Quick note about the picture to the left, yes I know my eyes are closed but it was the only pic I got of everyone together before my camera died.. Well, first of all it is Christmas Eve in Japan already (It is still the 23rd in some parts of the world including my hometown), but I just wanted to wish Everyone a Merry Christmas! Christmas in Japan is a bit different as it has basically no relation what-so-ever to the biblical story, and they also have a few traditions that we don't such as eating Christmas Cake, and eating Christmas Chicken..
Also, yesterday was the Emperor's Birthday so today (being a Monday) is a national holiday. So making the best of it, Kosuke (said "COS-KAY") invited myself, James, and Armin (our German dorm-mate) to a Christmas / Takoyaki party. It was too much fun. In fact, everyone (including us) brought a small gift to the party to randomly exchange with another person at the party using a musical chairs type of game to determine who gets what.. I also enjoyed lots of conversation in Japanese and English, and even taught a small lesson about the difference between using "to" and "for" as Japanese often get these confused. Anyways, I have a small video as well, my Camera's battery died so I could not take more unfortunately, but it was a blast none-the-less.
Well, last night a bunch of the students and pretty much all the teachers and a few other Japanese people all got together and went out for Chinese food and drinks, and then off to Karaoke.. Anyways, I tried to keep the camera rolling, and managed to compress the entire experience into a 7 minute video. Please enjoy. PS - it was a blast!!!
Well, I have officially registered at the foreigner registration office of my ward - something that all foreigners holding a visa are required to do within 90 days of arriving. This essentially *activates* your visa and makes you officially considered an immigrant.
Anyways, now I can do a few things I could not do before such as buy my own Cell Phone (Though it will have to be pre-paid as the regular ones usually come with a lengthy contract that I will not be able to fulfill.) I can also look for a job, which is something I am going to start doing shortly after the new year as my money supply continues to dwindle away.
I want to quickly digress from this topic for a second and share some culture-shock with everyone. For starters, most of the cars here (and taxis of course) have car-navigation(GPS). Also, taxi-cab doors automatically open and close by themselves as the driver can open the door for you by simply pressing a button. Sometimes at bus stations, train stations and other places with many Taxis waiting for patrons, to spite the automatic doors there is someone dressed like a bell-boy that places their hand over the handle of the door and ACTS like they are opening the door for you and also like they are closing it for you and simply says thank you to you for boarding the taxi. Akemi told me before that when she was in Windsor she once sat in a taxi and waited for the door to close by itself until eventually the driver snapped at her `Hey lady, close the door its cold outside`.
Anyways, there is no video to post today. But I do plan on continuing my video series... Mata ne - Timo
Well, I have moved to my new place of residence - a dormitory that houses about 40 people, mostly Japanese students from the nearby Fukuoka Industrial University...
I have once again recorded and put together a small video to share with everyone. This one is not too much more exciting than the last but it is a little better I think. They should progress as I get more of a feel for what I want to do in these videos.
I am hoping to interview some of the other people at the dorm sometime in Japanese and put it on here (I will add subtitles of course)... Please enjoy this for now though:
Here is my first composite video that I threw together to go with my blog about my trip to Japan and my time here. This video is a testimate to how boring my current town of residence truely is, but hopefully this will be the first in a series of short clips I will make. Please enjoy and leave comments!
PS - The next videos should be much more interesting, this was more of a test-run than anything. ^.~
Well, I have given in and bought something that puts me a little over my budget but I think it will be well worth it, and my mom talked about giving me a little bit of money for Christmas and this was the perfect present for myself. What did I buy? A brand new Camera, this one records video with sound, has a VERY nice display, and supports my existing 1GB XD Memory chip. And it only cost 24,800... yen that is..
I haven`t used it yet, but I plan on posting many videos here so stay tuned.
Otherwise, I have not posted on here in a week because not alot has happened that is noteworthy. The vacation type feeling has worn off almost completely as I become more and more integrated into life in this country and begin to really feel like I live here. I mostly keep very busy with school and studying, and might I add my Japanese is improving noticeably to the point where sometimes I talk too quickly instead of too slowly in Japanese. By nature I am a fast talking person so it seems to have carried over to Japanese aswell.
Tommorow I will be moving out of my homestay residents and into a Dormitory in a different part of Fukuoka. I am looking forward to it as I will have alot of opportunity to meet Japanese people of my age there.
Last night we had a very enjoyable Christmas party at the school. Some of the teachers drank too much (I wont name names) and so did some of the students (you know who you are). I only had one drink though, but the party was very fun. Also a noteworthy occurrence last night was the final farewell of my only classmate Allan, as it was his last week at GenkiJACS. So, unless we get any other new level3 students, I think I will be having 1-on-1 lessons for the next while.
Anyways, I have some great ideas for videos to make and things to show everyone with my new Camera, so please check back soon to see what I have in store. Mata ne, - Timo
Just wanted to share this with everyone. I was thinking about Kanji tonight (Chinese-derived writing used in Japanese), and I found a really nice Kanji for my Family name: ミロン (Miron)
美論
It is said "Mee-rO-n" or basically exactly like the French pronunciation of our name. In fact, Japanese pronunciation of my last name is more correct than the English pronunciation as the RO sound is long and the MI sound is like "Me".
The best part.. is the meaning.. It means Beautiful Theory.
I will start things off with a picture. As much as the town that I am living in has nothing to do in it, and as much as I miss Tokyo, there is something to be said for the scenery here, including my extremely Japanese outlook from my bedroom window, pictured to the left. I can look out the window and really appreciate that I have made it to Japan, even 1 month after my arrival, even in my middle-of-nowhere town, there is still a special feeling for me about having made it here and just being in this country.
Well, things have been more quiet lately. It rained a lot overnight last night and I think we had a small earthquake/tremour this morning that woke me up (It wasn`t much, but I`m a light sleeper).
School is going well, but there is so much vocabulary to memorize, it has been rather humbling in some ways as any sense of my Japanese being descent is overshadowed by the realization that I am still so far from fluency. I have 3 decks of blank flash cards filled with 110 cards in each deck, and the first one only took 3 days of classes to fill..
