I don´t think I have ever seen such a spectacular sight of multicolored leaves floating as gracefully to the ground as when I went to Kamigamo jinja today. Whenever the wind would blow ever so slightly stronger, the leaves let go of the branches and sailed down towards the already large heap of their friends on the ground. This reminded me that autumn will soon be upon us, but I guess I can´t complain since the weather here is still a million times better than the bitter cold and endless different types of snow that seems to be going on back home. I will finally get to experience four full seasons and am looking forward to witnessing the trees changing their wardrobe and Christmas halfway around the globe away from home. ^^
In other news, life is good in Kyoto. I still haven´t fully come to realize that this building, this city, this country is mine for the next year or so (it´s amazing, I know.. ) but even so, I have begun to forget my daily routine back home and am trying to replace it with a good one here in the land of far far away.
My skin is the darkest it has been for ... well forever I think, and I am getting more and more Japanese by the minute, even though I still can´t remember when to say ohayou (good morning), konnichiwa (good day) or konbanwa (good evening). Went to the Kitagawa sensei´s office today and had a talk about how I am adjusting to life in Kyoto, the classes, the I-House (my dorm), the people, the language etc. I had no idea in what language this would take place but she started speaking Japanese and I just followed suit, not realizing until afterward that I had been speaking Japanese for about thirty minutes, and so I felt very good about my little self as I trotted back home.
I realized after I went in her office that I really had no complaints to speak of regarding life in Kyoto. Sure, I hate how nosy the office at the I-House is and how they make us do these random events (for example mandatory debate contest that I learned from Edda today that is not so mandatory at all!) and keep setting all these rules for us poor residents of the house (yeah, girls are in theory not allowed to enter a boy´s room and vice-versa) but it´s a small price to pay considering the very cheap rent. Also, drama tends to run high in the loony-bin as I affectionately call the dorm but again, nothing all too exciting and usually blows over in a day. Am still waiting for really juicy stuff to happen... maybe I should take matters into my own hands. ^^
Have been thinking about what to do after Japan but decided it was too soon so I took the course to stay blissfully ignorant for a few more months. Would really love to follow some people back home, Italy, South-America.... spend a few months before I have to do my B.A. thesis and find me some more studying to do.
In spite of cold, this evening has been pretty good. Uneventful for a change, but good. Me and Edda made epic dinner consisting of chicken which the lass cooks (that includes spices) to perfection, some vegetables, rice, potatoes and this awesome Japanese sesame dressing... sauce.. thing. And tomorrow we get a visit from Miss Swan ;) which I am looking forward to, so as to not completely become isolated from life back home. Yes, I know, I need to be on skype and msn more...
So, everyone.. miss you lots but am never intending to leave Japan. Sorry. There´s just nothing I can do about that. You´ll have to arrange trips every season to come share the wonders of this amazing country with me. :)
Hope this cold will leave me by tomorrow, I have a four day weekend coming up and am not intending on spending it in bed! Wish me luck!
Lots of love,
besos y abrazos,
-Hildur
Friday, October 30, 2009
Monday, October 26, 2009
Belated news
Hey everyone! Sorry for the late update, things have been crazy the last week or so.
Even now I am rather short on time. Woke up early this morning (7:45!) and went jogging with Katrin, a girl from Germany, for about an hour, had a quick shower and decided to have a wee breakfast before continuing my day. Am thinking of using the morning as best as I can and go to the very small mall nearby called Vivre (the japanese like to butcher languages such as English, Spanish and French) and do some shopping. I have lost four kilos since coming to Japan so I´m starting to need new pants...
Yesterday a big group from the I-House ventured into town to see Noh and Kyogen plays, which are traditional Japanese theater styles. Very different from what we are used to back home, I must say. First we had the Kyogen play, which is a kind of comedy, usually used to break up the Noh plays - because they can go on for hours and hours or even days! It only went on for about 20 minutes, which was a pity as it was very entertaing. The plot was that a man and his servant tried to steal a sword from a samurai but fail. They then decide to attack him and tie him up but while the man holds the samurai the servant has to start tying the rope before he can tie him up. So in the end the samurai gets away. The moral of the story is an old Japanese proverb that says not to wait to tie the rope until the ... well I forget. But anyway, you should always be prepared.
The Noh play was much more dramatic, the actors moved painstakingly slow across the floor (by the way, this is what the stage looked like) and talked in a singing voice, pronouncing every syllable very slowly and clearly. In spite of this, I think it´s hard for even the japanese people to understand what the Noh actors are saying. I understood most of the Kyogen play but completely got lost at the Noh one. The costumes were very beautiful and interesting, two of the characters (I think they were ghosts but you can never be too sure...) had traditional Noh masks which I have never before seen in real life, and the music was something we would never hear back home.
