Amy missed me. As did Starlight, but getting that one to chill for any length of time is problematic at best.
Anyway, the trip! I actually made it back Thursday evening, but a combination of jet lag and chores what needed done have made it so that it wasn't until today that I've been able to post. Such is fate! There's still so much more to post from Japan!
I was able to spend the last week that I was in Japan in Nara and surroundings. More on that in a later post. I found an excellent hotel right in the heart of Nara where I rested the final nights. On the day I needed to fly back, I woke up, grabbed my stuff, and migrated my way across three trains to the airport. I am going to miss the train system of Japan. You can basically get anywhere through it.
A few flights later and I was home. Huzzah! Or such. What did I learn? Japan is its own melting pot of old and new, with modern and ultramodern technologies literally clashing with ancient traditions. Part of that leads to a "salaryman" mindset that can have massive impacts on people's daily lives, but there's also far more of a sense of environmental consciousness and restoring traditional methods of work. In the greater Tokyo area, it feels like you're a foreigner who will never fit in - yet in both Okazaki and Nara, people go out of their way to say hello. I think my best experience was with an older lady and her friend at a traditional sake brewhouse where we were doing a tasting in Nara. She understood enough English to translate for her friend and we had a great time just discussing sake and Nara's history.
When you step back and consider that the population of the country is over 125 million people, it's not all that surprising that there is a wide variety of lifestyles even within a culture that is notoriously communal. Do I still want to move there? Maybe. Do I still want to translate? Hell yeah.
Apparently tumblr has been forcing people to create accounts to see these posts, even though I have that setting turned off. No idea why that's happening, but it's made me rather loathe to post anything until I could figure out what was causing it. That... hasn't happened yet. A combination of being too busy and taking a week-long trip to Hino (west of Tokyo) where the internet was trash didn't help matters.
Luckily next quarter my college is offering a course in Python, so maybe I can build my own site from the ground up. Unsure to be honest, as Python is just a language and a website uses many of them (HTML, Java, CSS, php, etc). We'll see what time brings.
Anyway, since Akiba I've gone to Kinugasa Yama Park, Yokohama Hakkeijima Sea Paradise, Yokohama Chinatown, a wander up the Yokohama coast (with the enthralling Cosmo World Ferris Wheel), a trip to the Pokémon Center Tokyo DX, a wander from the Hino apartment to the Showa Memorial Park, and a trip to Enoshima for the shrine/island and aquarium.
I would say that most of what I've noticed is that for as much as Japan wants the outside world to visit, they are not very keen on actually helping out. If you don't understand the language, good luck. They may learn English in school, but they certainly don't practice it or care to utilize it basically ever. This is fine, if you can train yourself on some useful Japanese phrases, but be warned: there's almost a sense of "foreigner" that they pick up on and tend to refuse to help or feign misunderstanding so that they won't have to deal with you. I didn't really notice this much back in Okazaki, but it's everywhere here in Yokosuka (might have something to do with the nearby US base? I don't know.)
Beyond that, check out the zoos and aquariums, if you like animals as I do. They're... neat.
Akihabara! Tokyo's Electric Town! The city of neon lights, arcades, multi-story doujin shops, and a plethora of other wonders! The otaku paradise!!
Or... not? But first, we take a trip to the seaside, and then a trip to an island of monkeys! (sans monkeys, because reasons.)
Tateishi park, where my sandals became salted!
Across the peninsula there's a small park on the other coast called Tateishi. It's a pretty long walk from where I'm staying, but there's a nice sidewalk the whole way and it's pretty well shaded. It mostly features a beach somewhat protected by a rock that has a small shrine built-in. The whole time I was wandering the shore, my sandals were sitting up out of harm's way. After I was walking back out, a large wave came up and soaked them. I guess I didn't pray at the shrine hard enough, or something!
The Tale of Sarushima
A long time ago, someone was lost in Tokyo Bay until the ghost of a monkey appeared and led the poor soul to the safety of the island. It has been called Sarushima (Saru - Monkey, Shima - Island) ever since. Or so the story goes.
It's.. not as impressive as I had hoped. Most of the neat historical aspects were off-limits, the beach was closed for the season, and the route to the cave was closed off as well. One might have better luck in August. That said, the trip was totally worth it just for the ferry ride over, with the seemingly endless amount of moon jellies visible just beneath the water nearly the entire way.