As my favorite Japanese proverb says チリもつもれば山となる - if tiny specs of dust pile up, they can become a mountain. This is something I have to keep in mind constantly.
Oh, and a note to any of my fellow YESJAPAN members, I could of sworn I heard Maria Gadget when I was in AM-PM (common convenience store in Japan) this morning.. But I could be wrong..
Well, it has been some time sinse my last post on here. This has not been because of any lack of events as in fact I have been very busy here lately between studying and a wide assortment of extra-curricular activities.
I have some goodies to share with everyone as even though I have not been using my camera a lot lately, Boris - my german room mate - has recently purchased a new Nikon camera that not only takes great pictures, but also has nice video (WITH AUDIO) features aswell.
First up, this past week on 2 different occassions some us GenkiJACS students signed up to go to the local university for language exchange with Japanese students there. To my surprise, the classes we visited were almost entirely made up of girls (no complaints though).. Most of them are about 19 years old and they are so curious about us strange gaijin. It is really an interesting experience!
Also, on Thursday a small group of us went to Fukuoka university to learn about and watch Naginata which is basically a Martial art where very long sticks (or in real battle a very long blade) which are curved at the end are used. This first video is of some of the Naginata students practicing form and technique (but without armor at this point as they do not make contact during this warm up phaze of their practice):
*NOTE: During this sport they yell out the name of the body part which they are striking.
Next is another clip from the same place, but this time a couple of the students (Ben - an American, and Uncle Phil) decided to participate:
*NOTE to the left is Phil, and to the right you can see some guys practicing Kendo. After this warm up phase, the girls put on Kendo style armor (see the pic above) and actually wack each other with these big sticks. It was all very interesting.
On friday night after school, we had a Takoyaki party at GenkiJACS. Takoyaki is basically Octapus Balls (not really, but really). Anyways, it is a type of seafood that was surprisingly very good. Alot of foreigners don`t like Takoyaki but I am getting used to everything tasting like the ocean here (it doesn`t all taste like the ocean, but alot of it does). I really liked Takoyaki, but we also cooked and ate Okonomiyaki- Oh-Koh-NO-MEE-Yah-Kee - basically a type of pancake/omelette thing that has veggies and sometimes seafood in it. Okonomiyaki is actually my favorite Japanese food right now. Yuuji-sensei cooks Takoyaki
Phil and Me enjoy some grub... Anyways, things have been very fun lately and I actually look forward to going to school tommorow! Well, until next time.. - Timo
Friday, November 23, 2007
Tonight on FujiTV (and テレビ西日本 in my area here in Fukuoka), there will be a 2 hour show called 花いくさ (Hana Ikusa) - A story about a young Maiko (apprentice Geisha) in Kyoto set just after the war. It stars my favorite Inoue Mao from Hana Yori Dango.. I REALLY am looking forward to seeing this!!! Check out the trailer below:
Also, take a look at the official website HERE for some cool pictures. Yay MAO-chan!!! <3
Thursday, November 22, 2007
Today was our last day of classes before the long weekend (this Friday is a national holiday in Japan), and it was also the last day of school at GenkiJACS for one of my classmates - John-kun. John is also from Canada, but is of Philippine descent so he looks Asian and blends in pretty well. I have a good picture of our class, he`s the one sitting beside me. Our teacher for this class, Yuuji sensei, is one of the only male teachers at GenkiJACS right now, and is also the youngest faculty member and one of my favorite teachers because we can make perverted jokes together that I just wouldn`t say around the female staff. The guy with longer hair who you can`t quiet see on the left side of this pic is my only classmate in Grammar class, as we`re the only Level 3 students at GenkiJACS right now. His Japanese is really good, and I enjoy having class with him because he keeps me on my feet as in some ways he`s ahead of me. At the same time, I know stuff that he doesn`t and we compliment each other well that way. Also, Yuuji sensei took us to the local grocercy store near the school to search for the ingredients to make Miso soup. Before going out, we learned all about making Miso soup (only in Japanese though), and it was really interesting actually.
The video is rather pointless especially without audio, but todays class was so much fun I wanted to share it on my blog. Anyways, I`m happy for the long weekend, I literally have about 75 new verbs to work on memorizing. Maybe this weekend will also hold some fun times though, stay tuned. - Timo
Well, My uncle Phil has recently come to Japan aswell and we are both attending GenkiJACS. After doing the level check test, he was placed in the level 1 class and I was placed in the more advanced level 3. None-the-less, I hope he does his best. Yesterday as part of Phil's culture class here at the school, Phil's class visited the local Kushida shrine, and one of the teachers snapped a pretty good picture of Phil saying a prayer. This picture has now been posted on GenkiJACS official school blog website, and you can view it HERE. Check it out!
On a side note, I came accross this really cool video on 3yen that I just had to share with everyone. This is everyday Japan for sure, and does a great job of showcasing my time here (even though I have nothing to do with this video).