Afterwards we went out for hamburgers and ice cream... every day there is ice cream, those four kilos are gonna come back with a vengence soon enough!
As I had a lecture on Thursday and Friday I was extremely fatigued come Friday evening so I stayed at the I-House instead of going with the tutors to Shabu Shabu.
The Friday lecture was on Iceland, and all I can say is that I really hope what I said won´t appear on a test. :o I didn´t prepare at all as I thought the teacher would do most of the teaching but he said something to me in japanese which I think I kind of understood and then proceeded to say "douzo!" (go ahead) and sat down at the back. So I was left standing there with 30 Japanese people looking at me expectantly, without a plan. I didn´t even know what language to speak so it was a jumble of English, Japanese and Icelandic with a touch of Danish and Swedish for examples of how similar the languages are. But I got into the spirit of it and ad-lipped some random information about Iceland and in the end I got so excited to teach about my countries strange customs and ways that I really enjoyed myself, especially when they referred to me as sensei (teacher). :)
They even offered me to come to dinner with them afterwards but I had already planned to take the night off so I took five minutes to apologize properly in Japanese and rush out and back home.
There is always so much going on here that I welcomed a quiet evening of eating ice cream (again!), watching a movie and going to bed early. I had to wake up early the next day as we had a class field trip to Mt. Hiei with our religion teacher.
Mt. Hiei came as a spiritual drop of honey for my thirsty soul. For pure accident we stumbled upon a ritual the monks for preforming in honor of the founder of the convent, Saicho. He is credited for creating the Tendai school of Buddhism which he brought with him from China. So we sat there for 15 minutes or so, listening to the chanting and I grabbed the opportunity to do some meditating with live monk music, which was just pure bliss. We walked around the grounds and saw just a few of the over 300 complexed located at the mountain. For example the buildings where the monks have to do rituals to be ordained to the rule. If I remember correctly they have three gruesome rituals to get through, for example walk around and around one of the buildings without sleep, for 90 days. They also must fast for a similar period of time etc. I guess you would have to be pretty darn sure this is what you want to be doing with your life...
At one point we met a monk that our teacher seemed to know and he proceeded to give us a small lecture on the hall we were standing in and offered us free drinks afterward. Such nice people, the Japanese. ^^
As we only saw the west part I believe, a lot of us want to go back again later and take a better look at the rest of the grounds. It was quite a magical day, just walking in the forests, seeing all those statues, monks, rituals, chanting, rosaries, pagodas .... I´m looking forward to going again already.
That is all for now, I have to get going, carpe diem and all that!
Love, hugs and kisses to everyone, wherever you are! Want to fix the comment section so I can hear from you all, if anyone knows enough html to do that, contact me on facebook.
<3
Even now I am rather short on time. Woke up early this morning (7:45!) and went jogging with Katrin, a girl from Germany, for about an hour, had a quick shower and decided to have a wee breakfast before continuing my day. Am thinking of using the morning as best as I can and go to the very small mall nearby called Vivre (the japanese like to butcher languages such as English, Spanish and French) and do some shopping. I have lost four kilos since coming to Japan so I´m starting to need new pants...
Yesterday a big group from the I-House ventured into town to see Noh and Kyogen plays, which are traditional Japanese theater styles. Very different from what we are used to back home, I must say. First we had the Kyogen play, which is a kind of comedy, usually used to break up the Noh plays - because they can go on for hours and hours or even days! It only went on for about 20 minutes, which was a pity as it was very entertaing. The plot was that a man and his servant tried to steal a sword from a samurai but fail. They then decide to attack him and tie him up but while the man holds the samurai the servant has to start tying the rope before he can tie him up. So in the end the samurai gets away. The moral of the story is an old Japanese proverb that says not to wait to tie the rope until the ... well I forget. But anyway, you should always be prepared.
The Noh play was much more dramatic, the actors moved painstakingly slow across the floor (by the way, this is what the stage looked like) and talked in a singing voice, pronouncing every syllable very slowly and clearly. In spite of this, I think it´s hard for even the japanese people to understand what the Noh actors are saying. I understood most of the Kyogen play but completely got lost at the Noh one. The costumes were very beautiful and interesting, two of the characters (I think they were ghosts but you can never be too sure...) had traditional Noh masks which I have never before seen in real life, and the music was something we would never hear back home.
Afterwards we went out for hamburgers and ice cream... every day there is ice cream, those four kilos are gonna come back with a vengence soon enough!
As I had a lecture on Thursday and Friday I was extremely fatigued come Friday evening so I stayed at the I-House instead of going with the tutors to Shabu Shabu.
