this, things are going well. My initial lack of any emotion--excitement, trepidation or otherwise--on the plane was eventually replaced by excitement and then, unsurprisingly, by trepidation. But the good kind of "I'm starting a new job and a new life" kind of trepidation.

The orientation panels haven't been useful in the sense that they've offered any new information (I did a lot of reading and asking around about the job to Leah and various others before showing up), but they have reassured me that this job is still pretty much what I thought it was.

I met up with Leah while she was in town to see some of her friends. We grabbed a delicious eel dinner, did a bit of karaoke for old times' sake and hung out around the Keio Plaza hotel where all of the incoming JETs are staying. I think she even had a chance to say hey to the incoming Shiojiri JETs.

I'm headed to the Komatsu Airport in Ishikawa prefecture tomorrow morning where I'll be greeted by my supervisor and at least one other JET in the area and escorted to Kahoku. Not sure if I'll be headed straight to meet the bigwigs or not, but I'll be sure to practice my self-introduction just in case.

And now I'm going to try to find people to hang out with. No reason I should be hanging out in my hotel room at 8pm in Tokyo.

The Final Push

2010-07-21T01:33:00.000+09:00

I foretold this feeling a while ago, the intermittent blind panic, the I'm-so-nervous-that-I'm-nauseous, I-can't-believe-there-are-only-days-left feeling. But the panic really is intermittent. For the most part, my biggest worries are making sure I get packed while KT's in town, getting a good haircut, exchanging my money and making sure I get in a good visit with Leah in Tokyo.

So, with 3 days to prepare including today, I'm feeling pretty good. It's mostly just hard to believe that I'm starting a new job in a new country in less than a week.

Cryptic/Confused/Nervous

2010-07-02T04:34:00.001+09:00

As I sat in my boss's office a few minutes ago discussing the trajectory of my intern work for the rest of the summer, I realized how much I'm going to miss this, the sense of competence and power. I may be doing menial tasks, but they're tasks that keep the bigger picture going. In a strange way I'm running with the big dogs, or at least nipping at their heels carrying a tote of thousands of pages of paperwork to make sure they're prepared for their next meeting.

But when I get to Japan on July 25, I start over. It doesn't matter how competent and well-spoken I am in an American workplace. When I get to use English, my eloquence won't be appreciated, and no matter how hard I try I'm still going to look like a child in an adult's suit. It's a terrifying thought. As former Student Government President/Model United Nations President/general over-achiever, the thought of being set back so far is akin to having the rug pulled out from under me, rolled up and smacked over my head.

I can only hope that the cream which rises to the top in English can also rise in Japanese.

日本語で書くこと

2010-06-25T23:57:00.000+09:00

Writing emails to my supervisor, Takemoto-san, is starting to make things slightly more real. Today I needed to write an introduction about myself for some kind of PR. I don't know if it's a newsletter/website/handout for the schools where I'll be teaching, but I took the opportunity to write it in both Japanese and English since she didn't specify.

One month to go. More than a little scary considering all the Japan-related expenses I'm incurring (new additions to the wardrobe, lots of gifts to give, et cetera). I want to leave as soon as humanly possible, I think, but a few more weeks to make bank wouldn't hurt.

Get Real

2010-06-13T11:19:00.001+09:00

I've been working at Mohawk for two weeks now and I've been in a pretty consistent routine since the second day. That's the thing about being a temp in an office environment-- you know what to expect about 97% of the time.

On the other hand, things with Japan are starting to "get real" as it were. I talked, not to my predecessor, but another ALT in Kahoku earlier today. She answered my most pressing questions about the weather, getting around, omiyage (obligatory gifts from home) and my position. I'll be teaching at one middle school and two elementary schools. There will be two other ALTs in Kahoku--Melanie, whom I talked to, and Travis. A new CIR from Germany will be arriving at the same time as me. My chat with her brought things into perspective for sure; Japan is no longer a distant dream but I thing for which I need to purge, purchase and pack (the Three P's if you will).

From what Melanie says, Kahoku doesn't get above 90F, below 20F and it rains a lot. Excellent. This gives me an excuse to use some of my hard-earned money on a pair of cute Wellies before I leave (and maybe a new Vera umbrella). All-in-all, things sound good there. Now I just have to pull myself together and really start getting things done so I'm ready come July 23.

かほく市石川県日本

2010-06-07T05:13:00.004+09:00

The summer has begun! Which means for me, the work has begun. I'm interning at Mohawk through the end of July when I had out for scenic seaside Kahoku, JAPAN. There's not much information about it, but I think I'll be teaching at middle schools primarily. I'll find out more from the Contracting Organization, the city of Kahoku, sometime this month.

I imagine that no news will be good news for duration of the summer. I may be starting up a separate blog, mostly for pictures and general thoughts, when I get to Japan. If I do, I'll of course post about it here so you can follow my adventures.

You, too, can read my Honors!

2010-05-03T03:42:00.003+09:00

If you're feeling brave, take a look at my Linguistics Honors project: http://digitalcommons.macalester.edu/ling_honors/3.

2010-04-26T09:49:00.003+09:00

Since when are two months allowed to pass without my noticing? Since I started working seriously on my Honors Thesis, apparently. In the past two months I have:

Been to the National Model United Nations conference in NYC and received an individual awards as well as two delegation awards,
Gotten into the JET Program as an Assistant Language Teacher (location TBD),
Written and defended by Honors Thesis.

Those are the big ones, at least. Now it's seven more days of class, 21 until graduation. And an overhaul of my Honors. Wow.

JET Interview

2010-02-22T11:05:00.003+09:00

I headed to Chicago early Saturday morning for my JET Program interview. I rolled into town with plenty of time to check into my centrally-located hotel, changed into my snazzy black skirt suit and grab a two-hour lunch with a friend (and his mom) from my study abroad program in Nagoya, Japan. I made my way, leisurely-like over to the Consulate, right off the Magnificent Mile--how perfect is it that Japan's Consulate is right next to the biggest consumer thoroughfare outside of New York City?--and headed up to the Japan Information Center which I knew quite well from my visit over the summer.

I arrived plenty early to chat with a few other interviewees, ask some questions of the desk workers (who were former ALTs) and generally calm down a bit before I went into the first portion of the interview at 4:25.

The interview was everything that I expected it to be presented in a totally different format. I was lulled into a false sense of security talking to the panel in English about the questions that I'd come to expect from reading hundreds of forum posts on the topic (Why JET? Why CIR? What if...?). I actually really liked the people who interviewed me, and whatever they choose in the end I will maintain that the English portion of the interview was a good experience. The Japanese portion, however, was another story entirely. I had been waiting for the English part to really throw me off-guard with tough questions but it was the simple act of reading some short passages that really got to me in the next portion. I sat in a room with a very old Japanese woman who called me out on my etiquette (apparently it's extremely rude to hand a paper back to someone backwards. Who knew?) and reprimanded me for not answering in full sentences (back to third grade reading comprehension tests, anyone? The answer is "David" whether I says "David" or "It was David."). I was already stressed out because I couldn't even read many of the words on the page for the second passage, let alone answer questions about them, so I did my best to apologize for my errors, tell the interviewer that I would remember her advice about handing people papers and bowed before making my way out. I was very shaken, which I'm sure is the point of the exercise. In retrospect, I could've been more diplomatic than afraid, but I did what I could and that's all I could do.

Fortunately for me, unlike some participants, I have other options on the table. Although getting the CIR position would be an amazing honor and a great experience, it's not the only experience I'm banking on. I'll let you all know in April how it turns out!

Quick Update

2010-02-10T14:22:00.002+09:00

Last Friday I was accepted to the University of Hawaii, Manoa's Linguistics MA program. Unfortunately, it was without funding and is one of my lower choices of schools overall. I can't use it as leverage, but it's good to know that, technically--even if not realistically--speaking, I have options.

Tonight, Macalester's Student Government adopted a logo that I made as the official logo for the org and a major Model UN event got fully funded. I aced my first two philosophy assignments ever (after much agonizing on both). Tomorrow, a meeting about my Honors project, updating my Japanese blog and heading to the gym.

Interview for the Coordinator for International Relations position with JET; before the interview I'm meeting up with a friend from study abroad who goes to Grinnell.

Things are running pretty smoothly here, and I hope you're all well!

The Last Semester (of Undergrad)

2010-02-05T03:39:00.003+09:00

I'm nearing the end of my second week of classes and despite my general exhausting, I think this is going to be an interesting and academically fruitful semester.

I'm working hard with Model UN (organizing a high school conference at Mac, preparing our delegation to go to New York, setting up a documentary film screening, planning a cultural event called In the Kitchen With), Student Government (creating a Co-Curricular Transcript from scratch, working on various projects related to academics that are less interesting to outsiders and designing a logo that might be adopted next week), my intern position in Admissions (creating the foundation of a blogging program that's sustainable once I graduate and planning for the next round of interns to interview and train) and on top of that, I'm taking four courses (Critical Thinking, Philosophy of Language, Fourth Year Japanese II and Honors Independent). I also threw my name into the hat to be considered as a Commencement speaker. And I may be working on some paid research and pursuing co-authorship of an academic paper with my advisor, Christina.