Tuesday, November 20, 2007
I completed my first day at GenkiJACS yesterday. Honestly I'm very excited to be here and really hit the books and study. I actually did all of my homework last night (about 45 minutes of work, I may have more from here on out though because yesterday I missed a 2 hour class because we had to do the level check test thing). On top of the assigned work, I also took a bunch of notes of words that I didn't know during the lesson and there were about 20 or so verbs in particular that I want to memorize. I found the first class rather challenging, but it was fun and probably just at the right level. Unfortunately there are some small gaps in what I know and what the other students at my level know (in both directions) due to different backgrounds in what courses we studied with before. At GenkiJACS, we're using the GENKI series of books, and at my level we're starting off somewhere in the middle of book 2. The course at YesJapan.com takes a very in-depth approach to teaching verbs as it explains the context and usage of each individual verb that you learn, but at GenkiJACS they throw groups of maybe 10 verbs at you and have you "plug them in" to various sentences and structures and conjugations. On the other hand, thanks to the course at YesJapan.com, I have probably a more extensive vocabulary of nouns then anyone in my class, as well as knowing a bunch of "tricks" that others may not know, sometimes leaving everyone (except for the teacher) scratching their heads wondering what the heck I just said. Anyways, I realized that I need some school supplies, so last night Boris and me took a subway over to the nearby Aeon shopping mall. I found some great paper notebooks, including a bunch of them ruled specifically for practicing Kanji (Chinese derived written symbols). I also bought a set of study cards that come on a key chain type ring, and after getting home, I wrote down all of my new words that I want to memorize. Between last night and the subway ride to school this morning, I think I almost have the whole lot of 20 or so new words memorized. I'm going to be taking a lot of pictures so my next big post should be exciting to see (everyone has asked for more pics and video), I'm also thinking about doing a special about the kappa (mythical swamp monsters?) that live in the water next to my homestay house. Until then take care. - Timo
Well, I've really warmed up to my homestay family. When I first arrived, I thought this place was going to be so boring, but later that night I met Ms. Hatsue's sons. I cannot remember their names right now, but they are very nice and they both have kids. Her elder son has a little boy named Jun (said like "June" - same name as the actor who plays Domyouji in Hana Yori Dango [shaye you love him you know it!]). Jun is 1 year old and he's just like any other baby probably anywhere in the world. I can best him at Japanese too which makes me feel great =P (joke). He has a sister named Karin (I think), who's 4 and FULL of engergy! Her Japanese is better than mine, but she speaks simply so it's fun to try to hold a conversation with her. haha. Anyways, their father is a really nice Man who's patient with my Japanese and is always interesting to talk to. I look forward to getting to know this family more over the course of the next 4 weeks.
Anyways, today was my first day at GenkiJACS. I'm at the school right now actually waiting for my first lesson to start. I just finished taking a level check test with my uncle phil. The test consisted of listening comprehension, an interview in Japanese, and a written test aswell checking for vocabulary and grammar knowledge. I didn't do as well as I'd hoped or expected, but it's ok because if the class is too easy I can be moved to a harder class. They have MANY different levels of classes at this school so it's really convenient for anyone studying Japanese.
Uncle Phil didn't fare as well on the tests either, and we'll be in different classes. Anyways, I shot some video of Phil when he first showed up today. It was really weird to see a familiar western face after so long.
On a side note, I still miss Tokyo.. Somehow that city has a special place in my heart and I do long to go back, but that can wait. In the mean time, I'm going to study like crazy. Esspecially to my family back home, I hope you enjoy seeing a short clip of Phil and me. - Tim
Well, I`ve arrived in Fukuoka... First impression of this city: Smaller than Tokyo (any city might feel tiny after living there). Upon my arrival, I had no plan... No reservation at any hotel, no idea of transportation from the airport to the city core, no one to meet with, nothing. It was honestly my biggest mess-up in my travels thus far. But, I like a challenge, so it`s all good. From the airport I took a subway to Tenjin station, because a) I liked the name TENJIN and b) It seemed to be pretty much in the city core on the map. Luckly for me and unknown to me at the time, my school is also located in Tenjin ward.
Once off the subway, I found myself once again in a maze of people and honestly it was a little comforting because it almost reminded me of Tokyo (which I`m already getting homesick for but more on that later). After wandering around aimlessly looking for anything that says ホテル (hotel) for about an hour with no luck, I gave in on my pride and called Evan (the director of the school I`m attending). I explained to him my lack of planning, and appologized in embarassment. But, to my delight Evan is an extremely nice person and was more than helpful, he informed me that I was not too far from the school in fact, and he would meet me at the busy intersection just north of my current location.
So onwards I went. Evan met me there, guided me to a nearby hotel and asked if I would need help getting a room. Being overly sure of my self again, I bid him farewell and told him I could handle it from here. So he road away on his bike, and I made my way to the hotel lobby.
Unfortunately, I did not know it was Sumo season in Fukuoka and because of this the hotel would be overrun with semi-intoxicated salary men to the point that there was simply no rooms available to anyone who didn`t already have a reservation. After this was explained to me by the girl behind the desk, I turned around, and realised that once again, I was in a pickle. Worse, Evan had just left and I would feel like an idiot to have to call him again. どうしょう？ I thought to myself.
Then I realised I was only about 6 blocks from the school. So off to the school I went to seek help. Might aswell get a sneak peak at the school anyways right? Well, I arrived at the school alive, and made my way up the steps. It`s actually a really nice building with a good atmosphere conductive to learning and I should add the teachers are really nice too. To make a long story short, I found Evan at the school, we called a couple hotels until we found one that had an available room, and I took the Taxi there where I stayed for the rest of the weekend.
The hotel unfortunately has nothing to see or do around it within walking distance, and there was no internet either, so I spent my time watching Japanese TV. It was interesting to stay in a Japanese style room where the floors are covered with TATAMI mats, and sleeping in a REAL futon is EXTREMELY comfortable. Breakfast is served at the Hotel for free until 9AM, without any stove available (like I would use it anyways, right mom?), and only a water heater, I ate mostly CUP NOODLES, NIKUMAN, and POCKY or ICE CREAM for desert.
On sunday (today) I made my way to my homestay house. This place is in a town outside of Fukuoka that is right on the coast of the Sea of Japan, and is surrounded by both mountains and beaches. It`s really beautiful, but there is almost nothing to do here either. This is ok though, it will hopefully mean more time studying, less money being wasted, and some nice quiet before going back to the likes of Tokyo or visiting Kyoto. My host mother is a very kind older woman, and there is another student from GenkiJACS homestaying here aswell. He is from Germany, his name is Boris, and he looks almost identical to my cousin Mike but with lighter hair.
Anyways, thats probably enough to read for one sitting, and my fingers are getting sore. Off to check my e-mail for the first time in a few days. - Timo
Friday, November 16, 2007
Reports of my disappearance have been greatly exaggerated. I've had a busy past few days. On Sunday I went to Yokohama and hung out with one of my Japanese friends. We saw a street performer, then went to the top of Yokohama Landmark Tower where I had the best view yet of the cityscape of the greater Tokyo area.
After that, we went to China town and had some really good Chinese snack foods. I'm really grateful to have made good friends in Japan・ It's really an interesting experience to be guided around town by a local person.