The Friday lecture was on Iceland, and all I can say is that I really hope what I said won´t appear on a test. :o I didn´t prepare at all as I thought the teacher would do most of the teaching but he said something to me in japanese which I think I kind of understood and then proceeded to say "douzo!" (go ahead) and sat down at the back. So I was left standing there with 30 Japanese people looking at me expectantly, without a plan. I didn´t even know what language to speak so it was a jumble of English, Japanese and Icelandic with a touch of Danish and Swedish for examples of how similar the languages are. But I got into the spirit of it and ad-lipped some random information about Iceland and in the end I got so excited to teach about my countries strange customs and ways that I really enjoyed myself, especially when they referred to me as sensei (teacher). :)
They even offered me to come to dinner with them afterwards but I had already planned to take the night off so I took five minutes to apologize properly in Japanese and rush out and back home.
There is always so much going on here that I welcomed a quiet evening of eating ice cream (again!), watching a movie and going to bed early. I had to wake up early the next day as we had a class field trip to Mt. Hiei with our religion teacher.
Mt. Hiei came as a spiritual drop of honey for my thirsty soul. For pure accident we stumbled upon a ritual the monks for preforming in honor of the founder of the convent, Saicho. He is credited for creating the Tendai school of Buddhism which he brought with him from China. So we sat there for 15 minutes or so, listening to the chanting and I grabbed the opportunity to do some meditating with live monk music, which was just pure bliss. We walked around the grounds and saw just a few of the over 300 complexed located at the mountain. For example the buildings where the monks have to do rituals to be ordained to the rule. If I remember correctly they have three gruesome rituals to get through, for example walk around and around one of the buildings without sleep, for 90 days. They also must fast for a similar period of time etc. I guess you would have to be pretty darn sure this is what you want to be doing with your life...
At one point we met a monk that our teacher seemed to know and he proceeded to give us a small lecture on the hall we were standing in and offered us free drinks afterward. Such nice people, the Japanese. ^^
As we only saw the west part I believe, a lot of us want to go back again later and take a better look at the rest of the grounds. It was quite a magical day, just walking in the forests, seeing all those statues, monks, rituals, chanting, rosaries, pagodas .... I´m looking forward to going again already.
That is all for now, I have to get going, carpe diem and all that!
Love, hugs and kisses to everyone, wherever you are! Want to fix the comment section so I can hear from you all, if anyone knows enough html to do that, contact me on facebook.
<3
Sunday, October 18, 2009
The Kami are listening...
It´s good to know the Kami (gods) are listening.
Today we went to Kamiagamo jinja (shrine) to check out the Jyoba Matsuri, a kind of horse festival where these extremely talented riders rode their horses, shooting arrows at targets as they went. The sun was in a particularly good mood today, it felt so good sitting watching the performance, eating mochi and feeling the sun on my skin.
Before the event started we (me, Michael, his tutor Toshi and my tutor Nana) wandered into the shrine inself and bought some fortune slips. Having been quite lost recently, life-wise, I hardly dared pick out a fortune but decided to do so anyway. You would pay 200 yen, pick up this cylinder, shake it before turning it around and catching the first one to fall through a small hole on the bottom.
I collected my fortune and had Michael´s tutor translate it for me. Basically it kept repeating one of my favorite Japanese expression over and over again - gaman suru, which means to overbear things. So to speak, everything is really bad right now but I would just have to grit my teeth and get through it.
Feeling quite depressed about this outcome I quickly walked over to a nearby fence covered in papers neatly tied to the ropes and tied my prediction to it. This is commonly done in order for the Kami to either help you get rid of bad predictions or to make the good ones come true. After tying it tightly to the fence I turned around and walked up the steps to the shrine. The number five is considered lucky here so I threw in a five yen coin, bowed, clapped twice and said a prayer for a better fortune.
After the show was over I found a small stall where they were selling these small blue and red horses with fortunes in their mouths, usually bought during new years. I handed it again to Toshi, fingers crossed. This time though, he and another tutor who had joined us both gasped and shouted that this was the best one to get. Bright future, good circumstances, everything would work itself out.
Now, these are just pieces of words on a paper but they do give you the energy and optimism to take on the world, which it what I feel ready to do once again!
In other news, we went to Nijo castle yesterday, as the city of Kyoto invited us to an international student day located in the old castle´s garden. We met a lot of Japanese students as well as people from all over the world. Together we enjoyed various Japanese things such as calligraphy, origami, and got to participate in a tea ceremony.
