I spent 11 months of my life living in Okayama city, Japan. Here are some of my experiences
I tried to keep a journal of my experiences in Japan. Unfortunately after May, I forgot to update my electronic version (below). To begin reading chronologically, start at the bottom.
Okayama
[I had another weird dream; a few nightmares the last few days]
[I dreamt that I was trapped in one of those arcade shooting games, and the monsters could actually escape from the dream and keep coming after me, so I couldn't escape. It was scary enough that, when I woke up, I had to distract myself for a good hour before getting back to sleep. After that, I had another dream about my dad. A few days ago I had had a dream about us going on a road trip together. This particular night I had a dream that he came to see me in Japan because he was working a job nearby. It seems that I'm having a hard time being away from him.]
02/21/14-02/23/14
This weekend the family* and I went to Tokyo for a weekend trip and to go to the Ghibli Museum in Mitaka. This had been on my bucket list for years, and it was an amazing experience to have; I'm so glad that I was able to go. Its difficult to describe the inside, and you aren't allowed to take pictures so I can't post anything about it, but there were so many things that were just amazing to watch and read, and I felt like I was in one of Miyazaki's movies. It was incredible.
The rest of our trip in Tokyo was chaotic and stressful; because we could not afford a hotel, we left Okayama with no real idea of where we would be sleeping for the next two days. Not only that, but to get to Tokyo we had taken a 10 hour-long night bus, and slept very little, so by the time we got there, we were all exhausted.
After going to the Ghibli museum, we tried to look for a place to stay for the night, and settled on a 漫画喫茶, but came to find out that we could not stay there for 8 hours, only 5, which meant that we would have to leave at 4 am (hardly enough time to make up for a day and a half of no sleep.) At this particular cafe, we were forced to sleep in a small quarter, on the floor, with no blankets or anything. It was a rough night, and when we left at 4 am, we went right across the street to another cafe and slept for another 5 hours on actual floor mats vs. hard carpet flooring.
It was quite the struggle.
02/13/14
Today is my 22nd birthday!! I'm so happy to be able to spend it in Japan with so many new faces and new surroundings. I held my birthday part at an 居酒屋 with friends from school, some international students, and 3 friends from the international exchange meeting; in total there were 20 people. Fantastic turn out! I had a fantastic time getting ready with my *family, and then celebrating at a place called Gasshin. My friends all sang to me and I got a few gifts and then afterwards we went to karaoke; overall it was a fantastic night. I owe it all to my 先輩Shimpei, as he coordinated it all, found the location, made the reservation, and helped get everyone together. It was an incredible night.
Thanks Shimpei
02/10/14
Spring break starts
02/08/14
It snowed like crazy in Okayama for the first time in a long time, and my friends and I went out to play. Here is what it looked like outside my room at around 11 am.
01/05/14-01/11/14
My fiance came to visit me in Japan this weeks, and it was really fantastic to see him after 5 months. The duration of my stay in Japan will be the longest we've ever gone without seeing each other. I took him around Okayama, fed him all my favorite foods, ramen, katsudon, sukiya, and random other things here and there. He really enjoyed the ramen. We rode our bikes around town, and I took him to the castle and to 後楽園, where we took pictures. We didn't travel around Japan very much because he was so tired, but that was fine, it was just nice to see each other. Very sad to say goodbye at the end. Another long 6 months ahead of us.
12/28/13
Today was the 忘年会 with some of our friends from school; it was definitely an interesting night. We were with some people who we barely knew, and people who used to be our friends. I came to realize that making friends and keeping friends is sometimes very difficult when you are an exchange student.
12/11/13 - 12/26
December seemed to be a crazy month, there was a lot going on. On the 11th there was a World Kitchen event hosted by L-Cafe that Taylor cooked food for; I helped to sell it. Taylor's birthday was on the 16th and we all made Nabe in her room with her tutors. They're all extremely nice and have even taken me in a little since my tutors were pretty much non-existent since November.