You are made aware of a lot of the little streets and paths that you might otherwise not notice or choose to take. The next 3 days I also spent away from Tokyo in the town of Oota - which is a city about the size of Windsor. It was so weird to be in such a quiet place after living in busy Tokyo for a while. Anyways, these little trips are the reason I haven't posted in a while. Tonight I met with Akemi san in Ginza. It was so much fun. First of all, I arrived in Ginza almost 2 hours early, so in need of some way to kill time before meeting Akemi-san, I decided I'd take a subway over to Ebisu - a place I've reallllly wanted to go to but have not made it to until today. Ebisu is about 6 stops away from Ginza station on the Hibiya line. Now, any of you who've seen the Japanese drama Hana Yori Dango (Mom, Shaye) will recognize Ebisu garden place as the special meeting place where Tsukushi and Tsukasa meet (or otherwise wait hopelessly for each other). The scenes from this Japanese show were filmed on location near a prominent concrete sculpture in Ebisu Garden Place. The only problem is, unknown to me at the time, Ebisu Garden Place is a good ways from Ebisu station. So, like usual, I asked someone for directions. This time I asked a middle aged Japanese woman with a nice smile. She was so kind, used very simple Japanese and even walked with me part way until we got to this overpass with an automatic sidewalk (like the moving sidewalks you find in airports. Japan has them in many other places as this country is obsessed with being convenient (usually). Anyways, the woman told me to go to the very end and out the doors and I should be right there. So, I followed her directions which took me to a small intersection. Upon arriving here, I instantly felt this place was familiar - and looking ahead of me, I spotted a small set of steps leading up to a concrete tarmac・.
You know what, just look at the pictures! This place is maybe meaningless to anyone who hasn't seen Hana Yori Dango, but to us HYD fans, having the opportunity to be there and touch the sculpture and stand right there fulfilled a little dream.
After wandering around this place in awe and trying to re-create various camera-angles from the show, I returned to Ginza where I met Akemi in front of Mistukoshi departo. Ginza is a bustling shopping district (how many of these Tokyo has is beginning to become uncountable, but they are always exciting and lively.). Akemi was so generous and great to hang out with tonight. We started our excursion by visiting Tokyo tower. Tokyo Tower is basically a smaller replica of the Eiffel Tower. We took a tour up to the observatory of this Tower and I caught some magnificent views of Tokyo's skyline at night. After that, Akemi treated me to an amazing and classy Japanese restaurant in Ginzawhere we had a great assortment of delicious food. Not everything in Japan tastes like the ocean (but a lot of it does), but the food was great and we ate so much of it too! Oh, and we took a taxi on the way there - the first taxi I've taken in Japan - and it reminded me of the opening shots of Lost in Translation so I captured some video..
Anyways, after all of that, I came back to the hostel and packed up all of my stuff as Tommorow I知 flying to Fukuoka. It will be interesting as I don't know where I'm staying for the first 2 days in Fukuoka before my homestay begins so I guess I'll have to figure out a hotel or something once I arrive. Well, enough rambling for one day, enjoy the pictures and video. - Tim
Sunday, November 11, 2007
Well, just wanted to post a quick update because I woke up extra early this morning for some reason. Yesterday was another adventure of Lost in Tokyo... This city is so big, yet, its actually pretty easy to navigate on the macro level once you get a feeling for where all of the different boroughs are located relative to each other. The subway system here, although massive with something like 18 different subway lines (compared to Toronto's 4), are extremely convenient and easy to navigate - esspecially if you speak Japanese. Yesterday it pretty much rained all morning and most of the afternoon and on and off all evening too.. Tokyo becomes this picturesq scene of crowds of busy people walking, almost all of them with the exact same type of completely transparent plastic umbrellas over their heads. Anyways, today's itinerary is basically, I'm going down to Yokohama (a city in the Tokyo area of about 3 million people). This is the first time aside from my first day here where I've travelled so far away on my own so I'll be practicing extra dilligence. Luckly, all of the areas I have to pass through or transfer at are very safe areas of Tokyo. Still, it could be scarey to get lost by myself, but I have a few friend's cell phone numbers on hand if needed. Well, I'll post again later on.. I should come back with lots of pictures too! PS - I went to Akihabara last night, its basically the electronics / anime / computer / managa / video game heaven.. Complete with Maid Cafes, which are basically coffee shops where cute girls dressed in Lolita maid costumes serve you and pretend that you're their goshuujin sama (meaning "master" in this context).. It's a little weird but I'm curious to experience it though a little embarrassed as it might be considered slightly hentai (perverted). I'll make a full Akihabara post after I return with my camera in hand.
Well, I've arrived in Japan without a hitch! I'm going to try to lay this post out like a photo Journal because I managed to snap a lot of pictures on my journey!
First, the flight was smooth sailing almost the entire time through, except that I got air sick part way through but after some much needed sleep I felt better!
^ The food served on the flight from Vancouver to Tokyo was the first hint that I was going to Japan (and the fact that all the flight announcements were repeated in Japanese). A quick note that I must make: Japan is FULL of CUUUUUTE girls!!! Tim is in heaven!
After going through customs and immigration at Narita, I found myself finally in Japan. I have to stress, the Japanese people have been soooo helpful to me thus far, but at the same time, I think someone who only spoke english would have a very difficult and frustrating time travelling in this country. Some people in Canada often told me "Everyone there speaks English anyways" and this could not be further from the truth with the exception of airport and hotel staff. There is a train station in Narita airport, which is important because Narita is actually not in Tokyo but rathering in the neighbouring city of Chiba which is a 75 minute train ride from Tokyo. As soon as I got to the train platform, I found myself a little lost, and for the first time, my Japanese skills came to the rescue. I met a really nice woman and her daughter, and explained to them that I needed to go to Asakusa and that I know I'll have to transfer but I'm not sure which line to take. Fortunately, they were also headed in the same direction. Boarding the train/subway, I found myself surrounded by interesting posters. I cannot lie, this city - Tokyo - is VERY commercialized!