They had also set up a stage where we witnessed some very interesting dancing performed by one of the most enthusiastic people I have seen, a sword dance, and a rather embarrassing rap routine. The thing I enjoyed the most though was when the Maiko too the stage and performed a dance, singing and playing the shamisen.
At twelve o´clock we rushed out of the castle grounds to get to karaoke with our tutors. We had a blast and it all cost the small amount of a thousand yen. I re-discovered my love for songs from Evita - Another suitcase in another hall.. million points to whomever recognizes that song! and I got goosebumps when I sang Suteki da ne with Andrea (from Italy). Ahh I really could live inside a karaoke booth! :P
That´s it for now, I have to go check if I have any homework for tomorrow. There is only one class though, there will be no religion class because next Saturday we´re going on a field trip to a monastery, which I am really looking forward to. More on that later!
Hope all of you are having a wonderful time and enjoying life wherever you are! <3
Today we went to Kamiagamo jinja (shrine) to check out the Jyoba Matsuri, a kind of horse festival where these extremely talented riders rode their horses, shooting arrows at targets as they went. The sun was in a particularly good mood today, it felt so good sitting watching the performance, eating mochi and feeling the sun on my skin.
Before the event started we (me, Michael, his tutor Toshi and my tutor Nana) wandered into the shrine inself and bought some fortune slips. Having been quite lost recently, life-wise, I hardly dared pick out a fortune but decided to do so anyway. You would pay 200 yen, pick up this cylinder, shake it before turning it around and catching the first one to fall through a small hole on the bottom.
I collected my fortune and had Michael´s tutor translate it for me. Basically it kept repeating one of my favorite Japanese expression over and over again - gaman suru, which means to overbear things. So to speak, everything is really bad right now but I would just have to grit my teeth and get through it.
Feeling quite depressed about this outcome I quickly walked over to a nearby fence covered in papers neatly tied to the ropes and tied my prediction to it. This is commonly done in order for the Kami to either help you get rid of bad predictions or to make the good ones come true. After tying it tightly to the fence I turned around and walked up the steps to the shrine. The number five is considered lucky here so I threw in a five yen coin, bowed, clapped twice and said a prayer for a better fortune.
After the show was over I found a small stall where they were selling these small blue and red horses with fortunes in their mouths, usually bought during new years. I handed it again to Toshi, fingers crossed. This time though, he and another tutor who had joined us both gasped and shouted that this was the best one to get. Bright future, good circumstances, everything would work itself out.
Now, these are just pieces of words on a paper but they do give you the energy and optimism to take on the world, which it what I feel ready to do once again!
In other news, we went to Nijo castle yesterday, as the city of Kyoto invited us to an international student day located in the old castle´s garden. We met a lot of Japanese students as well as people from all over the world. Together we enjoyed various Japanese things such as calligraphy, origami, and got to participate in a tea ceremony.
They had also set up a stage where we witnessed some very interesting dancing performed by one of the most enthusiastic people I have seen, a sword dance, and a rather embarrassing rap routine. The thing I enjoyed the most though was when the Maiko too the stage and performed a dance, singing and playing the shamisen.
At twelve o´clock we rushed out of the castle grounds to get to karaoke with our tutors. We had a blast and it all cost the small amount of a thousand yen. I re-discovered my love for songs from Evita - Another suitcase in another hall.. million points to whomever recognizes that song! and I got goosebumps when I sang Suteki da ne with Andrea (from Italy). Ahh I really could live inside a karaoke booth! :P
That´s it for now, I have to go check if I have any homework for tomorrow. There is only one class though, there will be no religion class because next Saturday we´re going on a field trip to a monastery, which I am really looking forward to. More on that later!
Hope all of you are having a wonderful time and enjoying life wherever you are! <3
Wednesday, October 14, 2009
Autumn is finally upon us. Riding in the bus back home today I noticed the leaves have already started changing color and it has become a bit more chilly.
Speaking of weather and the seasons, I have finally found a good use for my balcony. Sitting outside with a blanket, watching the sky turn pitch black and the stars appear one by one with a cold beer in one hand and my ipod in the other... it hardly gets any better.
Now, on to school. I have Japanese classes on Monday, Wednesday and Friday mornings, which is really nice because it means I can sleep in every other day. The classes are really fun as well, we get a lot of practice speaking the language and just like home we have fun making lots of mistakes.
My other classes are good fun as well, Mondays I have religion which I enjoy very much, Tuesdays I have literature and Thursdays I have Politics in the third period and Diplomacy in the fourth. It´s all very interesting and homework is not that bad so this semester is looking good so far.
As for other activities, I tried joining the Kyodo club at school but they (like many other clubs) won´t allow first year students to actually participate, they just get to clean up etc. Archery costs 20.000 yen a month which is insane and I haven´t tried any others yet.