And now, back to work. I've got research to do.

So I got into grad school

2009-12-14T17:08:00.004+09:00

I received my first grad school acceptance on Thursday, to my first-choice program, no less! I've been accepted to the University of California, Santa Barbara's Linguistics doctoral program. Barring disaster, I'll be headed to Santa Barbara for three days in January for a recruitment weekend so they can woo me with all of the things that are fantastic about their program.

I think these two pictures my feelings about this acceptance. Perhaps they will also shed some light on what it is that (people think) linguistics do all day...

(In case you're now wondering the black tongue is a mixture of charcoal powder and olive oil, used to find out where on the roof of my mouth I make an English word-initial 'l' sound. I said the word "lab" to find out. And the cup with dental hygiene stuff is my friends' response to the acceptance. All they know of my days in the Linguistics Lab is the aforementioned picture, which I've plastered on my Facebook. So they gave me the tools to clean out my mouth properly.)

Grad School

2009-12-01T14:23:00.003+09:00

First app down, three to go! Hopefully with a little less stress on the next ones.

I've realized in the process of writing my statements of purpose (and choosing writing samples, getting letters of rec, assessing my future, et cetera) that Stanford is probably not my dream school. In terms of undergrad name recognition, beautiful campus, well-known Linguistics grad program, it's great. But the research just isn't up the alley I'm walking down any more.

Over the course of the semester, my interests have changed focus a lot and I didn't realize it until perusing my Analyzing Japanese Language readings; I noticed that none of the articles were published at Stanford and three were published at Santa Barbara. Three interesting ones. This isn't to say that Stanford is necessarily wrong for me--I'm definitely still applying--but that Santa Barbara might be more right than I ever realized. This won't stop me wearing my pink Stanford sweatshirt, though.

Midterms

2009-11-08T06:14:00.001+09:00

I can't even believe that midterms have come and gone. There's still plenty of work left to be done in the semester, though, and my guess is that my professors don't feel too bad about cramming the rest of it into the next month and ten days (approximately speaking). In case you were curious, here are the things I have yet to do this semester:

Apply to the Japanese Exchange and Teaching Program,
Apply to grad school,
Write a lab report on pitch in Hmong,
Give two presentations on repressed-memory cases,
Write a lab report on semantic memory processing,
Run the pilot of my Honors Thesis experiment,
Write a term paper about Vietnamese phonology,
Write a term paper about Korean/Vietnamese phonetics,
Write a term paper about transitivity in Japanese,
Find a time and plane ticket to go home!

And that's just the big stuff. There's no mention of Model UN, Student Government or life at The Bronze.

Here we go.

Rolling Along

2009-10-27T01:10:00.002+09:00

Things that I did before today...

Continued working on my Honors project (I'm submitting a proposal to the Social Sciences Institutional Review Board next week so I can start getting participants),
Applied for a $500 grant from The Action Fund to bring a high school Model United Nations conference to Macalester,
Scheduled a conversation with the Registrar about offering credit or a co-curricular transcript to students involved in experiential learning of various kinds,
Survived at least four weeks of classes,
Almost finished deciding on grad school (Stanford, UC Santa Barbara, UC Santa Cruz, University of Hawai'i, Manoa),
Started an Admissions blog that is staffed by first-year students who narrate their experience here on a weekly basis (blogs for the rest of the study body and for the student body are forthcoming. Links to all of them once they've been completely approved by Admissions),
Received three thank you letters and emails from interviewees in Admissions,
Learned how to perfectly sear a fresh salmon fillet,
Practiced making many sounds of the worlds' languages,
Followed up on a Linguistics research position in the spring,
Attended a fancy gala and been recognized as a scholarship recipient (found out that I got more money than last year's other two awardees),
Played "Capriccio Espagnol" during the Parents' Weekend sampler concert,
et cetera

Recent happenings...

Finished midterms,
Organized a group of first-year bloggers for Macalester's first ever Admissions blog,
Wrote a proposal for a co-curricular transcript,
Decided on a Halloween costume.

Things are going well. As always, no news is good news.

Epic Update

2009-09-10T10:27:00.008+09:00

This post is to inform you that I have not, in fact, died! And also to update you on my life. Here's what's happened since last time...

I did go see Jason Mraz at the Xcel Center in St. Paul. I went alone, which was a bit of a bummer, but the concert was great. The multiple encores were the best parts. Check out a clip on my flickr. Or don't.

I also mentioned a few major changes in my life. More on those:

My Honors Thesis topic has been changed to something on function word prosody in English and Japanese. I'll give you all an updated title to share with other friends and loved ones as soon as I've thought of it. My adviser is very optimistic about the potential for this project.
I might still be able to sneak my way into a top-tier grad school. I'm thinking about applying to Stanford via the East Asian Languages program, which is marginally less prestigious than the Linguistics and than transferring. Or else getting my master's at one institution and my PhD from Stanford. Christina is also helping me search for some "good fit" (as opposed to "high reach") schools in California.
I was offered a job researching with Christina, which I should be able to capitalize on in the Spring if all goes according to plan. I'll probably be reading spectrograms of Hmong speech. Don't worry if you don't know what that means. That's what one of my classes is about this semester!
I was also offered an internship with Global Classrooms again for this school year. I'll likely be too busy to take the paid position, but I'd like to keep working with them for the experience.
National Collegiate Conference Association contacted me specifically about an internship in their offices (for fall, January or spring). They're the umbrella organization for the National Model United Nations Conference. If things pan out, I'd love to get experience with them during January. I guess we'll see!

"And how about that trip to California?" you ask? Some highlights:

Mandalay Bay in Las Vegas. Comped meals, rooms and hangout. Also, much generosity from Lisa's mom and uncle.
Love, the Cirque du Soleil show based on Beatles music. Unbelievable. A serious highlight of all the concerts/shows/plays I've seen in my day.
Exploring San Francisco and meeting Lisa's family (including Miss Kelly and Stinky Wing, AKA her younger brother Eric). This involved great cafes, tasty wines, meeting up with Joe in Berkeley, Kara's Cupcakes, The Presidio and even a little bit of time to chill out and catch up with Lisa after a summer apart.
STANFORD. Perfect, amazing, out of this world. I bought a sweatshirt which I intend to wear as often as possible to improve my chances of acceptance. Don't try to tell me this won't work, because I'm already convinced. I will get my PhD there.
Redesigning and housewarming The Bronze.

Last, but not least: today!

Waking up at 7am to get to the gym. Tough work, but it really got my day going. Now I understand why people go in the morning rather than the evening (which I've been doing all summer).
First day of classes. I took Cognitive Psychology, Experimental Linguistics and Sounds of Language. Tomorrow is my Senior Capstone for Japanese: Analyzing Japanese Language. I'm very optimistic about all of these.
A successful meeting about Honors with Christina.
Preparation for a surprise that I will hopefully post here on Friday or Saturday.

And in the near future?

Model United Nations prep, including an Org Fair to recruit new students.
My new computer (a MacBook Pro named Pavel), which will hopefully arrive tomorrow.

In conclusion? I shouldn't wait so long between posts!

2009-08-21T05:40:00.003+09:00

I haven't updated much this summer because it didn't seem like there was much positive to say. Not to say that things have been negative, but 8:30-5pm, Monday through Friday I spend in an office stuffing envelopes, giving tours and running errands. With the rest of my time, I did nothing that warranted a post.

Now, though, on the eve of my one-week trip to California, things have taken a turn for the exciting. The trip itself will be fantastic; Lisa and I are going to spend a weekend in Vegas where we have tickets for Cirque du Soleil. The rest of our time will be spent in and around the Bay Area and is to include: farmer's market, Sonoma Valley, artisan chocolate, shopping in Berkeley and various other good times.

Before that, though, I have to go see Jason Mraz in concert this evening.

The other causes for my excitement are: a change in my Honors Thesis topic and really excellent advising for grad school. It would be pointless to try to type out all of the things I talked about with Christina, but suffice it to say, my prospects for post-graduation are much more hopeful.

Also, within the past week, I've been offered two jobs and one internship opportunity. Joanna got her groove back.

It Runs in the Family

2009-07-28T00:26:00.003+09:00

We've been telling mom for years that she just needs to suck it up and audition for Jeopardy. Seriously, trivia runs in our blood. I was part of a team that proved that last week, with the Admissions (plus some) team at trivia night.

Check it out! Just scroll down to the bottom. And the name, Team Crazed? That was my brainchild.

Chicago

2009-07-11T05:09:00.003+09:00

Seeing as it's now been more than a week since I went to Chicago, I suppose it's time for a final write-up.