After making it to Asakusa station, I followed the directions given from the Sakura Hostel website. However, a few parts of the instructions were a little foggy and once again I found myself starting to get lost as it's a weaving 15 minute walk from Asakusa station to Sakura Hostel, which, by the way was filled with Tori gates, temples, and... an Amusement park. I found a local construction worker or traffic director, I couldn't tell which, and explained to him Sumimasen, chotto maigo ni narimashita... etto... Kaminarimon wa doko desu ka?, which basically means Excuse me, I'm a little lost, where is Kaminari gate? Unfortunately, he wasn't sure, and told me it could be in 2 different directions, but then he stopped 2 women passing by, and asked them about the location of the temple.. The women explained to me (again in Japanese) that I'd have to go the other way, cross the street at the next corner, and walk a little down the street.
So, I followed those directions, and found myself at the entrence gate, which was lined with traditional shops on either side of the path leading to the temple ground. Finally at the end of this path, which is extremely long and still had a fair amount of people at it even in evening hours, I came to Sensoji temple and some people were at the top stairs to the entrance, saying prayers and throwing money into the big bowl (which you do when you pray). And, of course, again I found myself a little lost (no offence to the hostel's directions but they are a little unclear about direction when they say something like "Go past the entrance" and there's two ways to go. So, this time I asked an older man who was standing outside of some sort of shop outside of the temple grounds where the theme park is (there's a theme park near the temple, and the hostel is behind the themepark.. that's Japan though =P), I soon realised he was drunk from the smell of his breath, nonetheless he showed the the correct direction and explained how to get to the other side of the theme park. And so I arrived. Later that night, I went out to a Karaoke box with some people from the hostel that I've met (more about them in a future post perhaps), and had an awsome time! It reallllly reminded me of the Karaoke scene in Lost in Translation and I think for that reason it fulfilled a little dream of mine as I LOVE that movie. *deep breath* Today I had the coolest time exploring Tokyo! I've been constantly surprised at how approachable people are. I realise, it's part of the culture to save face and be polite whenever possible, but at the same time, it's amazing that in such a big city complete strangers are easy to share a joke with. For example, on the way of our travels, I was explaining to one of my hostel friends the difference between ippai (which means "Full") and oppai (which means breasts, haha) and some random younger Japanese guy, maybe around 20 years old, laughed a little at overhearing our conversation and said "oppai ne" (basically "Breasts, huh?") and I told him I was explaining the word to my friend but that it was a funny gaijin joke. Also, we were given help by many people in getting lost, and I found out something really interesting, if we started the conversation with even one english word, for example, if I said "Excuse me, chotto taskette kudasai" and used EXCUSE ME instead of sumimasen (Excuse me in Japanese), people would avoid us.. I've heard from some people to not expect people in Tokyo to be helpful or approachable, esspecially to us Gaijin (foreigners), but now I think maybe that was only because those people were trying to speak to them in English. Japanese people, although many times eager to learn and practice english, seem to get very nervous about their english when on the spot. Maybe this is why they appeared cold to some people I've talked to about Tokyo. I LOVE TOKYO! It's soooo big and sooooo busy... but surprisingly, I'm finding the people are mostly friendly! Anyways, I'm getting tired of typing alot, so following are a bunch of pictures.. They're mostly of Shibuya crossing which I visited today. It's the busiest pedestrian crossing in the world, you'll believe it when you see it! Take a look, I even included some video because the pictures don't do it justice.
*OVER STIMULATION ALERT*, the advertising and commercials on the buildings have AUDIO too that broadcasts over loudspeakers for all to hear! Unfortunately (or fortunately for those who can't handle it) my digital camera does not record audio.
This is a video I took while crossing shibuya *As seen in Lost in Translation
The birds eye shots of Shibuya crossing were taking from a place called "Shape City" (I think?) which is a sort of shopping mall/center that encircles half of the perimiter of Shibuya crossing.
and another video, showing why it's the busiest crossing in the world. NOTE: This is not even close to rush hour, as this was taken at about 2pm. You should see it around 5 to 7pm. Personally, I loved it, but I think my mom would hate it very quickly it's just so much sensory overload! ^_^
This next video was taken from the pedestrian crossing next to Ueno station in Ueno Tokyo (You can take a subway from Ueno to Shibuya very easily) This was my first time in a "downtown" type place in Japan, and it really hit me how big Tokyo is when I came here so I took this video:
This next video is of my first glimps of Shibuya crossing, as we approached it, the sidewalk became more and more alive with people, and the sounds of the advertisment commercials started to be heard (though you cant hear anything in my videos v.v)
Next: Asakusa Sensoji Temple. Very cool place, the smoke is said to have healing properties if you put it on your body that part of your body that it touches will become better. Many students put this smoke on their heads. hehehe
As a final note of something I just wanted to add, on the way back from my travels I walked down this side street here in Asakusa, and there's always traditional japanese music playing on a series of loudspeakers mounted on the posts to the street lights which on this street are traditional style lanterns. There's many many nice Japanese shops and restaurants! Maybe I'll take some pictures and add them here soon so keep reading! Mata ne!
Well, we're about to leave in about half an hour from now to go to the airport. As I'm slightly pressed for time, I'll have to make this brief. I'm about to embark on the largest journey of my life. I've had wonderful support from my friends and family and I'd like to thank everyone who's been there for me and lent a hand with putting this all together. I love you all, and I hope to tell some great stories to everyone when I return (In the meantime, read here for more or less realtime coverage). I've also had a great 2 days in Toronto hanging out with my Mom. She really has put up with a lot of obsessive compulsive type behavior from me, and managed to still keep her cool and has also been the most supportive person for me in this endeavour. Yesterday, after we ate at some chinese buffet place (and I avoided the sushi and seafood like the plague sighting an oncomming daily diet of rice and fish), we all recieved fortune cookies. Ironically, they seemed to really fit..
My mom's fortune cookie read You are a social and entertaining person - which is funny, because my mom is a clown and entertainer as a profession. and mine said: You will soon step foot on the soil of distant countries - I wont even point out the coincidence here as I don't want to insult anyone's intelligence.