I just might try the horse riding club, if I can get over the fear of freakishly tall foreign horses.
Now that I have finally gotten into the routine of things and received my sports shoes I can start to put my feelers out for jobs and circles (like clubs but are organized by the students, not the school), I´m also thinking of finding clubs or courses in downtown Kyoto, whatever I can get my hands on, I just want to learn something new and enjoy a hobby while I´m out here.
Not that it´s easy to get bored around here, my weekends are already booked a few weeks ahead, we have bowling coming up next weekend and a trip to Nijo castle, which should be interesting. The 26th., I think, a few of us are going to see Noh and Kyougen plays, something I am very excited about. Friday after that there is a tutor meeting where we´ll be having shabu shabu (sooo delicious!) and the weekend after that we´re going on a field trip with religion class. We´ll be going to see a monastery inhabited by the "marathon monks" of Kyoto. Click here for more information. :)
Now I have to go prepare dinner, as an exception to most nights I won´t be having cup noodles. I think I´ll heat some frozen chinese ... rolls and boil some baby corn and even heat some rice. Ahh the joys of living on your own.
Best regards to everyone back home, I miss you all and wish you could come soon to visit.
Again, I will try to send out packages as soon as I am able and find proper gifts.
Till next time,
-H
Speaking of weather and the seasons, I have finally found a good use for my balcony. Sitting outside with a blanket, watching the sky turn pitch black and the stars appear one by one with a cold beer in one hand and my ipod in the other... it hardly gets any better.
Now, on to school. I have Japanese classes on Monday, Wednesday and Friday mornings, which is really nice because it means I can sleep in every other day. The classes are really fun as well, we get a lot of practice speaking the language and just like home we have fun making lots of mistakes.
My other classes are good fun as well, Mondays I have religion which I enjoy very much, Tuesdays I have literature and Thursdays I have Politics in the third period and Diplomacy in the fourth. It´s all very interesting and homework is not that bad so this semester is looking good so far.
As for other activities, I tried joining the Kyodo club at school but they (like many other clubs) won´t allow first year students to actually participate, they just get to clean up etc. Archery costs 20.000 yen a month which is insane and I haven´t tried any others yet.
I just might try the horse riding club, if I can get over the fear of freakishly tall foreign horses.
Now that I have finally gotten into the routine of things and received my sports shoes I can start to put my feelers out for jobs and circles (like clubs but are organized by the students, not the school), I´m also thinking of finding clubs or courses in downtown Kyoto, whatever I can get my hands on, I just want to learn something new and enjoy a hobby while I´m out here.
Not that it´s easy to get bored around here, my weekends are already booked a few weeks ahead, we have bowling coming up next weekend and a trip to Nijo castle, which should be interesting. The 26th., I think, a few of us are going to see Noh and Kyougen plays, something I am very excited about. Friday after that there is a tutor meeting where we´ll be having shabu shabu (sooo delicious!) and the weekend after that we´re going on a field trip with religion class. We´ll be going to see a monastery inhabited by the "marathon monks" of Kyoto. Click here for more information. :)
Now I have to go prepare dinner, as an exception to most nights I won´t be having cup noodles. I think I´ll heat some frozen chinese ... rolls and boil some baby corn and even heat some rice. Ahh the joys of living on your own.
Best regards to everyone back home, I miss you all and wish you could come soon to visit.
Again, I will try to send out packages as soon as I am able and find proper gifts.
Till next time,
-H
Monday, October 12, 2009
Konnichiwa minna! It is the 11th of October, a beautiful sunny day in lovely Kyoto and high time for me to continue my travel story.
We are making pizza on the third floor communal area, I´ve got my laundry in the machine and the house is quiet.
Without further ado, I will begin the story again.
----------
Having settled for taking the night bus to Kyoto, over taking the very expensive train, we made our way to Tokyo bus station and half an hour later we were on our way! It was with a touch of sadness that I left the hustle and bustle of Tokyo, and also our classmates, but I had a good feeling about life in Kyoto. It´s always exciting, arriving at a destination you´ve never been before so I lost no sleep on the way here. One adventure ends and another begins.
The bus took us swiftly to Kyoto station, at around 6:30 in the morning. Consequently, all the shops and stores were closed so we started walking in circles with our many bags, looking for a place to store them (which we later found out was closed as well) and the station´s elevator that was well marked on the map but nowhere to be found in the actual building. Mysterious elevators aside, there was absolutely nothing to do so early in the morning so we sat down on some stairs and killed time before taking a taxi to Kyoto Sangyo daigaku.