Akihabara
The otaku mecca was... disappointing? There were a tonne of things to check out, but the main areas seem to have been primarily taken over by used cell phone and laptop shops. Like, everywhere. Then there's the fact that everything seems to carry an Akiba tax (ie, things there are about 2x-3x more expensive than elsewhere, outside of general food). I found plenty of neat things that I couldn't afford, and honestly very little that I could get to say, look! I've been here!
There was a small shop FULL of retro gaming goodness whose name I sadly don't remember; it was to the side of one of the many alleys located in the basement. It would have all of your PC-FX and Towns Marty needs, if they didn't cost your first born. Still, wonderful to be able to see them in person and play with them.
It was also an overcast, rainy day and we arrived late, so we got to see maybe a quarter of the area. We didn't even get to Gamers! This of course means that I have to go back.
Yokohama is a sea of people, Zushi is a beach town
Week 2 and we're still working on the kitchen. Send.hlp?
Anyway, Sunday we went to Yokohama, which is more an inner-ring suburb of Tokyo as it were. There were so many people! Like a sea of humanity. And that wasn't even in central Tokyo! I picked up some cheap swag, but mostly forgot to take pictures.
Ducks on our way to the station. I like ducks.
The only picture I took in Yokohama, an entire store of nothing but Capsule machines. I have friends who are not allowed to come to Japan!
We also went to Book-Off! which is a chain of second hand / thrift stores. Where you can find everything on the cheap. In addition to Animate! (anime store), the Yokohama branch of DonKi, and many other stores and such. All within like a couple blocks of the station. Japan understands verticality!
On the way back we stopped at Zushi, which feels like a beach town. Apparently we were like halfway to the beach at the shopping arcade area, but totally didn't know it. We had amazing ice cream at Creamahop, which at first I was like "ok, this is expensive" because the cost per scoop seemed really high. Then when the actual dish arrived, nope! Totally worth the cost!
In Zushi, the dolls are watching.
I'd say patriotic but it's the wrong country XD
Behold, swag!
On Monday I took a walk to nearby Manyo Park, which has definitely seen better days. Still, it was close. I'm hoping in the near future to get over to Tateishi Park on the opposite coast as well as Sarushima Beach over on Monkey Island (Sarushima). But that's for later times!
Manyo Park Forest
Fuzzies
The "main" path. The park basically consisted of a path which bypassed the road above and featured a small, very unkempt tea garden looking area.
Lycoris
The inevitable return of Boris! (not sure the species, but these guys are *everywhere* around here)
Or at least that's how this reno is going. I'm pretty sure we've been to and from D2 (think like Home Depot) around 4 times a day every day for the last week and we still have little to show for it. Le sigh.
Anyway, adventure and exploration!
A couple nights ago, I did a wander around the local neighborhood. It wasn't exactly late, but the sun rises and sets about an hour different here compared to the US. What this made for was an excellent spooky shot of the nearby shrine.
On Sunday, the weather was nice (but very windy!) and I took quite the long walk - from a Starbucks overlooking the bay all the way out to Kannonzaki Park and back. I had hoped to go swimming but the winds and waves basically said no way. Have some pictures!
Real palms!
Toys R Us still exists!
Fumblin wimdy!
Boris!
Surfing weather.
Morning glories!
Japan!
Nature reclaims!
There once was a gun here, many moons ago...
The view from the site of the old battery.
Also, a lighthouse!
Tunnels <3
Behold, the über tree!
The view from somewhere along the trail.
The park was quite fun and is full of wartime remnants, the lighthouse I posted above, a nature museum, and plenty of things I didn't have time to see. There are many, many stairs as it covers some pretty major hills, so be sure you're up for the task if you're gonna hike it. Not the worst trails I've been on, but certainly not easy if you're not used to hiking. By the time I made it home, it was late evening and my legs were aching. Totally worth it.
I did it! I finished my course... thing! I learned some stuff, and also some things! I feel no farther along in my learning of Japanese! Wait, what? Yeah... I don't know. I suppose I feel farther along, and practice is great. I still have no idea how to actually hold a conversation, which was more or less the *point* in my mind. Thank the gods for Google Translate XD
Anywho, I'm at Stage 2 of my explorations - a WorkAway in a house that needs a significant amount of renovation. It has... a *lot* of odd problems, especially considering that it's not that old (1992!). Just... weird design choices made at the time of construction, and some very questionable concepts implemented that now have to be undone.
Anyway, a certificate:
ありがとうございました。
The last view of the park as I passed. I'm gonna miss those koi.
Something something song about mountains in the distance.