I left last Wednesday afternoon, planning to catch the Megabus at 1pm. Unfortunately, after waiting at the stop for over an hour, we found out that the 1:00 bus had been canceled. After some yelling on the part of other customers, we all got seats on the 3:00pm Megabus, so I took a city bus over to the University of Minnesota campus where my friend Adam was waiting to board the same Megabus. I grabbed some lunch and chilled in a park and then went to catch the Megabus which did show up.*

The bus ride was a very uneventful nine hours. Once at Union Station, our Couchsurfing host picked us up and took us to his house on the northern edge of the city, where we met his girlfriend and had the public transit explained to us so Adam and I could get to the Consulate General of Japan (where he had paperwork to drop off and I had a language exam and interview for the MEXT Research Scholarship). After hanging out for a bit with our hosts (Shane and Lindsey), we crashed for the evening and woke up for an early commute into downtown.

The Japanese test was extremely difficult. Becuase I'm functionally illiterate in Japanese (I need to learn about 1,100 more kanji before I'm literate), it was very difficult to take the equivalent of an SAT Reading Comprehension test. I did what I could in the hour I had, took the supplementary English test and headed out for lunch at the Taste of Chicago, where I had a catfish po' boy, sweet potato cheescake and a roasted cob of corn (yes, in that order). Adam stuck around at Taste for a bit longer and I headed back to the Japan Information Center (at the Consulate) to do the interview portion of my day.

The interview went as well as it could've. The panel was very interested in my research, but concerned about the scope of it, which involves some social issues, as opposed to purely psychological or pedagogical ones. I answered a few of their questions in Japanese and asked them a few of my own. Generally, I felt good about it and stuck around for an hour or so to wait for the other applicants to finish their interviews. One of them, Emily, was interested in studying a specific type of art. She had already spent three years in Kyoto as a JET, but is engaged to a Japanese guy and really ready to get back to research on someone else's dollar. After she finished her interview, she was really stressed out, so she, Adam and I went out to relax/celebrate with a few drinks. We hung out at TGI Fridays, went to a Japanese hole-in-the-wall and rounded out the evening by meeting up with one of her high school friends who took us to a really classy bar on the roof of a hotel, where he treated us to a $45 pitcher of sangria. I wasn't complaining.

After hanging out with Emily and Amit for a while, Adam and I headed over to The Congress where we were seeing an Explosions in the Sky concert. The concert itself was fantastic and we took public transit back to Shane's place, still in a bit of an awesome-music-induced coma. Some of their friends were still at the house, so we sat around for a bit while they played cards. Afterwards, Lindsey showed me a bunch of her travel photos (various national parks in the US and Canada, all around Puerto Rico and some others).

The next day (Friday), we all got up around 10am and Lindsey made pancakes for us. After enjoying a leisurely breakfast, Shane took us to the train station and we headed in to downtown to catch a 1pm Megabus. Unfortunately, without our knowing it, we'd been rescheduled to leave at 10:30pm on Thursday (when we were still in the concert) and we'd just watched the 12pm bus to Minneapolis roll by. We tried to hang out at Dunkin Donuts, but they lost power and we were forced back onto the street. Adam found a "cave" (AKA a place with some trees and some shade) across the street from the Megabus stop where we hung out for about three hours. Luckily, we were able to get on the 3:30pm bus. Not so luckily, I was sitting next to the largest, snoringest man to ever ride the Megabus. He crowded at least half of my seat so that it was uncomfortable to sit. Later, he snored so loudy and juicily that I couldn't even drown it own with my music. Then my headphones broke. By the end of the ride, I felt a little insane and I was very much ready to be done with the Megabus. On the upside, I ate Taco Bell at the rest stop (although the didn't have chalupas).

Adam and I grabbed a city bus back towards Mac (he lives a few blocks past my apartment) and the adventure was done.

Today, I found out that I wasn't recommended by the Consulate to receive the scholarship. So it goes.

*The Megaubs is notorious for being late, not showing up, not accomodating all of its paid customers, et cetera. But it is the cheapest mode of transportation around the Midwest.

More Bronze

2009-06-09T14:43:00.001+09:00

More pictures of the apartment can be found over at my flickr. The apartment is slowly becoming a real living space. A coat of paint on my walls really helped that process along. We still have a lot of painting to do in the common spaces, but it's feeling more like home every day.

Not much else to report. Even if I don't update here, I may be posting new pictures on the flickr, so be sure to check within the next week or two!

My Apartment

2009-06-05T01:03:00.002+09:00

Also known as The Bronze, my apartment is located at 1722 Grand Avenue in Saint Paul, Minnesota. Katie and I have both moved in (at least partially), but I still need a desk and a dresser before I can really start to make things happen.

On the agenda for this weekend? A painting party! You can check out some pictures of the empty apartment on my flickr.

Work in Admissions is quiet, but fun. I like my group of co-workers and it looks to be an interesting summer.

Finals and Final Destinations

2009-05-07T15:06:00.003+09:00

I am tantalizingly close to being done with my junior year at Macalester. I'm sitting in the library (it's a little after 1 a.m.) working on my final paper for Race & Ethnicity in Japan. After I finish these 10-12 pages (due at tomorrow at 5 p.m.), I have a little more than a day to review for my Japanese final exam, which should be a breeze if my solid A is anything by which to judge.

I found out recently that I'm approved to write an Honors Thesis next year. I'll be doing an interdisciplinary paper between Linguistics, Cognitive and Neuroscience Studies and Japanese. I would illuminate the topic, but I'm sure it will be of little interest or relevance to your lives. Perhaps once a have a title for it (about one year from now), I will be sure to inform you all.

And speaking of the future, I ought to update you all on my post-graduation ambitions:

Graduate school (Stanford and UCLA are my top picks, currently. Also in the running are Berkeley, UPenn, Chicago and Yale.)
Fulbright Fellowship in Japan
JET in Japan

It's an intimidating list to the initiated; top-tier universities in Linguistics, a highly coveted one-year fellowship, almost-as-highly-coveted teaching positions throughout Japan. I don't think anyone ever accused me of being a slacker.

Realistically, I am going to graduate school, but it's a matter of when. If I received a Fulbright, there is no question that I would take it as first pick and defer graduate school for a year (assuming I'm accepted somewhere). If I don't get in to graduate school or Fulbright, Macalester has an excellent track record with JET (and following in Leah's footsteps probably doesn't hurt). JET would likely look great when I (theoretically) re-apply to grad school. And trust me, I've been thinking of some of the worst-case scenarios. In these, I work as a barista for a year studying Japanese, preparing for the GRE and staying in touch with Mac profs.

It's time to rummage for some money to buy my caffeine fix.

Wishing you all the best!

Fourth Year

2009-04-22T02:28:00.004+09:00

Things are moving right along, straight towards the end of classes, finals and my brief return to Chattanooga. Since my last post I:

Was hired as an Admissions Intern for next year's work study,
Was hired for a full-time summer position in Admissions,
Was elected Secretary General (read: President) of MUN for 2009-2010 and
Registered for my fall classes (Analyzing Japanese Language, Sounds of Language, Experimental Linguistics and Cognitive Psychology)

A shorter list than last time, but a significant one. This means that I have plans and an income for the summer, a promotion for the school-year and all of the classes that I need to keep me on track to graduate with my B.A. in Linguistics (Cognitive Track) and Japanese Language.

Life is stressful now, but things are looking good. I've been doing working at local MUN conferences, navigating my way through loads of coursework, pairing up prospective students to stay overnight with current students and somehow still finding time to update you all about it and hang out with my friend Catie who's just returned from a semester in Italy.

For those I won't see at the end of May, I wish you all the best. And for those that I will, I can't wait to see you!

Love,
Joanna

The Way Things Go

2009-04-01T10:29:00.005+09:00

Sometimes you get lucky, I've learned. Recently, I:

Was hired by the United Nations Association of Minnesota,
Leased an apartment for my senior year at Macalester,
Finished interviewing and applying for a number of summer and school-year jobs and internships.

I'm still waiting to hear the results of the third, but I'm hoping I'll be able to work in Admissions for the summer and as an Admissions Intern in the next school year. I will, of course, keep you all updated when I hear what my plans are.

Just as great as all of this is the possibility of my going home for a few weeks this summer! It will have been a calendar year since I was in Chattanooga and all of the recent stress with jobs, MUN, housing and school made me pretty homesick. With the apartment leased, I'll be able to go home for a few weeks after I see people off at graduation and then come back on June 1 to start my (pending) job.

There's still a lot to be done, especially in terms of Model UN, but I thought I ought to post some of the good stuff before I end up ranting about the bad again.

Thinking of you all,

Moving Along

2009-03-21T03:58:00.003+09:00

I forget every year just how intense this part of the semester is. You'd think I'm referring to midterms, but I'm actually referring to Spring Break! Right about now, everything starts to kick into high gear -- classes, work study, the perpetual summer job search -- and attempts to leave me totally in the dust. This year, however, I feel like I stand a fighting chance. In the last two days I have:

Set up an interview for the Admissions Intern school year job position
Set up an interview for the Admissions Assistant summer job position
Submitted an application to the United Nations Association of Minnesota to become an MUN Trainer

In the next few days, I'll be finishing up midterms (Spring Break isn't really a break at all, much to my dismay each year); giving a few tours; following up on financial aid and housing for next year; interviewing for my various jobs; following up with the Japan America Society of Minnesota about a summer internship; preparing my MUN team to go to NYC in about two weeks; and trying not to completely lose my head.