Extremely tired and in a bad need of a shower, we at length arrived in our final destination, as ominous as that sounds. It took our taxi driver some time to find the school´s dorm but in the end, a large white building greeted us, with signs claiming it was Kyoto Sangyo Daigakku no I-house. And what marvels!
We were asigned our own shoe locker (my most prized "possession" in Japan so far), a mail box and our very own room on the third floor.
Some very nice people that had already spent one semester here showed us around the relatively empty house, more foreign students would be arriving the next day.
The following days have all been squashed together in my head due to travel fatigue and general tiredness. We arrived at the I-House on the 16th or 17th and school didn´t start until the 28th so we had a lot of free time to get used to living in Kyoto. I finally got to re-live my dream of living on my own, getting out and buying pots, pans, washing liquid, food... it was pure heaven!
We lazed away the days, getting to know our crazy co-inhabitants, exploring our surroundings and just generally getting used to living in Japan.
The second Saturday after we arrived our school held a Saturday Jamboree which is a festival where people can come to take a look at the school and its various activities. We were assigned into groups and given different tasks such as introducing our native country, teaching some basic vocabulary etc to the pre-school children. My tasks for the day was to play with the kids (which consisted mostly of trying to drag them away from the multi-colored super ball fishing, didn´t really work out) and in the afternoon I was supposed to answer any questions the kids had about Iceland but when we sat down (me, a Korean girl and a German girl) all the kids ran away so we just talked to the japanese college students in stead. After a full day of playing games, having fun and being video taped for some other school festival it was time to go back home to the I-House.
More highlights include dinner with the japanese kids and our tutors (my tutor´s name is Nana, a very nice girl) where we were "introduced", listened to some speeches and got free food. We´ve been downtown, gone to arcades, karaoke, clubbing, had dance parties at the i-house and only two weeks into school there is plenty of drama to go around. :)
This should be enough for now, I´ll be happy when I´ve finished re-capping and can start sharing fresh adventures.
Until next time!
We are making pizza on the third floor communal area, I´ve got my laundry in the machine and the house is quiet.
Without further ado, I will begin the story again.
----------
Having settled for taking the night bus to Kyoto, over taking the very expensive train, we made our way to Tokyo bus station and half an hour later we were on our way! It was with a touch of sadness that I left the hustle and bustle of Tokyo, and also our classmates, but I had a good feeling about life in Kyoto. It´s always exciting, arriving at a destination you´ve never been before so I lost no sleep on the way here. One adventure ends and another begins.
The bus took us swiftly to Kyoto station, at around 6:30 in the morning. Consequently, all the shops and stores were closed so we started walking in circles with our many bags, looking for a place to store them (which we later found out was closed as well) and the station´s elevator that was well marked on the map but nowhere to be found in the actual building. Mysterious elevators aside, there was absolutely nothing to do so early in the morning so we sat down on some stairs and killed time before taking a taxi to Kyoto Sangyo daigaku.
Extremely tired and in a bad need of a shower, we at length arrived in our final destination, as ominous as that sounds. It took our taxi driver some time to find the school´s dorm but in the end, a large white building greeted us, with signs claiming it was Kyoto Sangyo Daigakku no I-house. And what marvels!
We were asigned our own shoe locker (my most prized "possession" in Japan so far), a mail box and our very own room on the third floor.
Some very nice people that had already spent one semester here showed us around the relatively empty house, more foreign students would be arriving the next day.
The following days have all been squashed together in my head due to travel fatigue and general tiredness. We arrived at the I-House on the 16th or 17th and school didn´t start until the 28th so we had a lot of free time to get used to living in Kyoto. I finally got to re-live my dream of living on my own, getting out and buying pots, pans, washing liquid, food... it was pure heaven!
We lazed away the days, getting to know our crazy co-inhabitants, exploring our surroundings and just generally getting used to living in Japan.
The second Saturday after we arrived our school held a Saturday Jamboree which is a festival where people can come to take a look at the school and its various activities. We were assigned into groups and given different tasks such as introducing our native country, teaching some basic vocabulary etc to the pre-school children. My tasks for the day was to play with the kids (which consisted mostly of trying to drag them away from the multi-colored super ball fishing, didn´t really work out) and in the afternoon I was supposed to answer any questions the kids had about Iceland but when we sat down (me, a Korean girl and a German girl) all the kids ran away so we just talked to the japanese college students in stead. After a full day of playing games, having fun and being video taped for some other school festival it was time to go back home to the I-House.
More highlights include dinner with the japanese kids and our tutors (my tutor´s name is Nana, a very nice girl) where we were "introduced", listened to some speeches and got free food. We´ve been downtown, gone to arcades, karaoke, clubbing, had dance parties at the i-house and only two weeks into school there is plenty of drama to go around. :)
This should be enough for now, I´ll be happy when I´ve finished re-capping and can start sharing fresh adventures.