Last but not least, at the last minute last night we went to a big wal-mart and I bought a new luggage suitcase as the existing one was too big and bulky. My new luggage is ultra small, compact, and portable. Yay me! Well, my next blog post should be from Japanese soil, until then.
Well, this will have to be a short entry because I'm a little pressed for time. But I must say that packing is a bit of a nightmare come to life. First, you should always make a packing list, this way, you'll be sure not to forget anything. Also, especially for a long trip, you should always make sure to pack lightly, because you will have to carry your luggage sometimes whether you like it or not. So yea, pack lightly unless you have a team of linebackers or pro-wrestlers to help you out.
Unfortunately, I have more luggage than I aimed for. Only 1 suitcase and a small backpack, but the suitcase is heavier than I wanted and a little bigger than I need. I would of bought a smaller suitcase in hindsight.
It's also a good idea to put a brightly colored sticker or tape or something attached to your luggage to help it stand out a bit when it comes off of the carousel.
Well, today we're leaving for Toronto, in approximately 1 hour. There's a slight chance of rain and I always hated driving on the 401 in the rain. I think we'll be safe though. I have a good feeling about everything right now.
Well, the counter is down to 19 days remaining. Friday, October 19th is my last day of work. Some friends from work and myself are going out tomorrow night to celebrate, and I'm looking forward to spending some quality - albeit probably intoxicated - time with the people I've had to spend my time with nearly everyday.
Lately I've been a little lazy with the Japanese studying - shame on me! Except for something really cool I've found - read on to find out... I do plan to study my oshiri off as soon as I'm done with my job, but until then I'm just trying to stay afloat and not forget anything. However, there is a valid reason for this recent slacking (kind of). My new shift has been from 8:30AM to 5:30PM, and although I like the day shift over the night shift by far, by the time I get home from work I don't feel like looking at a computer screen, let alone trying to study on a computer. Even studying with good old pen and paper is often too much of a chore as my job leaves me mentally exhausted.
I work at a call center doing tech support for HP computers. A lot of stress. 'nough said.
Anyways, as an alternative to hard studying, I have had the chance to exercise my 日本語 (read: Japanese language) in an entertaining and indirect way. I've found myself nearly addicted to a number of Japanese Drama TV series. I can finally rationalize wasting hours on end watching TV, as I get to practice listening comprehension. Mind you, subtitles are usually included, but just the same I try to go without reading them as much as possible.
Anyways, as the time to take-off creeps closer and closer, I find the reality that awaits me sinking in. I'm getting ever more excited, and slightly nervous. I wont lie, part of me is borderline scared, but I'm just as anxious to get my feet wet and step outside of the western world for the first time.
Well, I haven't posted on here in a bit because I've been so busy. I'm getting anxious to quit my Job, and I'm also really looking forward to becoming a student again. I have basically 5 weeks from tomorrow until I leave, and my last day of work will be in about 3 weeks. I definitely feel the excitement building up as the days go by, and it makes it kind of hard to keep going to work while anticipating my last day.
I've gotten a few really important things taken care of since I last posted. First off, I've paid my tuition for the school in Fukuoka. It was pretty pricey and I wont go into the details, but it was more money than I've ever paid into anything before. Nonetheless, it felt good to get that out of the way.
Secondly, I've secured a plane ticket from Tokyo to Fukuoka. I will be flying on All Nippon Airways (ANA). Now, a little tip for anyone buying a domestic flight ticket from ANA - dont buy it from their American website! This is because, on their American website they generally charge a flat-rate price no matter if you buy the ticket a month in advance or a week in advance. On the Japanese site though - and might I add there is an English version of their Japanese site - they have a different price for each ticket depending on how far in advance you book your flight. If I were to purchase the same ticket from the North American ANA website, I would of ended up paying $296 US! But, I found the same ticket on the Japanese website - same price - except after a big discount for buying my ticket 8 weeks in Advance, the total came out to about $115 US. The only catch is that you need a contact phone number in Japan.. Luckly, one of my friends in Japan - Yuko - let me use her phone number to buy the ticket. She even called ANA in Japan and verified that it would be ok if I used her number - thanks Yuko! ^^
This past weekend I visited Mr. and Mrs. Taguchi, we had a really great time. I've been learning some Japanese tongue twisters and proverbs and we exchanged some of our favorites as well as some English ones. Akemi has found some good directions for getting from Narita Airport to Asakusa, where the Hostel I'll be staying in for the first 8 days of my trip is located. It will actually be about a 1.5 to 2 hour commute because Narita Airport - even though it's called Tokyo New International Airport, is not located in Tokyo, but rather in neighboring Chiba prefecture.
Anyways, aside from helping me with that, Mrs. Taguchi and I also made plans to meet in Tokyo. We even set a date, time, and location to meet. It's kind of cool to have a plan to meet at a certain place and time in a city I've never been to. Needless to say, I'm excited. =D
As always, we enjoyed some nice Tea and conversation.
I've never undertaken such a huge endeavor in my life thus far. I had no idea there would be so many details to be worked out. I wasn't expecting it to be easy either, but I'm constantly thinking of new things that need to be sorted out. Transportation, Accommodation, Insurance, Food, Entertainment, Money, Safety, Allergies... The list seems to continue indefinitely.. At the same time, I'm a strong believer in leaving alot of breathing room, and letting the chips fall where they may.
Over the past few days - faced with the challenge of landing in Tokyo, still 1,400KM from my destination in Fukuoka - I've been looking at adding some more detail to my itinerary. I'm leaning towards staying at this wonderful hostel in a nice part of Tokyo called Sakura Hostel that Akemi and Noboru found and recommended to me.. I'm thinking I'll stay in Tokyo for 1 week once I arrive before I make my way to Fukuoka. This will give me some time to adjust to the time difference and give me a little taste of Tokyo before I re-visit it later in my travels.