On a less business-oriented note, one of my best friends whom I met in Japan came to visit Minnesota last Thursday through Sunday. I'll be sure to post pictures on flickr soon, so check back. It was great to see him again and I am more firmly resolved to get a job that will pay me enough to let me visit friends and relatives in New England this summer.

Received a belated birthday box from my Japanese host family filled with my favorite foods and a few accessories. Far too kind and far too nice, but I don't think they can help themselves. I'm going to snail-mail my thank you so I can use my own handwriting to pen the thank-you.

Trying not to be too down about the fact that Spring Break is almost over. Tomorrow starts a normal weekend: lots of homework (Syntax assignment and midterm paper for Race & Ethnicity), planning for Model UN, and an increase in my overall stress level.

Why can't break really be a break? At least the weather's changing...

Coming of Age

2009-03-10T11:47:00.002+09:00

It's official now. I've been 21 years old for two days now, and I'm only getting older.

My birthday weekend was a great success. Friday night was Founder's Day, the formal gala at Macalester. Professors, students and alums show up for an evening of (usually) salsa music and revelry. I made an appearance in a smashing gown with a group of gorgeous friends. Although the mood wasn't great all around, I had a fantastic time. I love seeing people dressed up, and I love being dressed up myself. You can see all of my pictures on my flickr account.

Saturday night, my actual birthday, was a lot of fun as well. I enjoyed two Strawberry Lemonade Mimosas with my shrimp quesadilla and played board and video games with a big group of my friends. It's always stressful playing hostess, but I think everyone had a good time. Becoming an adult (for the second time, I suppose) was anticlimactic. I've come to expect it by now, however, since every birthday is highlighted only by the time spent with friends and family, as opposed to watching my life tick past.

But don't get me started on the passage of time!

There's a lot to be done before Spring Break this Friday, but I'm taking it in stride. Model UN is going well -- the team's really shaping up beyond my expectations -- and classes continue to hold my interest. I can't say I realized just how crazy the rules of English grammar were until I studied them in-depth, though.

Mostly, I'm just trying to enjoy my time here without worrying too much about the future, which includes grad school applications, studying for the GRE, possible summer internships and lots of homework. Not to mention a visit from Phil and chairing at a local MUN conference next week.

All-in-all, I can't complain. I'm looking forward to the future, though getting old certainly makes me nostalgic about the past!

Making an Effort

2009-02-17T06:26:00.004+09:00

I'm making a true effort to turn things around here this semester. Despite an emergency situation with Model UN (one of our delegates just quit) and an increasing amount of work otherwise, I'm staying positive.

My birthday's in less than a month, my best friend from Japan -- an American -- might be visiting over Spring Break and although Model UN is a lot of work now, I'm going to New York City for a week in April!

Now, to save money so I can enjoy all of the above.

Thinking of you all,
Joanna

P.S. I got a haircut.

Coming Home

2009-02-04T09:03:00.002+09:00

I just slipped on ice for the third time this season. I think that about sums up my time since being back in the States. It's been feeling like I'm acclimated and prepared to face my normal life again, only to step wrong and be thrown onto the ground (hands, butt and side first, depending on which time).

To be honest, I didn't know what to expect as far as re-entry shock, but it wasn't this. Even being busy hasn't helped like I thought it would. I don't want this blog to become some kind of terrible downer, but at the moment, despite things going relatively well, I feel as though there's nothing good to report. The first Model UN meeting of the semester is this week, but all I feel about that at the moment is guilt that I haven't finished reading my committee guide or even begun research.

I wanted to let you all know that I am still alive, healthy as far as I know, and likely to recover from all of this shock relatively soon. I'll post again then.

"Home" Again (Where is home these days, anyway?)

2009-01-14T06:17:00.002+09:00

I'm back in Minnesota now, settling into my new digs. I've been here since last Monday, but I'd been living off of the same things I'd been using in Japan. Today, however, my old roommate Meg brought over what I'd been storing at her house and now this is starting to feel like a real room. When I get some more poster strips, I'll even have decorations on the walls! The most important part of this transition, however, has been acquiring my office supplies and stationery.

There's not much to report here besides moving in, though. I work about three hours each morning at the Admissions office, but I'm not going back to Target. Although I'm starting to feel like I'm not busy enough, I was absolutely miserable there, and I've decided not to torture myself again. Although this won't yield me much income, I think I'll enjoy having a "break" as opposed to "a span of time in which I work just as hard, but differently, as during the semester." I'm a bit nervous about my decision, as I never have this much free time on my hands, but what's done is done and I will make the best of having a life to myself.

The major upside to this really free schedule is being able to do some research and planning for Model United Nations. This semester I've become president (long story) and I'm representing The Gambia in the Food & Agriculture Organization at the national conference in New York.

When my room's complete, I'll post some pictures over on flickr.

さようなら、日本

2009-01-05T10:13:00.002+09:00

I have one minute of paid time left on the airport computer in Nagoya.

Wish me luck on the trip back!

Much love and thanks for reading,
Joanna

Hello, Tokyo

2008-12-30T18:48:00.002+09:00

Today's the first day of our Tokyo excursion. Jade is taking a nap, Leah is out at some crazy event (I haven't bothered to try understanding its significance) and I figured I'd steal some Internet and make a post while I have the pictures fresh from my camera. We got up early and headed to Matsumoto to catch a bus which got us to Tokyo in a little over three hours. There were great views of the mountains in Nagano, but none of them looked particularly stunning caught on camera.

After arriving, we found our way to the hotel, dropped off our bags and set off. Leah and Jade were hankering for Mexican (of all things, right?), so we headed to Ikebukuro, home of young shopping centers and unimaginable amounts of anime (according to Leah, Akihabara, which used to be electronics and anime/manga goods is now more electronics-focused and a lot of the other goods have shifted over to Ikebukuro). We grabbed a great meal, served totally improperly, and headed to scout out the area.

Leah had to head out early for her event so I accompanied Jade to find gold shoes (not pictured anywhere yet) and she dealt with me while I perused the Sanrio store. She even helped me through the hard time of being unable to purchase the most fantastic pencil pouch/clutch purse ever to have existed.

Who knows what's ahead, but you can check my photos out on my new flickr account. I ran out of space on the old one, so I'm posting my last few days in the new account. My old photos will remain where they've always been, and both links are posted on the side of the blog (just look right).

Christmas Update

2008-12-26T15:51:00.003+09:00

Christmas this year was definitely not normal, but it turned out to be a lot fun. After a bad evening of sleep (due to watching scary TV and sleeping on a cold floor), I took a freezing shower and headed out to Leah's middle school to teach about authentic American Christmas. We helped them design stockings and snowflakes and taught them that candy canes are not, in fact, sticks and that there is no such thing has Christmas cake in America. I even got some of the stockings back from the girls! One of them had a really cute collectible strap in it. I put it on my phone straight away.

After getting back from school, we both took naps. When Leah went to the station to pick up Jade, I made a Christmas feast (check flickr for pictures). We had a spicy tofu stew, fried meat with soy sauce marinade and a salad with delicious sesame dressing. Leah and Jade brought back some pumpkin crocquets and fried chicken (the latter as per Japanese tradition) and we enjoyed ourselves. We opened presents and even watched Home Alone (and let me tell you, it's amazing the things you miss in a movie like that when you're a kid).

We finally ripped into the traditional Christmas cake and I even ate the sugar-Santa's face and limbs.

All-in-all, a good day.

Thinking about everyone (even the Japan-deserters). Merry Christmas!

Merry Christmas

2008-12-24T12:02:00.003+09:00

I've settled down at Leah's for the holidays. Things are simultaneously not nearly as cold and much colder than I expected. The room where we hang out most of the time is heated by a makeshift kotatsu, a Japanese-style table with a blanket and heater. The heater in the bedroom, on the other hand, has no gas and is therefore not running. Leah refuses to realize how cold it is because her bed is comfortably warm by means of an electric blanket (trust me, I know the difference. I slept in it for a few hours this morning after she left for work!).

Despite the cold, which isn't actually actually very cold compared to Minnesota standards, things have been awfully fun here. We've watched some Japanese and American TV, I've met Jade with whom we'll spend Christmas. There's been a lot of chilling and a fair amount of me pulling a mom on Leah (forcing her to clean where she doesn't want to, cooking her real food that I ate at my homestay, etc.). I'm not sure if she likes it or hates it, but she'll have to deal!

Since I know she won't, I'll try to you all posted as to our goings-on and hijinks in Shiojiri and Tokyo. My flickr account has almost run out of space to store images (they are pulling some nonsense about a Premium Account. Who can afford that right before Christmas?), but feel free to check out the old ones again, and I'll hopefully post some of our Christmas so you all can join in the Japanese traditions (Christmas cake and fried chicken, if we can make it happen).

Other than Leah's place, I'm doing better than I thought I would without the people who left. In a weird way, it was like they were preparing me for their departure -- we spent less time together, were sometimes a bit annoyed because of finals and impending flights home, etc -- and I guess it worked. I miss people like crazy, but it doesn't feel as though my arm has fallen off, which I suspected it might. That's not to say I didn't cry like a baby at the airport, and again that evening while watching MTV!