The shinkansen was fast. Like, plane-on-the-ground kind of fast. Sadly, I did not have a window seat, so not many pics worthy of posting from that trip. A surprising amount of it was in tunnels, as well. I think the neatest site was coming out of a tunnel to see a traditional-looking village nestled in a valley between mountains. It was really cool.
And now I'm here. Behold, a new desk. A new home-away-from-home, for a while.
See you on the flipside.
PS: In the process of writing this, my laptop decided that it'd had enough of this life. Basically, just decided to shut off while I was still on the first paragraph. Doesn't seem to be the battery, and I've cleaned it out thoroughly and renewed the thermal paste. So... yeah. Kind of at a loss on it, hoping it's not RAM. Getting parts here is... interesting. Currently, borrowing my WorkAway hosts' Lenovo ThinkPad summat or other. Works for now, but not a permanent solution. I'm gonna tear the old Acer apart again and make sure the thermal paste spread properly, but if that doesn't do it... then what? If you have thoughts, please advise. Cheeribees!
Gamagori is a city about 10 mins away via train that sits on the Mikawa Bay in central Japan. Today, I did an adventure.
I had decided to head down originally because I wanted to take a dip in the sea. That... didn't happen. However, it didn't happen because I found more interesting things to do!
Gamagori has both an aquarium and a shinto shrine literally on an island connected by a bridge / causeway to the mainland. These are basically next to each other. So of course I went to both!
The aquarium was amazing. They specialize in deep-sea critters, but I was honestly completely unprepared for the wide variety of fish they had. There was no huge walk-through tank, but honestly it was not missed.
I got to see a tank full of morays, deep sea crabs, sea horses, mudskippers, axo-fukken-lotls, and so very much more. And it ended with the ability to pet an isopod. They're basically like wood lice, only much bigger. They can even roll up in defense! If you ever get the chance to go, do it! It's well worth the less-than-$5 admission.
After that, I went to the Takeshima Shrine, the island shrine I had mentioned earlier. It was... nice. Calm and chill, in a sea of way too much sunlight. There were no miko to be seen, but there were a bunch of little crabs in a tide pool, so that was fun. I had no money for talismans or gifts as I had spent the last of my cash on the donation box at the beginning, but no matter. I'm curious to know the story behind the horse.
On the way back, I considered taking a dip but decided against it, as it was hot and I had no sunscreen with me (not to mention swimwear, nor a place to change). Instead, I got a Pocari Sweat from a konbini and headed back to Okazaki.
Anyway, that's how I got to pet a Dorito. Until next time!
I recently began attending Antioch College in Yellow Springs for a variety of reasons, but prime among them was the ability to go places and do things. They call it cooperative education. I call it the ability to experience life. This is the reflections from my first co-op trip, in which I've finally managed to get to Japan. The Land of the Rising Sun. The derivation not only of my favorite anime and video games, but also a place with a spirituality that resonates with my own. This blog, beyond being something that I already want to do, also serves as a record and journal of my experiences.
I am currently at Yamasa in Okazaki, working on learning some amount of Japanese to become more fluent and able to speak in it... somewhat. I'm only there for three weeks, and honestly I don't think it's going to take me to the fluency level that I'd like. Thankfully, we live in a world with Google Translate! After that, there's a WorkAway that I will be doing just south of Tokyo in Yokosuka involving assisting with a house renovation that is currently in the plans. After? I don't exactly know.
While in Yokosuka, I'm hoping to spend at least a day (if not more!) in Akihabara, being the global cultural center for all things otaku. Later, I would like to spend a couple weeks in Nara to learn more about the early history of Japan, then head to Kyoto for a week to visit the famous Kyoto Imperial Palace among countless other famous sites and shrines; later I would like to spend a weekend in Shirakawa which is both a UNESCO World Heritage Site as well as the setting for Higurashi no Naku Koro ni (which happens to be one of my favorite anime). If time and money permits, I have a bucket list of other places that I would love to check out - including, but not limited to, Shiretoko National Park, Ikeshima & Gunkanjima, Aokigahara, the Ise Grand Shrine... That said, the lack of a JR Rail pass puts a damper on those plans... for now, anyway. I'm hoping, once the next round of student loan money comes in, that I'll be able to afford one (or at least a trip on a shinkansen!)
One of my goals that will definitely require more work on my part is to become fluent enough in Japanese to work as a translator. For whom and on what is still to be decided, but I adore all things anime, manga, video games, and so on from here so the possibilities are pretty wide open.
I'm hoping that the collection of entries in this journal will suffice for my "Signature Assignment" for the course side of this expedition. If not, I'll update you soon on whatever plans may change!