The second thing I'm trying to iron out the details about - and perhaps the biggest as it accounts for nearly half of my trip's budget and over a third of my time - is the details of my course at Genki JACS.. I'm hoping to have a mix between homestay with a Japanese family and dorm life, hopefully with some Japanese students from Kyuushuu university.. Homestay is more expensive, so I'm hoping to be a little easier on the budget by mixing and matching. I've sent an e-mail to GenkiJACS outlining my proposal. They've always been good at replying within 48 hours.
I'd like to make a side note that working in YEN has really made things seem like an even larger undertaking than they already are. It just seems mind-boggling to think to myself 'I have to put aside ￥140,000 for transportation over the course of x number of months'. I have to constantly remind myself that this equates to less than 140,000 pennies.
My challenge to all westerners: Try budgeting in pennies for a month, you'll see what I'm going through.
Well, after a busy 2 days in the big city of Toronto, I'm finally back home... With me, I've brought a plane ticket and *drum roll* .. a visa to live / work in Japan for half a year!
Today at about 1:45pm I returned to the Japanese consulate to get my passport back, and in it, my visa. With my plane ticket and traveler's cheques in-hand, I approached the counter, a nice looking older man on the other side asked "How can I help you?", and after showing him my plane ticket and $2,500 in traveler's cheques, he handed me a neat little package. In this package were my passport, along with a 4 page guide about registering with the immigration office once in Japan and also a list of contact numbers for support on my endeavor should I need it.
When I'd entered the consulate, there was a young Japanese couple - not too much older than myself - at the booth to my right. While the visa officer was away looking for my visa for me, the young man beside me turned to me and asked what company I would be teaching English with. I explained - to his surprise - that I was not intending to teach but rather to study. He seemed pleasantly astonished, he smiled and told me 「勉強は がんばって くださいね」 "do your best/good luck with your studies". It kind of made my day, as I haven't spoken to any Japanese that close to my age before. Also, he seemed so happy to hear that I wanted to learn Japanese, it makes me hope I'll be that well received in Japan. では、がんばりますよ！ Well, I'll definitely try my best!
Well, I bought my airline ticket today. Cost: ~$1,300 after taxes etc. Departure Date: November 7th, 2007 @ 10:00AM From: Toronto Lester B. Pearson International Airport To: Tokyo Narita International Airport Stops: Vancouver, British Columbia Canada
Unfortunately, buying a ticket directly from the airline means I was unable to get a ticket directly to Fukuoka as no Canadian airlines fly directly to Fukuoka. So, I have a ticket to Narita international airport, once I get there, I'll have to find my way to Fukuoka either via a Japanese airline or perhaps the Shinkansen. Anyways, we'll see how that all works out once I get there, as long as I'm in Fukuoka by that Sunday I'll be good. Besides, it's the challenges that will give this journey flavor (I'm gunna kick myself for saying that later on, I know.. hehe)
Anyways, I'm back in Toronto again for a couple of days. Tomorrow I'll be going to the Japanese consulate again to hopefully pick up my passport and visa given that they're ready. They told me to come back today but I figured I'd give them an extra day. However, there's still a chance that they could ask me to come back again later if it's not ready yet. Hopefully everything is ready.
Everything is very busy at the moment; Work has been busy, in what little free time I have I try to spend brushing up on my Japanese at YesJapan.com (Probably THE best way to learn Japanese online.) Though lately I dont have alot of free time to study or do much of anything. Furthermore, after saving up for almost 3 years I'm suddenly throwing tons of money around like nothing in preparation for this trip (read on, you'll see) - kind of a strange feeling.
In a few days I have to return to Toronto to pick up my Working Holiday Visa. (NOTE: The Japanese government currently has my passport >.> - for some reason I like saying that hehehe.) Anyways, in order for them to hand over your passport WITH the visa in it, you have to bring 2 items when you go to pick up your visa. a) $2,500 in Traveller's Checks - this is to show that you have sufficient funds to get yourself situated while you find a Job etc. b) Actual return airline ticket - this is to prove that you're eventually going to return and not over-stay your visa.
Getting the first of these items was pretty easy, except that my bank is an online bank and because it doesn't have any tellers it's difficult to get traveller's checks from them, so I had to buy them from a different bank. Buying the traveller's checks from a different bank presented it's own problems, as at one branch they wanted to see my passport to sell them to me (uh... yea.. the Japanese government has my passport <.< and wont give it back until I show them these traveller's checks.. hehe still love saying that..) Anyways, I went to a different branch of the SAME bank (CIBC), and they sold them to me without any photo ID at all.. So item a) is covered.
Item b) is a bag of issues on it's own. No Canadian airliner flys to Fukuoka (where I'll be staying for the first duration of my journy to attend Genki Japanese and Culture School); Most of the flights go to Tokyo and then you have to transfer to JAL or All Nippon airlines to go from Tokyo to Fukuoka.. You can buy tickets from Expedia or Travelocity or Orbitz that include this entire trip, but unfortunately they are only e-tickets and no actual ticket is given to you, you simply goto the air port, show them photo ID and they give you a boarding pass. This wont work for me, as the Japanese consulate wants to SEE a return ticket itself. Also, I've heard a number of horror stories about e-tickets and people getting to the airport and being told they need an actual ticket, etc. and it sound's like a possible headache waiting to happen...
So...
I've decided that I'll purchase my ticket in person at the Airport where I live: round trip from Toronto to Tokyo, with a stop in Vancouver; Once I get to Narita International Airport Tokyo, I'll have to buy another ticket to goto Fukuoka or I may take the Shinkansen. I'm aiming for a departure date of November 6th, and a return date of April 30th or May 1st..
So, I have my plate full in the next few days, and on top of all of this I have to stop at greyhound and buy a greyhound ticket to go back to Toronto on Wednesday or Thursday. isogashii ne~ (aren't I busy? -.-)
Well, I'm in Toronto today (closest Japanese consulate to me is in Toronto, so I took a little trip up here). I visited the Japanese consulate to submit an application for a Working Holiday Visa which will allow me to live and work in Japan for 6 months to a year..