Hopefully I'll post again soon!

The Final Countdown

2008-12-05T14:55:00.004+09:00

It`s almost impossible to believe that I`m already writing this entry, to be honest. Now that things are coming to an end (don`t confuse that statement with "winding down"), I can say that this semester has almost felt like an extremely protracted stint at a camp. At the same time, I can remember extremely clearly eating breakfast with KT and C. Sklu before they dropped me off at the airport. It`s frightening to think that I`m going back to that in about a month.

Right now I`m trying not to think about those extra two weeks because there`s so much to do in the interim. I have way too many tests, papers, presentations and going-away parties to attend. I also have some amazing friends to see off at the airport. So, as excited as I will be to see Mac again, I feel like a very important chapter of my life is coming to a close.

Honestly, the people I`ve met here aren`t ones that I want to leave behind, and I feel like I shouldn`t have to. But we all have our own lives at our home institutions, in our own countries, to which we must eventually get back. It will be hard to say goodbye to certain people, but I`m trying to think of it as "see you later." We`re worldly kids; we came here, to a place where we expected to understand little to nothing and survived. We`re also the kind of people who are likely to come back, likely run across each other in New York, Washington D.C. or Nagoya in the future. So I`m sad in the short-term, but determined to meet people again. This is not the end, this is not even the beginning of the end...

I love Mac, the people there, the buildings on campus, the things that I`m studying, but I`m so convinced that this semester has been important mentally, academically, spiritually and socially, that I can barely stand the thought of leaving it, even for a place I consider home. Because now, Japan feels like something of a home to me, too. It`s my house that I go back to in the evenings, my neck of the woods and my university. So as much as leaving town will feel like leaving all of that behind, it won`t be. I`ll be back, whether Japan likes it or not.

メヌエット

2008-11-30T13:46:00.003+09:00

Had a breakthrough evening with the host-sisters last night. Early in the evening, my host-mom was veritably screeching at the younger (Reina) because she wasn`t practiving piano adequately and they have a concert coming up in December. By dinner, she`d cooled down but asked me if I liked practicing flute when I was a kid. I answered honestly that I didn`t, but eventually it grew on me. I don`t quite know how to say "practicing can`t be forced; the spirit has to move" in Japanese, so I settled with that much. But later, I asked Reina if she`d like me to play flute while she played piano on her concert piece. She didn`t like the idea, but I brought my flute down anyway and everyone in the family flipped.

I had an evening full of "concerts" with both Reina and Airi where we alternated parts on the piano piece and I accompanied on flute. I even played a little piano! After that, they both insisted I give them flute lessons. Airi managed to get some noise out of the head-joint of my flute, which excited her to end. Afterwards, we played Uno and they let me borrow their copy of a manga I`ve been wanting to read.

I woke up late today and immediately worried that it had been some dream; certainly I hadn`t gotten through to Airi after all this time! But when I came downstairs, they immediately wanted to play Uno with me again, and we talked about the shows that were playing on Disney channel.

So it`s taken three months to get here, but I`ve officially befriended all of my host siblings. This is going to make the last leg of my stay here so much more enjoyable.

Somewhere for the Holidays

2008-11-28T13:37:00.004+09:00

Happy Belated Thanksgiving!

I sort of celebrated yesterday by having both a tiramisu cream-cup and an eclair for dessert while I sat at the homestay alone last night. Before that, I MCed for a Japanese class event. That is to say, there was no break from school. Instead, it`s been a crazy week and it`s only going to get worse. Not only are we meant to be wrapping up our years in terms of paperwork, the workload has increased exponentially.

One presentation and test down this week. Next week, another presentation and a quiz every day in class. The week after, two papers. And then I`m just dangerously close to going home, which seems both impossibly and infinitely depressing. I didn`t really have a noticeable culture shock coming here, so my life here has honestly been pretty great. Which means, I`m pretty sure, that reverse culture shock will be absolutely terrible. I`m trying not to think about it too much now, but it`s definitely something that worries.

Fortunately, I got some mail from KT, which brightened my week. I know things are going to get tough here, but I`m going to keep my head up and make my way through. I do have the post-semester to look forward to, however. I`ll be hanging out with Leah in Shiojiri (even though I`m going with her to work on Christmas Eve and Christmas) and Tokyo, through the New Year. On the slighter less exciting side of that, all of the really good friends I`ve made in Nagoya will be going home on the 20th and 21st of this month.

This is me, mentally preparing for the onslaught.

Edit Journal Entries

2008-11-26T13:08:00.003+09:00

In lieu of something brand new, I present to you my most recent update to JASM, the group that gave me my travel scholarship.

When I decided to sit down and right another update, I couldn’t believe almost a whole month had passed since the second quarter ended! For my lateness, I apologize, but the extra three weeks have been sufficient time to realize that I’ve made great strides in different aspects of my life. Not only have I traveled with my study abroad group to Kyoto, but I’ve also forged my own path to Osaka, Koya-san and Ise for a whirlwind three-day adventure, gathering interviews along the way. Approaching strangers is difficult enough in English, but my Japanese held up to the pressure (much better than my continence to the stress of traveling, at least).
The ensuing time, in which I’ve conducted another interview, reconnected with an exchange student I met in elementary school, taken a midterm in Japanese, and received confirmation of my registration for the JLPT, has been plenty to realize that my language skills have truly improved. I’ve been willing to admit along the way that I’ve matured academically and emotionally, but it was truly a surprise to see how much language facility has actually improved. In the most recent chapter of my textbook, I read a two-page essay about America’s first contact with Japan; I learned the words for shipwreck, Japanese isolationism and whaling vessel and also realized that I can comprehend sentences written in passive and causative-passive when I previously struggled to distinguish them both from the potential form.
As excited as I am to see my language skills progressing, some days I still feel like I’m getting nowhere. I can proudly recall words like hyouryuusha and taiheiyousensou, but I recently had to look up “wet” and “dry” because we’ve yet to learn them in class. So, while I’m pleased with my academic comprehension, some days at the homestay are still a trial. I talked with my host-mother about the American presidential election with relative ease, but when I forgot which button to press to dry my clothes quickly, it became a guessing game of charades and katakana-Japanese. Fortunately, the host-siblings are content to talk about the newest Sanrio characters and their love for Japanese pop bands. My fifth-grade sister can still out-read me, but I showed up the younger in a game of “who can make the craziest face.”
Aside from the language, I’m becoming accustomed life in Japan in smaller ways. In Osaka, I was completely taken aback when I was expected to stand on the right side of escalators while people passed on the left. In Nagoya, people stand in what I’ve come to think of as the “Japanese” way, i.e. everything opposite the way it’s done in the United States. Around town, cars feel like they’re driving on the correct side now, and walking on the left feels normal. Unfortunately, I still haven’t figured out sidewalk etiquette, which caused me to graze a passing bike just this week. But one day before I leave, I’d like to be able to navigate a street without breaking out in a nervous sweat. If can’t, at least I know how to say hokousha.

Finally!

2008-11-14T15:51:00.002+09:00

No stable Internet connection for Joanna, hence the lack of posts and pictures. But! I got up stuff from my last two trips (Osaka, Koya-san, Ise; Kyoto and Arashiyama) on flickr today, so there's finally some new stuff for you to look at!

It seems like a lot has been going on lately, but when I try to enumerate the things, it's pretty difficult. I'm mostly registered for my classes at Mac (Advanced Japanese II, English Syntax, Race & Ethnicity in Japan), but still waiting for Sociolinguistics to open up so I can take it.

At Nanzan, things are gearing up, too. I say gearing up, but even approaching finals time here is more like an average day at Macalester. It just goes to show how spoiled I've become by the college system here. Things are slowly piling up, and the teachers here really like to assign group projects, which makes coordinating difficult. I'm not looking forward to what's ahead, so I'm trying to take things one day at a time and not stress out. Easier said than done, as I'm a huge worrier.

On the brighter side of things, Leah's visiting Nagoya next week! She has a long weekend, so I'm going to show her around and she'll stay over at my homestay for the evening. That same weekend, I'm also seeing as shamisen concert as part of the IES programming. I'm pretty excited about it!

On the stress wavelength, I'm already freaking out about moving back home. A few weeks ago, I realized I was going to have to get most of my luggage home ahead of me so I can travel efficiently on trains to do my research after the semester ends. Probably time to get on that so I don't have to worry later! Because if there's a cheap way to do it, I don't care how long it takes to do. I'm all about thrift these days.

Macalester Update

2008-11-04T16:08:00.002+09:00

This has nothing to do with Japan, but if you`ve stuck with me this far, you may be interested to know I`ve picked my course schedule. I don`t register until the 12th, so it`s not completely final, but I`m planning to take:

Advanced Japanese II
English Syntax
Sociolinguistics
Translation Japanese (counts as my Japanese capstone course)

Also (and I apologize for not letting you know the news sooner, mom and dad!), I`ve been accepted to live in the Japan House! I`ll be living with Steve, who I know, and Aurora, who I`ve yet to meet. I think it`ll be a great opportunity. I`ll still be able to speak Japanese, I`ll have a single room, my own kitchen and the chance to plan cultural events. All-in-all, it feels like a good deal to me.