Week 1 complete! When I first arrived, I was pretty ok with Hiragana and could barely make out Katakana. By the end of the first week... well, I can read Hiragana pretty well! That said, I've learned a decent amount of vocabulary and learned how to ask questions when I don't understand something, so that's a plus. We are using the Marugoto level A1 book and we're up to section 7 in it now. Yesterday we had an "interview" that felt more like a conversation... just in Japanese. And I feel like I did pretty well, so that's good! I think?
The above picture is of a park I get to walk through twice a day! Honestly it's not much more than a rainwater catchment pond, but in Japan they've stocked it with koi and planted cherry trees around a walking path they've built around it. In the states, it'd basically have a big chain-link fence blocking people from getting close. I've noticed that most of the houses around also have extremely well-manicured gardens in very, very small spaces featuring a plethora of plant types. I haven't really seen much in the way of lawns at all, although vacant lots certainly fill with grasses and weeds pretty rapidly.
I've been utilizing the corner "konbini" (convenience store) for dinners and such. For lunches, there's a regular grocery store nearly in spitting distance of Yamasa, so I've been picking up onigiri (jelly donuts) there. Honestly, even at 24hr konbinis, things are surprisingly cheap here. I've also now checked out not one, but two(!) multi-story malls nearby and... well, I think I've come to the conclusion that if you pay people a living wage and then some, they'll have money in their pockets that they can then use to purchase nifty things they actually want. In the states, malls are a dying breed, and everyone blames online retail. I don't think that's the real problem.
This evening I decided to take a short hike up to a nearby observation deck... thing. Kyogamine Tenbodai, per the maps of Google anyway. It's atop the closest foothill of a mountain chain. I'm still tryina get used to how time works here. It's not as bad as when I was in Maine and the sun thought it was a good idea to rise at 4 in the morning, but it's still like 2 hours off of what I'm used to. By the time I got to the park, it was already getting dark. And I still had way too many stairs to climb.
But climb them I did. And climb. And climb. By the time I got to the top, I was drenched in sweat. But it was so totally worth it. Why? Well, watch the video! Sorry that the quality isn't the best, phone cameras don't handle the dark well. Then, I got to climb back down. All those so many much stairs.
I made it! I'm in Okazaki, sitting at my desk with my lappy, getting ready for orientation and all that jazz. Japan! Hard to believe I'm actually, finally here. Read all about the trip after the break!
Preparation
Saturday, we went to see alpacas. Tuesday, I'm in the air. I'd love to say that everything was prepared and finalized ahead of time, but that would be false. Most of Monday was spent packing. Luckily(?) I didn't plan on bringing too much with me, so packing didn't take terribly long. Some changes of clothes, necessary paperwork, etc. I figured I'd pick up anything I forgot / didn't bring once there. Decided not to sleep Monday night because I had to be at the airport at stupid in the morning. Turns out, my TSA Pre-Check had gone through, so there weren't any real problems. Spent a couple hours, got on board, and away we go!
Flight - Dayton to Chicago
The first flight felt... way too quick. A five-hour drive became a 45-minute flight. How even (500+ mph ground speed, that's how). The O'Hare Airport in Chicago was probably my least favorite part of the trip. I didn't want to leave, but there wasn't much to do in the terminal that didn't cost an arm and a leg. And there were far, far too many people. That said, I did get a good ol' McDonald's Sausage & Egg McMuffin, so that was nice.
Flight - Chicago to Tokyo
Once it was time, we took off for Japan! The long-haul, or summat. At first, my eyes were glued to the landscapes below. We crossed through Illinois, Iowa, and into South Dakota before a thick line of clouds blocked my view. I started watching the new Super Mario movie on the in-flight whateverial, pausing somewhere near the border of North Dakota and Montana because the clouds opened up onto an impressive landscape below - the badlands! Someday, I want to visit. Then I continued my movie, and by the end of it I was a sleepy.
By the time I woke up from my initial sleep, somehow we were already in British Columbia. I ate a nice little breakfast of sausage, eggs, and hashbrowns and had some amazing green tea as we headed out to the Pacific. Below became quickly covered in clouds and I was only half awake anyway, so not much to say from this leg of the trip. Eventually, according to the map in the console anyway, we crossed part of the Alaskan mainland and made our way over the Bering Sea. I was surprised to see literal PACK ICE outside the window, what with it being August and all. Eventually, we headed south, and I headed back to snoozing.
At some point I woke to blue everywhere, and not too much longer - the coast of Japan!
