September 16, 2003

August 20, 2003

Dear everyone,

I have never eaten so much rice in my entire life.

Anyway, I think I was probably the last exchange student to leave (heh... not fair ^_~), so all the exchange students are probably scattered everywhere in the world all wondering where the hell they are.  But anyway, everyone, I arrived in Japan on Sunday, August 24, 2003 at 5:00 PM Japanese local time... which means it was still around 3:00 in the morning in Canada... so weird.  Anyway........................

My flight was delayed 2 hours right off the bat.  We're on the runway in Toronto, cleared for take-off, and apparently the computers in the airport crash.  How does that happen?  Anyway, so we have to sit around for two hours before we finally take off.  I was scheduled to leave Toronto at 10:15 AM and arrive in Vancouver at noon, and then leave for Tokyo Narita at 1:15, leaving me only an hour to switch flights.  Well, my flight had been two hours late, so I was almost certain I was screwed.  But, luckily, half of the plane consisted of Asian-bound passengers, so conveniently my Narita flight was also delayed 2 hours.  The next problem was that my family in Japan was expecting me at 3:00 PM at the airport, which would never happen.  I only had the phone number for my exchange councellor, Mr. Yoshida.  Ironically, he speaks two words of English and it was 6:00 in the morning for him.  So I had to speak really slowly and in broken sentences, sort of like this:  "My airplane.... running behind....  flight late, 2 hours...... 2..... ni, niiiiiiii!!!"  Eventually he told me he understood, but I wasn't quite sure.

My second flight took off on time.  The flight was like 10 hours, which is really long to be sitting in a very dry, low-pressure atmosphere that wreaks havoc upon your inner ears.  I'm still having trouble hearing.  But I met a really cute Japanese girl next to me named Rico.  Well, her name is longer, but she says everyone calls her Rico, which I understood when she told me her full name because I forgot it immediately.  But she taught me a little Japanese and she was so funny!  Her English was very good.

I landed in Tokyo at 5:00 PM and I was absolutely restless.  I was in Japan, and I just wanted to run out of the plane and do a dance.  But I refrained.  Anyway, gratefully Rico led me where I needed to go, through a long hallway to a train that took me to another part of the airport to a very large room with lots a people.  Rico went for a very short line, and I followed her thankful that it wouldn't take too long as my family was no  doubt already waiting for me.  Then I realized that was the Japanese passport line.  The foreign passport line was a large mass of confused and jetlagged passengers, a line that looked at least half an hour wait.  I was too anxious... and of course the line turned out to be a whole hour and a half.  But finally, I found my baggage (the airport people were very helpful, although knew not much more than a sentence of Engrish).  I left the baggage claim area and I walked out into a new world.  As soon as I stepped out into the lobby, my mother and father squealed and ran towards me, machine-gunning me with a string of atatatatatatatat or sosososososososo.... which I guess is a favourite thing for Japanese to do.  They had a nice colourful sign welcoming me.  There were about 12 people greeting me.  I just bowed to all of them at once to save my poor stiff neck.  Some of them attempted Engrish with me, but I just smiled and complimented their English not having any idea of what they said.  They told me that Rico had said 'hi'... which was very nice of her... I feel bad for being stuck in that long line and not being able to say goodbye.

We left the airport in a little Japanese van/bus.  The first thing I noticed, which still makes me uncomfortable is that everyone drives on the left side of the road.  I'm still trying to get over it.  I don't know why, but I want to scream when I think my host brother is pulling out into oncoming traffic.  Anyway, the drive from the airport consisted of lots of talking and laughing in Japanese, and the occasional studder of Engrish directed at me.  I replied as simply as I could, and even if it was not funny, everyone in the van would crack up.  It was great, I just had to laugh with them pretending that I knew what was so funny.  *sigh*

I went to my first Japanese Japanese restaurant, a sushi bar.  The sushi was sooooo good!  I had no idea what the hell most of it was, but it was good anyway!  I just didn't ask.  Then I figured it was all probably either salmon, tuna, or pork.  I was probably wrong, but oh well.  There was a lot of laughing and atatatatatatatatatatat and sososososososososo.  I think the former is a negative gesture and the latter a positive one.  When you are doing something correctly, you will probably be bombarded with sosososososososososo.  It's very weird.