I`m still triple-checking my graduation plans in preparation for next year`s insanity. Unless they decide not to offer courses they planned to, I`m as set a I ever was (the department has to waive Artificial Intelligence for me, and I`m taking Japanese Phonology here instead of Phonology at Mac).

So that`s the update! Pictures to go on flickr soon!

Telepathic Mothers

2008-11-03T10:46:00.003+09:00

I`m back from the trip! It was absolutely exhausting, and I therefore spent all of yesterday recuperating. I eventually left the house to hang out with friends, after eleven hours of sleep, vacuuming my floor and playing some flute.

I think it would be legit to describe the trip as a successful failure. Or a failed success. I`m not entirely sure which is more appropriate. In any case, the directions and reservations I`d made served us relatively well. Sometimes. I would say more of the trip was spent on traveling than it was on relaxing and sightseeing. In any case, I saw some major temples and shrines in Japan (Ise, Koya-san) and hung out in Osaka, where bikes don`t seem to have any control or bell, but they all squeak like crazy. Had some delicious curry, conducted a few interviews, went to an awesome aquarium (Love you, flat-shark!).

Going to Koya-san was reminiscient of being in Chattanooga. Koya-san was absolutely the boonies. It was atop a mountain accessible to tourists only by cable car, and Phil feared he`d lost his phone service for a brief time (I think this would be totally unheard of in Japan, and as such, was unconcerned). The town was closing up as we arrived to unavoidable delay, but we managed to catch the main attractions, snag some great pictures and get caught in a really spiritual moment at the main structures.

The next morning could be described by me as "unmitigated disaster." The directions I`d gotten online were wrong, and we were already two hours behind by the time we got to the first wrong station. In the end, we made it to Ise, but I managed to lead us to some pretty shrines, but not the Ise shrine we`d wanted to see.

To treat ourselves, we paid for the limited express train back to Nagoya, chilled with a beer near the station and then headed home. When I can get more stable Internet, I`ll be sure to post some pictures, because there are plenty of great ones.

Buddhism, ahoy!

2008-10-29T20:32:00.004+09:00

About time for a new post, huh? In any case, Nanzan University is preparing to hold its school festival. This means a rare and well-deserved break for the exchange students and anyone not involved in a club or circle on campus. For me, this means heading down to Osaka as well as some historical sites in Koya-san and Ise. It`ll give me a chance to get out of Nagoya, explore some historical sites with my scholarship money and, of course, try to coax some interviews out of the locals. The last part will be by far the most difficult, but maybe by going to cheap dives for food, I`ll be able to fraternize with the locals.

In addition to these fun times ahead, it turns out I didn`t completely bomb my midterm. Although the professors railed on us for twenty minutes concerning our oral ineptitude, I seem to be one of the lucky few who made it out alive and mostly unscarred. Oddly, this just motivates me to study more so I can rock they final, which they insist will be much more difficult.

Hope everyone`s doing well! I know I`ll be having a fun few days, in any case.

A Title in English!

2008-10-21T22:25:00.004+09:00

I've fallen so far behind that I've certainly no chance of catching up, so I'll leave you with a few brief impressions of the things that have happened since my last post:

Old towns, cults, long and fulfilling bus rides, ceramic plates, solitude.

Frustration, anxiety, accomplishment, annoyance.

Vineyards, translation, middle-aged men, raw horse, middle-schoolers.

Good luck owls, phone straps, castles, crowded subways, meeting of two worlds, amusement, delicious meat.

Miyazaki Hayao, interesting revelations, prayer, sleeping in, falling behind.

I can only hope these impressions will mean something to me later, because I'm simply too tired to update about all that I've missed.

But now I've caught up, so there's no need to worry! Once my Internet connection is slightly more stable, you'll actually be able to see some of these things on my flickr (as always, the link is on your right).

I'm thinking of you all, but I'm mostly thinking of myself this days. Japan leaves me plenty of time for introspection, and I've been using it. I'll hopefully get back into the swings of things fairly soon, for those interested.

津島秋祭り

2008-10-05T19:39:00.003+09:00

Today was by far the most rewarding cultural day I've had since being in Japan. Also, it was loads of fun. I traveled about an hour with a friend to attend the fall festival in Tsushima. I can't believe I even considered not going this morning! I'm just going to give a chronological run-down, because this day deserves it...

Kaitlyn and I took the subway and train out to Tsushima and met some people at the station there. Two were with their host families, which turned out to be a blessing later. Although it was raining a bit, the festival was waiting to get started full-force. Before anything got started, however, we were spotted by a very excitable guy who wanted to talk with us, both in English and Japanese. Eventually he rushed off because he was one of the bearers of the floats (yamaboko).

There were about ten yamaboko, each huge deals with a portion on top that housed puppets (as always, see my flickr for pictures!). As we later found out, each yamabokowas a different town. The people carrying them first tilted them and spun them around on their wheels. This lasted for ages, and it wasn't hard to see that the bearers were exhausted. We later found out that their sustenance came in the form of lots and lots of alcohol.

The yamabokoeventually began moving in a procession down the main street towards the shrine, and along the way they would stop briefly, spin for a while and keep moving. Inside each was a group of musicians with flutes, drums, etc. and plenty of people walking right behind them to supply snacks and support. Pretty early on, our big group of foreigners was tapped by an elderly town leader and he sort of took us under his wing. First, he gave us the same headbands that the yamaboko-bearers were wearing (sweet!). He even gave Kaitlyn a pin like his own, which signified her as a town "boss." This nice man will forever remain in our hearts as Boss, I think, because of his explanation of his position. He explains the proceedings to us as we go along and gives us plenty of pamphlets, postcards and information about the festival and his town (Asahi).

At some point, we fall back and wait to let some more of the festival pass us (the Asahi yamaboko was first in line). The excitable guy from earlier finds us and insists that we take pictures with their float and its crew! Hilarity ensued, and we got plenty of it on film. They were the most visually and audibly drunk of all the yamaboko, and it was pretty hilarious. They were a lot of fun.

Eventually, we caught up to the Asahi group again, and Boss took us under his wing once more. This time, he let some of us pose with the yamaboko, and a few even got to move it! Apparently it's as exhausting as it looks. By this point, we've not only participated in this Festival in ways that are probably normally not allowed, but we've been caught on film by news crews and random passers-by who don't feel in shame in whipping out the camera and waiting for us to pose for them. It's all pretty amusing.

As things progress, Boss instructs some of his crew to take off their outer jackets/robes so we can pose in them. Ridiculosity! We do so happily, feeling a bit guilty that we've been treated like total royalty. And it's only going to get crazier. As we approach the shrine at the end, Boss has us all crowd into a shop and proceeds to buy local snacks for us. Mind you, this isn't the stall food on the streets, it's in a store. We're completely flipping out by this point, because we have no idea how we're going to thank this guy.

We move on to the shrine where Boss shows us how to throw in the coin and do the clapping prayer (bow twice, clap twice, bow once more). We get a quick tour of the shrine, grab some hot tea, and then head back out to watch some more of the festival. At some point, Boss departs. He gave his address to one of the families so they could send him pictures, so I'm going to draft a thank-you note.

From the festival (which still wasn't over. I hear it had a couple hours left), we headed to Nell's homestay/temple. We had sushi, sweets, matcha and amazake. We chatted with her host mom and generally had a merry time, in addition to a tour of the temple.

On the way back home, we met some other exchange students (who wanted to know where we got our headbands) who are going to the university next to Nanzan.

Overally, a completely insane and amazing day. I'm gonna miss Boss and all those drunks...

日本語は本当に上手かな

2008-10-01T22:27:00.002+09:00

Today, I received two separate compliments on my Japan from native speakers, no less. And it was essentially the same compliment, oddly enough. They both said that my Japanese is very easy to understand and listen to. My host mom additionally noted that my pronunciation (accent) sounds like a Japanese person's, and wondered why. It sounds like my family has had a mixed bag of host students; one was essentially fluent, some have had bad accents, etc. I was really heartened to hear this, because I've noticed that Japanese don't joke around with compliments. There really don't seem to be white lies here, at least in my understanding of the language. Let me explain...

Sometimes, when I wear a particularly cute shirt, my host mom notes that she likes me style and insists that her wardrobe "isn't cute." This is a totally normal Japanese thing; praise someone else, humble yourself. But! My host mother also has no qualms about saying, "You look very tired" and pointing to my eyes when they've bags under them. For as shy and indirect as the Japanese have been noted to be, they are also extremely candid. I've heard conversations in which friends meet after long absence and the first thing out of one's mouth is "You've gained a few pounds!"

I guess the Japanese don't take anything too hard.