Taylor and I also participated in a cultural event at the International Center of Okayama, doing a presentation on America in Japanese. It was kind of a struggle at first because we had no idea what to expect and we did not ask for a translator, even though every other presenter had one. After the presentation, we got to converse with Japanese natives in English and Japanese, and I met two girls named Miyuki and Maika. They have become very good friends of mine since and help me with Japanese whenever I need it. I try to help them with English too.
For Christmas, The Family went out to the main city area and took puri kura, and pictures in front of the huge Christmas tree. We also opened some small presents to each other later that night.
The time between November 25th and December 7th I was struggling with the idea of extending my Study Abroad time from one semester to a year. I finally came to a decision on the 10th of December to stay in Japan until August of 2014. I will miss my family and friends in America so much, but feel that this was the best decision; I would have regretted coming home in May.
12/8/13
Accidentally got into a small bike accident today; my friend and I crashed into each other as we were crossing an intersection. Landed on my hip pretty hard and woke up with a pretty, purple bruise the next day.
11/24/13 - Thanksgiving
Thanksgiving was a really strange time here; I can't tell you how many Japanese people I've had to explain the holiday traditions to. I have never missed food so much in my life. Instead of letting it get us totally down, The Family* and I made our own feast consisting of two types of mashed potato (butter and garlic), seasoned grilled chicken, vegetable tempura, and rice. It was fantastic and really made it feel like Thanksgiving, especially being with my new family.
11/23/13
I went to an 居酒屋 for the first time tonight and definitely overestimated how much I could/ should drink. Long story short, I drank a lot before going, I drank a lot there, and drank a lot that I don't remember. On the way home, I rode my bike perfectly fine for about 15 minutes, and then right outside my dorm just ate shit so hard.
I felt that this was my second welcoming into Japan.
11/20/13
In the last two weeks, I have been busy. I went to a town called やかげ for a samurai festival which was both very interesting and also a little strange. Due to rain, the authenticity of the parade and ceremonies were a little skewed because the characters/ actors wore clear ponchos over their kimono and other outfits. The only ones who did not do this were the samurai. On loudspeakers throughout the town, a monotonous voice rings out "したーに、したに!" and every time he does, the procession takes a step. This went for almost two hours. The parade was called 大名行列. After the parade, we went 山の上 where we ate treats and got to have a tour of persimmon harvests; we even got to take a few home. I did get sick this weekend, and missed two classes that week.
The next weekend Taylor's aunt came to visit us with her friend, and we showed her around Okayama, taking her to 後楽園 and 岡山城; she seemed to really like it and took us out to お好み焼き. I'm glad I got to meet her.
Sometime during that week my Study of Japan class went to 南高校 in Okayama and spoke English with some students; it was a good experience for me and they seemed interested in my life in America. I spoke mostly in Japanese and they responded in English.
Lastly, class also went to 倉敷 to tour a たたみベリ factory where we made our only little decorative sections of tatami flooring. I thought it was really interesting and was fun to make using my own hands and simple tools. I also bought a ベリ belt and wallet.
[Dream]
[I had a reoccurring dream about stealing a white van, and taunting the owner about it. Taylor was my accomplice; I remember having this dream one time, before leaving for Japan. At the end of the dream, I crashed the van into a grave site outside my house, and left it there.]
Different night, a few days later.
[Now I'm having dreams about animals I own (real and fictitious) trying to jump from a moving object onto another, and they never make it. I wake up incredibly sad. ]
I've never had so many nightmares before coming to Japan.
11/06/13
This weekend we had a 3-day long weekend for the 岡山大学際; there were dance shows, double-dutch performances, and lots of food booths. I ate パンダオムライス for the first time and it was delicious. My friend Sunny performed in the break-dancing show and it was really amazing to watch.
Today the Family* woke up early to leave for 宮島 with other international students; it was a really beautiful place to visit and I felt that it a good representative of Japanese culture that I didn't understand before. I got to see the famous floating 鳥居 and walk through the shrine where I did a small prayer. After staying on the island for a few hours, we left for 広島 and went to the 広島平和
和記念資料館 which was incredibly moving and informative. I couldn't quite put into words howI felt when I left; very sad, very moved, and almost ashamed. Afterwards, we ate 広島お好み焼き and it was spectacular. Later that night I wrote in my journal about the museum, "The museum made me feel shameful and heartbroken, it is hard to recognize the devastation of the bombs until you've been to these places. Stories, history, recovered items, pictures, everything is so hard to take in and leaves you speechless. I felt so heavy and my heart was pounding in my chest; I could not have prepared myself for this."