After that, I went home.  The sun was setting for the first time in 28 hours, for which I was grateful.  I hadn't slept on the plane.  Anyway I went home and I was given a tour of the house, and it's pretty straightforward.  Pretty much just like a Western-style home would be, albeit smaller.  Western-style toilette, save for a large array of buttons and lights, making even the toilettes very technologically sophisticated.  The shower... um, washing area, is very different though.  There's a little room with a sliding door, and it has a drain in the floor.  There's a... um, hose... coming from the wall with a showerhead on the end of it.  You turn on something electronic on the wall, which I think heats the water or something.  Then you turn on the water and, while sitting on a stool, wash yourself just like you would normally, and rinse off.  This is all done sitting down, although I had to keep myself from wanting to stand up.  Then, after you're clean, you step into a little herbal bath and soak.  I am the only one in the family that showers in the morning... they all think I'm crazy or something.

You haven't had real Japanese food until you come to Japan.  My host mother is such an amazing cook!!  I look forward to every meal, everything is soooooo delicious.  Most of the time I don't know what I'm eating, and I don't dare to ask, but it tastes so good anyway.  I exchanged the rest of my money into Yen and opened up a bank account, and registered at the Saitama city hall.  The first week is supposed to be hell, but so far it's been absolutely amazing for me.  My home is nice, I'm right beside a beautiful bonsai garden and just down the road from a manga museum.  What more could I want?!  The only thing that's not so good is the heat.  It's comparable to Florida here... the past couple of days have been hot (atsu) and humid... I'm just waiting for it to rain (ame) to cool off.  My camera is not taking pictures well because the light meter is broken, so most likely I will have to buy a new one.  I saw a nice deal for only 35,000\.  35,000!!!

My Japanese is coming along pretty good for only having been here a few days.  My family is really great, and everyone I met has been really polite.  The hygiene girls in the dentist office downstairs in my house where my father (oto-san) works are always giggling and waving at me.  I was fitted for my school uniform also; the guy measuring me was like, 'Ahhhh, very tallboy.  Sososososososososo....'  I just can't wait until I have to go to school... gah.  I'm not so sure I want any more attention.

By the way, so far I've gained at least five bruises on my head from bumping into doorframes, car ceilings and overhanging poles.  I'm too tall for this country.  Oooooh, I also bought my first iced green tea from a vending machine.  They sell everything in vending machines.  You can buy cigarettes anywhere from a vending machine... although I don't smoke.  But if I did...

I haven't seen any sake in vending machines yet.  Though I know it exists.  I've seen cellphone stores everywhere.  There's 7-eleven and McDonald's here as well.  Japanese TV is very funny... they have the strangest commercials, and they all have some sort of bouncy jingle.  Japanese soap opera's are just as funny as North American ones... I haven't been able to catch anime on TV yet, there seems to be only 30 channels on the TV.  Oh, and I also noticed that whenever anyone backs into a parking space, they first undo their seatbelt and roll down the window, for no apparent reason.  Ooooh, and Japanese grapes are really big... and there are cartoons EVERYWHERE.  Even on signs and instructions, there's cute little drawings.

The one thing that puzzles me is when my mother (oka-san) cooks.  I never see her cooking , but when it's time to eat, she suddenly appears with tons of food.  I don't get it... but it tastes really good so I don't ask questions.  I feel very self-conscious when eating because I KNOW I'm always doing something wrong... but Japanese are very forgiving of me when I do something incorrectly.  Which is good... I'm always doing something incorrectly.  I feel so clumsy here...

Anyway, I'm just eager to be able to understand Japanese.  My family always talks to me in Japanese, and then repeats in Engrish very slowly and incomprehendable.  But I understand anyway.  I'm just scared about what school will be like... and I also want to be able to read Manga!!!!  I also want to be able to recognize signs and stores so I can walk around and not get lost... and so I can ask someone where the nearest Dance Revolution game is.  That's the most important thing ^_~!

So anyway, I attended my first Japanese Rotary meeting... very different from Canadian ones, aside from the fact that I was oblivious to whatever the speaker was saying.  But I met some members of my other host families.  I have a total of 6 host families!!!  It's so crazy!  Anyway, there was a guest speaker at the Rotary meeting, an American.  I think he said he was a teacher of English.  He speaks Japanese soooooo well, I was very envious.  He made a great speech (I'm assuming), and then I had to make my own speech.  It was very interesting... I had prepared it the day before, in Japanese, with the help of my host family.  I sorta... stumbled through it, but I think everyone understood.

I visited a shrine near my house.  The architecture was amazing... before entering, you cleanse your hands at a stone water basin containing the 'water from god'... or holy water.  Then you drink some of the water to cleanse your spirit or something.  Then we entered the shrine.  I had the honour of paying 100\ for my fortune on a slip of paper.  Mr. Yazaki translated it for me, and my future looks good.  Then I tied my fortune to a web of other fortunes, to secure the good fortune.  Then I dropped a coin (they really like you to give lots of coins to the god) in a hole in front of the place where the god lives, and I made a wish.  And bowed deeply.  The deeper you bow, the more respect you are giving, so my head was all the way to my toes.  Then, after snapping a few more pictures, we left and went to Mr. Yazaki's house.