Until next time,
Joanna <3

Misadventures

2008-09-28T21:01:00.002+09:00

Today ended my quest for okonomiyaki (お好み焼, if you're ever looking for it on the streets). Finding it was a complete accident, as Diana and I were attempting to bus from Yagoto (my end of town) to Sakae (the hip part of town, very near downtown Nagoya). We made it part way and became famished while attempting to find our next bus. Fortunately, Diana had bought be a day-pass for the buses and she had a commuter pass; otherwise, the trip would've cost us around $12 each, due to our many mistakes and mishaps. In the end, however, we reached Sakae and did a bit of walking around, trying to find a decent place to buy an iPod (Diana lost hers on last week's epic karaoke trip).

Check out my flickr for a few pictures of the day.

Not much else to report. School, a bit of studying and hanging out on the weekends. It's like one big vacation, but I'm getting good grades and academic credit!

Keeping Busy

2008-09-21T16:50:00.004+09:00

Although I don't like Sundays any more in Japan than I do in the States, there's a lot to update about from the past week. First of all, it was the first full week of school. Unfortunately, I'm resigned to being registered for one of my classes without ever "sampling" it, as I did the rest, because it hasn't actually been held yet. Basically, I just have to hope that one's good! As for the rest of them, the workload remains totally workable (despite the fact that I'm basically taking six classes). The only thing that's really confusing me right now is the odd strictness of the Japanese professors on grading. Every hundredth of a point counts, and lemme tell you, they really add up.

Yesterday, I went to Osu Kannon (大須観音) with friends to "assist" in shopping. It was an awesome place to explore and had lots of fun. While I was still waiting at the station for one of our group to show up, I was on the phone and suddenly (because it's really a much smaller world than you all previous imagined), the guy who recommended this study abroad program to me popped out of a store. We started at each slack-jawed for a minute while I finished up my phone conversation and proceeded to freak out at each other. Turns out here's in Nagano as a Jet (and apparently close to Shiojiri, Leah, so I told him to look out for you). He couldn't believe that we'd come from different prefectures and met up in the Nagoya shopping district. I couldn't, either. I couldn't, either.

Osu itself was a riot, which involved making fun of Engrish clothes (please check out my photos, you won't regret it), buying a shirt whose price was determined by its weight, falling in love with boots all over again, and looking utterly unfashionable in the midst of a Japanese crowd. We loved it anyway. Afterwards, we proceeded to dinner and then karaoke, the event of the evening. Although it's a little pricey, it was totally worth it. There is no nonsense about karaoke in Japan. There were thousands of pages of songs to choose from, new release books, multiple microphones, the works. We also indulged in 飲み放題, a favorite Japanese past-time. The only bad part? Diana left behind her iPod, which we were unable to recover on today's retrieval mission.

To cap off this crazy week, I talked to Leah a few days ago who said I should come over to Shiojiri for a day to hang out with Mom, Grady and the Ministry of Education. Sounds like I'll be doing a little bit of translating, a little bit of being my awesome self. It'll be an early morning to get back to Nagoya for classes, though!

XOXO,
~~Gossip Girl~~ ジョアンナ

Kanazawa

2008-09-15T19:58:00.002+09:00

In order to postpone doing my homework, I'll update you on my weekend! I went with the other IES kids to Kanazawa, about five hours east of Nagoya. I got excited pretty early on because the scenery along the way as absolutely fantastic. Somewhat reminiscent of Chattanooga, but the mountains were considerably larger and more all-encompassing. To give you an idea, as soon as you came out of a tunnel that was at least half a mile long, you'd come out for about three seconds and enter another one just as long. It was nice to travel through the mountains without all the arudous work of actually climbing them.

As for the trip itself, we did some awesome things, the first of which seeing "Ninja Temple." It never actually housed ninjas, but it's well-known for the trap doors, trick staircases and the fact that it looks like two stories but is actually four. Apparently there's also a ritual suicide chamber inside. I didn't investigate.

After the 忍者寺 (Ninjadera), we moved along to gold-leaf setting (金箔). You all probably know about gold leaf for various reasons, but in Japan, 99% of the gold leaf is produced in Kanazawa. We took a quick spin through the museum and then got to set gold and silver leaf on jewelry boxes! My concept was way too minimalist, so it doesn't look particularly nice. But! I have lots of the leaf left to put on letters/other decorations, so this is a moderately acceptable state of affairs.

I was about to type that what came next was the highlight of the trip, but to be honest, it was all one big highlight. We moved along from gold-leaf to our Japanese inn, which was even more impressive than the first. The place had three onsen. If the word sounds familiar, it's likely because onsen are absolutely notorious in the States. They're those places where everyone strips down, bathes in public and then soaks in a hot spring together. And those things are seriously scorching. The inn we stayed at had an indoor, a partial outdoor and a series of outdoor onsen.

My roommates and I indulged in all three that evening, and the partial-outdoor again in the morning. The kicker? In the outdoor onsen, you relax co-ed. Hilariously enough (to us Americans, at least), although you're stark naked in the single-sex onsen, the "body-bibs," as I like to call them, that you wear in the co-ed baths cover more than some one-piece suits. So it wasn't particularly scandalous, but the water was ridiculously hot. But that will seriously relax you. Like no American's business.

On Sunday, we woke up early to get in the onsen again and then scooted right along to Kenrokuen (amazing gardens) and cookie-making. If you check out my Flickr, I've posted pictures of all of this. And I'm pretty proud of the cookies. They're awfully cute. And I think made of some sort of bean paste.

The trip back to Nagoya took absolutely forever because we got stuck in a massive traffic jam. Then, my iPod ran out of battery. Fortunately, I have friends with impeccable musical taste, and they let me sample theirs.

I felt certain there was something else to mention from the trip, but I just got distracted by a friend and lost the train of thought. In any case, check out the pictures!

<3,
ジョアンナ

お知らせ

2008-09-12T15:18:00.002+09:00

Just a quick post to let you know of two things. First, I`ve added a link to my photo album on flickr. Look slightly to the right of this post and you can`t miss it. I`ll be uploading pictures there from now on, because they`re better quality than what I can post directly to the blog and I can keep them organized into happy little groups. Please enjoy!

My second announcement? The Japanese college school day consists of so much sitting around that it`s, as my host sisters would say, "アンビリバボー" (unbelievable). I went to class from 9:20-12:35 (all the same class, mind you) and have been sitting around since, waiting for the Laptop Orientation to begin. Other days, too, I have class in the morning and just sit around for a few hours until my next class. This isn`t so bad at Mac, where my longest commute is seven minutes from the science building to the dorms. But here, where I`m the luckiest person, with a commute of thirty minutes, all I can do is eat lunch, sit on a computer, study a bit and wait for the next thing to happen.

I`d heard we have a lot of free time here, but this is nuts.

トイレはどこ？

2008-09-09T22:37:00.001+09:00

I had today what I think was my first uniquely Japanese experience. I was traveling from school to a shopping/cool district and two of us stopped to go to the bathroom in the subway station. I'm in the stall when I notice, much to my dismay, the lack of toilet paper. There's not even a toilet paper holder.

Now, I know there are plenty of places where toilet paper is not provided, the world 'round, and I'd even heard that in Japan sometimes you have to pay to get into a public stall. But really? No signage? Just wait until I'm in the stall of this "ruthlessly efficient" station (as I like to think of them), and this totally inefficient, because I sat around for a good minute trying to figure what the heck to do with myself before I started awkwardly calling from the assistance of my fellow gaijin.

Thankfully, we were on the buddy system, because a third friend purchased toilet paper and threw it over the stall to me. Thanks, Japan, for offering me superior study aids, electronics and a speedy subway system... and for making me pay for my own toilet paper.

Class Registration

2008-09-08T13:27:00.003+09:00

Class registration should not be this difficult. But while everyone else is finding ways to relax this semester (multiple art classes, 15-16 credits of courses, I`m finding ways to pile things on. I hope this doesn`t come to haunt my later. For your amusement, these are the courses I registered for:

Intensive Japanese 400 (8 credit)
Calligraphy (2 credit)
Japanese History (3 credit)
Japanese Linguistics II (2 credit)
Japanese Foreign Policy (3 credit)
Japanese Culture: Language and Society (Audit)
Total: 18 credits and 1 audit

And this is the schedule I think I want:

Intensive Japanese 400 (8 credit)
Calligraphy (2 credit)
Japanese History (3 credit)
Japanese Linguistics II (2 credit)
Observation and Analysis of Japanese Language Activities (2 credits)
Total: 17 credits, 0 audits

Basically, if Mac can offer me credit, I could be taking a field study course! Which sounds totally awesome. Unfortunately, it`s mostly closed to 400-level students unless they have high oral proficiency, so I may not even qualify to take the course. I`m going to try to visit it on the first day it`s offered, but it occurs at the same time as the class I want to audit. I guess a class I may actually get credit for takes precedence...assuming Mac will even let me take it!

Honestly really looking forward to starting classes; my family knows this about me. Buying books and supplies is just about the best thing ever, and I love the first day, going over the syllabus and expectations as you feel your way through a new situation, teacher and classmates. I love it. Unfortunately, my first day of IJ400 means taking a test to prove I belong in that class and not a lower one. Review, here I come!