I took a big elevator up to the 33rd floor of this really tall office building in downtown Toronto.. Off of the elevator, I made a right, and saw this big sign in both english and Japanese that says Japanese Consulate General, and it has some scrolls next to it and some bamboo and it's a very "japanese" feeling place.. So I make my way down the hall, and take a seet in a small waiting room, along the wall there's a row of booths with forms and brochures in them, all in Japanese. The visa officers were just comming back from their lunch break when I arrived, and there was this glass window with a slot at the bottom like in some movie theaters, but it was covered by some blinds... Suddenly, the curtain behind the glass window thing opened and a short Japanese woman standing on the other side of the glass said "Ha~i, dozo.. Please come forward"..
There were about 4 other people there in the waiting area, and they had all arrived before I did, so I let them go first.. Finally, everyone else had gone, and so I stood up and walked over to the window, half nervous, have brave (weird feeling).. I took my file folder with all of my required documents out of my school bag.. and handed them to the lady along with my passport.. She took a few minutes, sorted the papers, and didn't really say anything at first.. Then for a second she seemed confused and told me one of the forms was missing, and I got really nervous for a second, but then she found it stuck to the back of another sheet.. Big sigh of relief.. She smiled, and went over all of my forms that I'd filled out.. and asked me a few questions like "Have you ever been to Japan before?" "Have you ever applied for a working holiday visa before?"..
And then she read my "letter of intent" which is basically a short letter describing why you want a working holiday visa and what your motives are etc. The first paragraph of my letter is in Japanese, and basically introduces myself and explains that I've been learning Japanese for about 2 years but am still pretty week at it, thus the letter would be written in english from this point on... She smiled when she read it, and asked "Where did you study Japanese"...
Finally, after going through my submitted itinerary and a few other papers, and cropping my submitted passport-sized photograph and glueing it onto one of the forms, she looked up and me and said "your visa has been approved! please return here in one week to pick up your passport and visa, if there are any issues we'll call you"
I felt like a 10 billion yen, but was still pretty shocked and nervous so I dont think it was really showing on my face!
Last night, Mr. and Mrs. Taguchi had a wonderful party that I was happy to be invited to. Every year around the end of June there is a magnificent (and huge) fireworks display over the Detroit river, as my city and Detroit share in celebrating the respective Independence Days of Canada and the US.
This is not very Japan related except that this is the first time I've gotten some pictures of Mr. and Mrs. Taguchi.
I had a wonderful visit today with Mr. and Mrs. Taguchi - these two people have become so much more than language exchange partners, they've become dear friends to me! I met them through a friend of my mom, and we've really hit it off.
Noboru-san is an extremely kind man who I've grown to really admire - he's a man of few words, but he has a wonderful sense of humor and is a smart and kind person with a good heart! Akemi-san is a woman with so much character and laughter, yet alot of wisdom too - and she's become a great mentor and a friend.
They invited me to their place at about 4 today. I walked to their building, which is about a half-hour walk from my house. They live in a beautiful condo-minion on the waterfront downtown, and somehow every time I visit I feel like I'm taking a day trip to Japan.
Irrashaimase, they greet me as I enter their home, with a slight bow, and they're always so considerate as they pull up a small chair for me to sit on as I untie and take-off my shoes, hai, douzo, I'm welcomed to make myself comfortable. Akemi always prepares some delicious tea and an exotic Japanese treat of some sort.
Tonight was especially wonderful, as I was introduced to two of their friends - Susan and Akio-san (Sorry if I got your name wrong - ごめんなさい). Susan lives in their building, and her husband is working in Japan right now, she's a very nice Indian woman with a great sense of humor, and she wants to learn Japanese. Akio-san is living in Canada on a Working Holiday Visa, which is actually the same Visa I'm applying for to stay in Japan. She's very nice very nice and friendly, it was just chance that Akemi and her met, as they bumped into each other at the local library (considering Windsor has less than 0.5% Japanese population).. Funny foot-in-mouth moment happened when I met her, immediately after being introduced, I asked Akio how old she is - which I didn't realise might give the wrong impression, but I was genuinely curious about her age because she looks about my age, though apparently she's a bit older than me, anyways, at realising how forward I sounded, my face turned red but we laughed it off in good spirits ^_^.
After some interesting conversation (in both Japanese and English), Akemi invited us to stay for Dinner, and so we had a wonderful (and may I add healthy) Japanese dinner - rice, japanese curry, chicken, and desert of Ice Cream with Red Bean sauce - Sundae style, sooooo goooooood....
We then went to Susan's apartment and played DDR (Dance Dance Revolution), and burnt off any calories the dinner might of added...
I walked home and it started to rain lightly - I love rain - and I took the sceneic rout, passing by some fountains and wonderful gardens, not even feeling like I was in Windsor until I started to approach my house.
Please, enjoy this video (I didn't make it, but it gets me excited!)
As my first post in my new blog, I'd like to take a moment to express my thanks to everyone who's helped me move forward and closer to realising my dream. First and foremost, my mother who has been supportive and encouraging as I prepare to undertake one of the biggest adventures of my life... and to all of my friends who've been there to keep me going. As a memento of my first post in this blog, I would like to outline my goals
Fluency in Japanese Language, learning more and more each day!
Immersion in the exotic culture of Japan.
Making lots of friends along the way. and most importantly...
Making memories!
As of right now, I'm still in my home in Canada. I study Japanese on my own time, sometimes with the help of my dear Japanese friends (こんにちは、田口さん、ゆかりさん、宜しくね). I'm still months away from my departure, but I want to start the story here, at home where it begins. I'm anxious for the future to unfold and an adventure in a far-off land to unravel before my feet.
My name is Timothy Patrick, for nearly 2 years I've been planning, preparing and saving for an unforgettable trip to Japan.. This is a chronicle of my adventure to a place half a globe away!
Quick note about the picture to the left, yes I know my eyes are closed but it was the only pic I got of everyone together before my camera died.. Well, first of all it is Christmas Eve in Japan already (It is still the 23rd in some parts of the world including my hometown), but I just wanted to wish Everyone a Merry Christmas! Christmas in Japan is a bit different as it has basically no relation what-so-ever to the biblical story, and they also have a few traditions that we don't such as eating Christmas Cake, and eating Christmas Chicken..