Flight - Tokyo to Nagoya
First impressions - bemused surprise, mostly. A world away and yet so very similar. As we flew inbound for Tokyo, I was impressed with the sheer scale of everything. There's a reason that it's the largest city on the planet. I was also surprised that I was able to locate specific landmarks in such a city - the Tokyo Tower, for instance.
We landed and were ushered through immigration. Compared to O'Hare, Haneda airport in Tokyo felt way more open and less crowded, somehow. Also, the prices merchants were charging didn't feel exorbitant, especially on foodstuffs. I did wander in circles a few times just trying to orient myself as to where I was and where I was going, but I got to my terminal on time anyway (part of the issue is that the flight arriving was delayed, so the terminal got switched and I couldn't find the departure point; it was downstairs from the rest of them). Rather fun little boarding experience, as the "terminal" was a bus that took us to the plane out on the tarmac.
Another very quick flight, and sadly it was dark and cloudy so after the lights of Tokyo there wasn't too much to see. We landed at Centrair roughly a half-hour later than anticipated and then we were on our merry way. Once again, a much less crowded terminal than was anticipated. I also noticed that, even though I had read multiple documents warning me ahead of time about the language barrier, there are signs in both Japanese and English at nearly every terminal and train station. It feels like Japan is really trying to make sure dumb foreigners like me know where the heck they are and where they are going.
Train to Okazaki
I got my ticket and boarded the first train, which would take me from the airport to a platform exchange. The next thing I really took note of is just how integrated, cheap, and fast the trains are. It feels like something that the US could really utilize in the future, if they can ever get out from the car-centric mentality. There are cars here, of course, but you really can get around via train and bus.
At the transfer platform, I bought my next ticket and boarded the next bus. There was some confusion with the tickets since I was switching lines, but it all worked itself out. Thankfully I was able to pull some money into my PayPal account though, or I would have never been able to do any of this as I never was able to get the all-important JR Rail pass that costs an arm and a leg yet pays for itself many times over.
An Hour Late and a Dollar Short
So I arrive at Okazaki Station and realize that my phone, which is supposed to support international roaming, apparently doesn't. Thanks Mint >_< I had no way of calling Yamasa to let them know I was running late. Another surprise that I found out shortly thereafter - Japan has a tonne of public payphones! That said, both numbers for Yamasa rang to nowhere.
There were three hotels nearby (the lobby of one in which I was able to charge my phone and such), but none had last-minute rooms available. Ergo, I was kinda forced to spend my first night in Japan... in a train station.
Overnight
I became way too familiar with the Okazaki Station that night. At least I wasn't the only one sleeping there! The time was marked by a series of naps followed by wanderings. There's a lovely little 24hr convenience store across the street and a small park beside the station (if it wasn't constantly threatening rain, I would have totally just chilled in the park!) Behold, Okazaki!
In the Morning - Arrival!
Once it was "day" enough (based on the lobby lights from the hotel) I was able to go charge my phone and check for any news. Nothing yet. I figured I'd try calling every hour on the hour until I got through to someone. My first attempt went nowhere. I was busy watching the morning traffic in the station when suddenly I heard my name being called! My ride had arrived <3
A short car ride away and I was at the Student Village, my home away from home for a few weeks. After the grand tour, I promptly passed out.
A Pond, A Mall, A Shower
After a nice, finally comfortable nap, it was time to gather (some) supplies. Google Maps said there was a park and a mall literally a couple of blocks away, so to the mall I went! The park wasn't much more than a rainwater catchment pond, but (contrary to the US) it had a walking path and gardens around it. The mall was a legit, real, busy mall! If you pay people, people have money to buy things. If people have money to buy things, places like malls can thrive. If people can meet up in malls, happiness! I'll need to go back in the soontimes, as there was an excellent media store as one of the anchors complete with books, manga, videogames, stationary, etc. Nothing that I need right now, but once my scholarship funds come in... :3 Anyway, I stopped at a small CVS-style shop and picked up a few essentials.
Upon getting back to my room, I was finally able to shower. And I'm noting this here because it was the. best. shower. that I have ever had. Like, water pressure is a thing, and it is wonderful. After, I had myself some "curry" that was more like ramen while watching someone play Sonic Adventure on a GameCube and then passed out.
Tomorrow Comes Today!
So here we are. Okazaki. Three weeks of intensive Japanese language study. I really hope it helps, because my knowledge is very, very limited. From a tourists' perspective, it's fine as there is romaji literally everywhere. For someone who eventually would like to translate and potentially move here... it leaves way too much to be desired. Here's to hoping!