On another note, I went out to Italian with my family last night. It was a little embarrassing being out with kids who were running around and being insane, but I guess that`s just what families are like. Still feel awkward speaking to the kids, as I think they`re whispering about me and making fun of me, but what can you do? The younger daughter still says goodnight to me every night, and the baby clings on to my leg. For now, it seems to be all I can hope for.

More pictures to come soon, and I think I`ll set up an additional photo account somewhere so I can post a lot.

<3,
Joanna

栄とお酒 (Sakae and Liquor)

2008-09-05T23:42:00.007+09:00

Today, I took my first legal drink.Consumed in a tiny bar in a trendy part of town? Yes. Consumed in a bar in a ビル (tall building, but not skyscraper) with at least six other bars? Yes. Slightly anticlimactic? Yes. But! I did ask the first bartender (マスター) what the most popular drinks in Japan were. So we drank one of them. Mine was a liquor made of potatoes, and my friends had something made from rice. He never said the word sake, but I'm sort of assuming they're at least related.

Afterward, we decided we wanted to exercise our legality a bit more, so we tried another bar in the same building. Turns out it was members only, so you have to pay a fee just for sitting at the bar. No, sir. But the master was really nice and showed us upstairs to a normal bar, where we got picked daikon, pickled cucumber (not quite a pickle) covered in bonito flakes and "giant corn." I kid you not. We tasted something else distinctly Asian: lychee liquor. It was delicious with grapefruit juice and the master was really nice. I've retained cards from both establishments to document this semi-milestone.

Unrelated to the drinking, I skinned both knees when I missed a step. It was a little bit absurd as I thought I was stepping onto the main sidewalk and was suddenly on my knees instead. Such is the life of a klutz.

Otherwise, little to report. I'm feeling pretty awkward around the host family right now because I don't think the older daughter likes me. I think I just need to put myself out there a bit more and keep asking the silly questions (what's your favorite color/TV show/band? How's school?, etc.), because they never really initiate conversation with me. I have to admit, though, I like silent study time in my room away from the blastin television, screaming children and food messes to be cleaned up.

Classes start the 10th and I'm starting to get geared up. I'm going to have fourteen hours of Japanese class each week and another six hours-worth of my other classes (History, Foreign Policy, Linguistics and 書道/Calligraphy). Plus three to five hours of studying each night, just for the language-intensive class. Fortunately, I got into 400-level, so I should come out really strong in grammar and legitimate conversational Japanese. I'm just trying to look on the bright side before the 日本語 apocalypse comes and things become dark forever. I exaggerate, of course, but I've heard it really is tough. Good thing I'm always up for a challenge.

On another note, I'm really enjoying the speed at which I'm picking up vocabulary and kanji, without really even trying.

Until next time,
Joana

P.S. I really enjoy the title of this post, because the words have very similar pronunciations. sah-kah-eh toe o-sah-kay is the closest I can come to a pronunciation, for those who don't know about the Japanese mori.

日本。。。ですね

2008-09-03T18:07:00.009+09:00

So, this is my first real post since actually being in Japan. Things are... hectic, at best. Right now, my host brother is screaming and crying his head off because my host sisters both left for ballet class. You've never heard anything like it. This is not normal baby crying, I swear. Last night, it woke up me up for about half an hour -- exactly what I dreaded before I left.

Crying aside, the homestay has been good so far. It's still awkward as I feel things out with the family, but I think things are going to be alright. I just have to figure out how and when to bathe. Not something I'm looking forward to -- the theoretical grown-up who has to be taught how to take a shower. At least I got the inside slippers/bathroom slippers/outdoor shoes thing down. Tying shoelaces is not ideal, however. I'll post more about the house/family as I discover things, but enjoy a few pictures of my room (small, but nice).

As far as Orientation went, it far exceeded my expectations. The ratio of cool, normal people to crazy otaku was a good one, and I mostly enjoy the people studying through IES. Most of the orientation took place in Inuyama. We stayed in a Japanese-style inn where I bathed in the onsen, ate kaiseki (amazing meals. Unfortunately, no pictures), explored the oldest castle in Japan and ate authentic ramen (this is not 10-cent Cup Noodles, people).

Today, I went to the first day of Nanzan Daigaku orientation. Took the placement test this morning, which felt like a bit of a trainwreck. Apparently, though, you can test out of whatever class they place you in by doing well in class and on tests in the first two weeks during the add-drop period. So, if I do get placed below where I need to be to transfer my credits, at least I'll be able to change things.

After the test, there was a welcoming ceremony. I felt proud that I understood a fair of the amount of the proceedings as spoken in Japanese (there was a translator to handle the rest). There are some things I need to do before tomorrow, and in the next few weeks as my Alien Registration, National Health Insurance, etc. come in, but it gives me a pleasantly busy feeling, like I'm actually starting the new semester.

To ward off the homesickness that I'm sure is to come, I'd love to hear from you all! As I settle in, I'd definitely like to send postcards, etc., but for now, e-mail and comments are fine. Hope you're all doing well!

<3,
Joanna (ジョアンナ)

Teh Nippon

2008-08-31T21:29:00.004+09:00

I'm about to pass out cold, but I thought I'd let you guys know that I'm alive and relatively well. I'll make a more legitimate post when I'm actually awake again. It might be a while.

The End is Near

2008-08-28T05:56:00.002+09:00

It's only nineteen hours (give or take) until I leave for Japan. Well, to be fair, I'm stopping in Detroit first. In any case, C. Sklu and KT are taking me to the airport around 9am, and we're going to have breakfast before we head out. It's hard to believe that I'm legitimately leaving. Every hour or so, I freak out that I don't have my passport any more. I'll go back to the dorms soon and quadruple-check that.

It feels weird to watch everyone heading off to their first day of classes today, knowing that I'll be starting mine. In another country. And another language. But I'm getting closer to coping. It's starting to feel exciting, but the only thing that still worries me is that I'll hate the people. Because despite being a Japanese major myself, I don't really like other Japanese majors (many of which are known of as otaku (AKA anime-obsessed). I just can't imagine meeting people that are as awesome as my friends at Mac...

I probably won't blog again for at least a week, but no news is probably good news. Or at least not life-devastating news. When I've gone through Nanzan's (pronounced like naan-zahn) orientation, I should have access to the Internet, and I'll likely have a heck of a lot to post.

Also, please leave me comments so I feel loved.

Tiara

2008-08-21T23:45:00.003+09:00

I heard from my host mother today. I'd sent the family an e-mail a week ago and never saw anything in response. I was honestly worried that I'd accidentally let it go to spam and deleted it, which wouldnt've been an excellent way to start our relationship.

Apparently the family has a dog named Tiara! I don't know what kind it is, but you all know how much I love animals (RIP Pepper). It'll be tough to know I'm not coming home to my dog, but I'm honestly glad I'll get to see another one.

Things are really starting to become real now! I ordered a recorder -- and got an awesome deal -- for doing my informal interviews around the country. I'm nervous, but I hope that by the time I actually venture forth, my Japanese will have improved to level that I can have a reasonable conversation with people. Or, at least enough to record significant aspects of their dialects. I've even done some reading in my travel guide to find good spots, which is exciting.

I've decided on bringing my laptop with me. Now that it's functional again, it just makes sense. I wanted to bring it before, but with countless external devices and poor runability, it didn't seem worth it. Thanks, Dad, for the 4-year warranty and Dell for making good on it!

Seven days and counting.

Preparation J

2008-08-18T13:47:00.001+09:00

Welcome to the new blog for my travels abroad. Why did I change from my old one, do you ask? It was a difficult process to edit it, and this one will give me better access to post from abroad. I hope. I feel that I also owe an explanation for the username "cracksan." As you probably know from over-exposure to impression of Japanese speaking English, in Japanese, the 'l' and 'r' sound are allophonic . "Clark" becomes "Crack" if you disregard the lack of a hard 'a' sound in Japanese and that's where insanity begins.

As for actual content, I'll do my best. This will be your new source for your Joanna-fix throughout my semester abroad.

First of all, I got my visa in the mail today, and it almost made me regret spending the $60 to overnight the paperwork both ways. Obviously I didn't want to risk missing it in the mail, but if I'd known it would literally only take a few days to turn around, I could've sent it 2- or 3-day for half the price. I feel there is some kind of economic lesson to be learned here. I'll consult my Econ friends and get back to you on exactly what that lesson is.

My living situation at the moment is somewhat tenuous. I moved out of the dorms on Friday with the help of my amazing friends Katie and Catie (lovingly known as KT and C. Sklu henceforth). We hauled out the things I hadn't stored and moved them a few blocks away, which is where I am now, staying with some friends until Thursday. They've been extremely generous in offering their space, and it's a great deal -- way better than the dorms, and I even get to use a bike! Unfortunately, though, I don't want to overstay my visit, and I'm going to be looking to stay in some dorms with other friends for the last week of my stay in St. Paul.

These days I'm just waiting to hear from the Japan-America Society of Minnesota about the status of my scholarship. Just waiting for the bureaucratic red-tape to be cut by the Board.

Ten days until departure. Don't be fooled by the date on this post -- I've already set it to Japan-time.