I had tea with Mr. Yazaki and we talked about my exchange.  He speaks English very well.  He said that my host family probably doesn't want to give me sake or any alcohol (the drinking age here is 20, although under-aged drinking is much less frowned upon then in other countries).  He also mentioned that if I ever want alcohol, I can come over any time and we can drink sake together!  I though that was very funny.  He told me not to tell my host family.  He's such a nice guy.

Mr. Yazaki is a Rotary member.  He owns three clothing stores all over the world (I visited the one in Japan; it sells very American clothing, Michael Jackson action figures and 'vintage clothing' -- basically meaning already used -- for a very high price.  Like 15,000\ for a t-shirt or a sneaker from the 70's.  Mr. Yazaki also mentioned he was an art collector, for which I was extremely excited.  He has a private museum on his property containing the works of a famous Japanese artist, Ushio Shinohara, the inventor of boxing painting.  Shinohara was a genius; he came up with the idea to put on boxing gloves, dip them in paint, and then beat the hell out of a canvas and come up with a truly amazing piece of artwork.  Half the show was watching him in the process of painting.  Anyway, when I was at Mr. Yazaki's house, we toured the museum.  Very bizarre paintings and sculptures, very inspiring.  He has beds, a bathroom, shower, fridge and microwave in the museum too, and he said I can stay in his museum whenever I want, maybe if I'm having host family problems.  He said if a friend or family comes to visit, they can sleep in his museum.  Way cool!

I had the pleasure of traveling by train to Omiya station all by myself to meet up with Mayu, an exchange student to the US who I met at the Central States conference and is now back in Japan.  She lives in my district, 2770, so we arranged to meet at Omiya station.  I took the train all by myself (I'm so excited!) and then I met her at a place called 'mame no ki' -- which means bean tree.  It is actually a sculpture in the centure of Omiya station that is used as a meeting place.  We spent a few hours shopping around (she was doing the shopping... I don't have much interest in the Gap) and then I came home... all by myself!  Heh... 

My host father then took me to the Royal Pines Hotel... really pricey.  We went out for dinner with a couple Rotarians and people who went on Group Study Exchange -- an exchange for adults to America and Canada.  We ate a smorgasbord (which for some reason the Japanese insist on calling a Viking... I think they're mistaken, or their translating computers are mistaken) and I filled myself up on beef, a rarity in Japan.  Then we all went out to a bar that played nice Jazz music.  I ordered a sake-based cocktail called 'Samarai Rock'.  My host father told me not to tell my host mother... oh my god, these people like to be so mischievous.

Today I visited an ancient Japanese temple.  I wasn't allowed to take pictures of anything inside, but I got plenty of exterior shots.  I was able to witness a Buddhist funeral memorial ceremony for a few moments.  Several monks were performing the ceremony, moaning a Japanese chant while tapping a drum and burning remains.  There was also a monk wafting incense smoke over a family’s vehicle in hopes of dispelling any chance of a future car accident.  The most stunning part of the visit was a large courtyard behind the temple containing several dozen statues of ancient Japanese monks, each unique on it's own.  It was absolutely amazing... in the centre of the courtyard were three statues of the Buddha.

I'm exhausted now.  Every day has been so incredibly busy... and I start school tomorrow.  Things are just going to get busier.  But after the first month there is a school excursion planned to go to Okinawa, the southernmost Japanese island.  I need a cellphone soon.  So far, I've gone through 6 rolls of 38-exposure film.  It's only been a week.

Feel free to email me.  I need someone to talk to me in English... I see nothing but Japanese everyday, and I'm excited to see a gaijin walking down the street or someone who I can speak English to.  So please, EMAIL ME.  In English.  I mean, day-by-day, I'm starting to understand people more, even if it's not necessarily their speech... I think I'm developing a Japanese mindset and Japanese body language.  In a week I certainly have changed a lot.  Perhaps matured, or maybe entirely woke up.  I feel unquestionably different now, as if I've left something behind.  But I can't help but miss everyone at home unbearably.  I'm floating between two worlds.  I feel I have two homes now.  I almost belong here, but I know I am so different from everyone else.  I can't stand the amount of attention I receive sometimes, people staring or giggling, or just wanting to take my picture and not really caring about what I think or feel.  Hopefully it won't be so bad at school, and it will stop or at least slow down as the year goes on and people become used to me.  I can only hope; but in Japan, the good things greatly outweigh the bad.  It's not as hard to live here as I thought it would be.

Cheers, and good luck, wherever you are.

--Juvenile Jared (Japan)