Until next time!
Thursday, October 8, 2009
I really enjoy walking around my new campus, richly decorated with trees, ponds (complete with Koi fish!), benches, trimmed hedges that spell "KSU", a water fountain and precious little stone steps leading from one plateau to another. Strolling along, listening to the Japanese people walking in front of me has become a new hobby.
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More of the travel story later, now it´s time for homework.
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More of the travel story later, now it´s time for homework.
Wednesday, October 7, 2009
Current residence; Kyoto, Japan.
Good evening and hello to all!
I figured it was finally time I sat down and created a blog, a memoir to be set in stone and read for ages to come, of my time in Japan for all of you who sadly cannot be here with me and witness the magic first hand!
I am thinking of writing in English so I can connect with a broader audience. So please bear with me and my grammar mistakes, gomen ne! I will try to write as often as I can, and in as much detail as possible, not only for your enjoyment but also because I have the memory of a very tiny koi fish and need to jot this down so I won´t forget.
In between school, homework, parties, dorm stuff, other activity etc. I also have emails and letters to write so I will do my very best to find time to document my time here.
Ok! Having got the introduction out of the way, let´s begin! Sit back, go get some coffee or hot tea, get cozy in front of your desk/kotatsu table and enjoy!
I want to take you back to a time far away, before I came to Japan. It was a hot, dry summer in the land of ice, which is somewhat of a contradiction but gives the story a nice, poetic feel, when I started planning for my trip to Japan. There were so many things to do, apply for the school, grants, student loans, health insurance ... the list goes on. Engulfed in these tedious tasks I somehow forgot what I was getting myself into. Even when I stepped on board the plane which eventually took me to Beijing I was completely unfazed. Just going on a nice little holiday with my friend, that´s it. The realization would kick in only a few weeks later.
Speaking of China, the airport was quite impressive. We (me and Edda) decided to do some sightseeing and checked out the stores, full of Chinese women who followed our every step and explained to us Chinese-impaired foreigners the mysterious oriental items they had on sale. After some more exploring we boarded the third and final plane which took us safely to Narita aiport, Japan.
My first impression of Japan was at a hotel in Narita, which is a short train ride away from central Tokyo. The man at the reception played his role perfectly, bowing and nodding his head every now and then, using very polite and formal speech when addressing us. I had my first and only culture shock when I entered the room, I felt like I had grown at least 20 centimetres! The desk, chairs, bed.. everything is so close to the ground here! We spent our time gathering our strength after three plane rides and enjoyed a very good breakfast, complete with western style and asian style food, a koi pond outside and a replica of an old Japanese house. What really caught my eye though was the two or three gardeners I saw climbing the already masterfully pruned trees, snipping away at the branches. For the next few days this would be very common, seeing people tending their gardens, houses, cleaning leaves out of the gutters, painting or just simply cleaning something. I think their policy is one of "if you can´t eat off it, it´s not clean enough!"
Arriving at the train station we had the daunting task of checking the train schedules and finding the right one, buying the tickets from the very Japanese ticket machine and getting on board the right train. Oh, getting off would have been an issue as well. Fortunately, I asked two lovely Japanese ladies for a bit of help, onegai shimasu, with the ticket machine and told them where I was going. Not only did they teach me how to work the machine, they were going the same direction so they helped us carry the bags on board the train, told us when to switch to another platform (something I would have never figured out I had to do in the first place) and saw us off when we arrived at our destination. Still I have yet to find a rude Japanese person, when asked for directions they usually jump to the opportunity, stop what they´re doing and excitedly point in the direction you need to go. Not to mention if you speak a bit of Japanese. That is usually followed by a long "eeeeehhh?" exclamation of pure shock and awe and they continue to applaud your skill, even if you have only said "hai, chotto dake." ("yes, only a little bit").
Tokyo passed away in a blur. I managed to get sick for a few days which put a damper on my stay there but in spite of this I thoroughly enjoyed my stay in the big city. We met up with the kids from school back home (big shout-out to Beta, Villimey and Valdi, who are back at school right now, enjoy!) and Hákon, Björk, Svenni and Stefán who are now studying in Tokyo. Svanni we met at the airport in London but due to unfortunate circumstances she got held up in London so I we didn´t get to meet with her in Tokyo.
From the 10th of september (if memory serves right) till the 16th we stayed in Tokyo, eating delicious food, doing karaoke, sightseeing and enjoying the amazing good weather. We checked out Akihabara with all of its technological wonder and manga+anime stores, Harajuku with all the goth lolitas and a beautiful park where we got to see two weddings, lots of shrines, temples, markets etc. It would take forever to write in detail about Tokyo so I will let this suffice for now.
More later on Kyoto, school, clubs etc. Tune in!
Ég þakka þeim er hlýddu, hlýjar kveðjur heim!
<3
I figured it was finally time I sat down and created a blog, a memoir to be set in stone and read for ages to come, of my time in Japan for all of you who sadly cannot be here with me and witness the magic first hand!
I am thinking of writing in English so I can connect with a broader audience. So please bear with me and my grammar mistakes, gomen ne! I will try to write as often as I can, and in as much detail as possible, not only for your enjoyment but also because I have the memory of a very tiny koi fish and need to jot this down so I won´t forget.
In between school, homework, parties, dorm stuff, other activity etc. I also have emails and letters to write so I will do my very best to find time to document my time here.
Ok! Having got the introduction out of the way, let´s begin! Sit back, go get some coffee or hot tea, get cozy in front of your desk/kotatsu table and enjoy!
I want to take you back to a time far away, before I came to Japan. It was a hot, dry summer in the land of ice, which is somewhat of a contradiction but gives the story a nice, poetic feel, when I started planning for my trip to Japan. There were so many things to do, apply for the school, grants, student loans, health insurance ... the list goes on. Engulfed in these tedious tasks I somehow forgot what I was getting myself into. Even when I stepped on board the plane which eventually took me to Beijing I was completely unfazed. Just going on a nice little holiday with my friend, that´s it. The realization would kick in only a few weeks later.
Speaking of China, the airport was quite impressive. We (me and Edda) decided to do some sightseeing and checked out the stores, full of Chinese women who followed our every step and explained to us Chinese-impaired foreigners the mysterious oriental items they had on sale. After some more exploring we boarded the third and final plane which took us safely to Narita aiport, Japan.
My first impression of Japan was at a hotel in Narita, which is a short train ride away from central Tokyo. The man at the reception played his role perfectly, bowing and nodding his head every now and then, using very polite and formal speech when addressing us. I had my first and only culture shock when I entered the room, I felt like I had grown at least 20 centimetres! The desk, chairs, bed.. everything is so close to the ground here! We spent our time gathering our strength after three plane rides and enjoyed a very good breakfast, complete with western style and asian style food, a koi pond outside and a replica of an old Japanese house. What really caught my eye though was the two or three gardeners I saw climbing the already masterfully pruned trees, snipping away at the branches. For the next few days this would be very common, seeing people tending their gardens, houses, cleaning leaves out of the gutters, painting or just simply cleaning something. I think their policy is one of "if you can´t eat off it, it´s not clean enough!"
Arriving at the train station we had the daunting task of checking the train schedules and finding the right one, buying the tickets from the very Japanese ticket machine and getting on board the right train. Oh, getting off would have been an issue as well. Fortunately, I asked two lovely Japanese ladies for a bit of help, onegai shimasu, with the ticket machine and told them where I was going. Not only did they teach me how to work the machine, they were going the same direction so they helped us carry the bags on board the train, told us when to switch to another platform (something I would have never figured out I had to do in the first place) and saw us off when we arrived at our destination. Still I have yet to find a rude Japanese person, when asked for directions they usually jump to the opportunity, stop what they´re doing and excitedly point in the direction you need to go. Not to mention if you speak a bit of Japanese. That is usually followed by a long "eeeeehhh?" exclamation of pure shock and awe and they continue to applaud your skill, even if you have only said "hai, chotto dake." ("yes, only a little bit").
Tokyo passed away in a blur. I managed to get sick for a few days which put a damper on my stay there but in spite of this I thoroughly enjoyed my stay in the big city. We met up with the kids from school back home (big shout-out to Beta, Villimey and Valdi, who are back at school right now, enjoy!) and Hákon, Björk, Svenni and Stefán who are now studying in Tokyo. Svanni we met at the airport in London but due to unfortunate circumstances she got held up in London so I we didn´t get to meet with her in Tokyo.
From the 10th of september (if memory serves right) till the 16th we stayed in Tokyo, eating delicious food, doing karaoke, sightseeing and enjoying the amazing good weather. We checked out Akihabara with all of its technological wonder and manga+anime stores, Harajuku with all the goth lolitas and a beautiful park where we got to see two weddings, lots of shrines, temples, markets etc. It would take forever to write in detail about Tokyo so I will let this suffice for now.
More later on Kyoto, school, clubs etc. Tune in!
Ég þakka þeim er hlýddu, hlýjar kveðjur heim!
<3
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