10/31/13
There was a Halloween party at the International House on campus today, and I ended up winning best costume and a prize. Before the party, a bunch of students and teachers from my work congregated at L-Cafe to do makeup and get ready. I learned that Japanese face paint sucks. My friends and I all drank there, danced, and then went to the park after for more drinks. Definitely a very different Halloween than I am used to, but I had a really good time. Its starting to get really cold in Okayama.
10/28/13
I had my first sushi in Japan at a 回転寿司, or round-about/ conveyor belt sushi. My coworkers from L-cafe, along with my boss, took me, Taylor, and Sola there.
[Unusual dreams of travel - I keep trying to write down strange dreams that I've had since coming to Japan.]
["I keep having nightmares about people forgetting who I am, or me running as fast as I can, away from something."]
10/15/13
Had a 3 day weekend for Sport's day, and it was a very unusual experience; the sports they played weren't really sports at all, mostly relays. My bike lock rusted in the rain (another typhoon) and my Japanese teacher helped us to cut it off. (I wouldn't get a replacement lock for another 2 months.) Tomorrow I start my part time job at L-Cafe, starting at 7 hours a week; I'm nervous.
Around this time, I met Sola, someone who I would soon consider one of my best friends in Japan.
10/01/13 - 10/08
Today was orientation day Okayama University where we were given tutors to help us with paperwork and set up our dorm rooms, which are incredibly small. The next day (10/02) Taylor and I went to buy bikes for ourselves, as we came to learn they were a necessity for getting anywhere in the city. All of the exchange students took their placement tests; Taylor and I both scored in the same class. We also had to pay a lot more for health insurance than I first anticipated; wish someone in America had warned me about that.
It rained a lot when we first got to Okayama; it made riding bikes incredibly challenging so getting out to do things was difficult to accomplish. I decided that I loved Japanese bread, and also learned a new word"めっちゃ” in which I used to describe the bread as "めっちゃ美味しい". Taylor and I both filled out applications for part-time employment working for L-cafe on campus as English tutors for Japanese students. The next day, we started classes; I don't think it's really sunk in yet that I'm in Japan.
09/27/13:
I arrived in Narita station an hour before my estimated landing time, but Taylor picked me up perfectly and we left the airport for the Narita Gateway hotel; they had the shittiest beds ever. Tomorrow (09/28), we go to Tokyo. The first place I ate in Tokyo was a Sukiya, but Taylor and I were in-the-desert-swallowed-some-hot-sand thirsty; we had to buy a huge bottle of water from Family Mart, which we drank in less than 2 hours. After roaming Tokyo and struggling with the train system a little, we returned to the hotel to get ready; tomorrow we were leaving for Okayama.
Welcome to Japan
09/26/2013:
Today I am leaving America, heading for Narita airport in Japan. In the car, I am accompanied by mom, grandma, and my fiance; my dad is meeting us at the airport as a surprise to me. I get a call from my brother, who leaves a message to me from my 1 year old niece; she says that she loves me, and will miss me. Up until this point I had already been nervous, anxious, and terrified of what would happen when I left for Japan, but hearing her quiet voice say goodbye to me made me start to cry. At the airport, my mom couldn't hold anything in, crying even at the thought of seeing me walk through the gate, even though I wouldn't be leaving for another 45 minutes. When it comes time to separate myself from my family, I cry the hardest when I say goodbye to my fiance, and I watch him as he watches me go through security, and head towards the plane. I wouldn't see him again for 5 months, our longest separation.
04/04/13 :
This early in the process, what I mostly feel is fear, mixed with excitement and wonder; I am afraid to be without everything I have ever known growing up, but to be in the place I've always dreamed about speaking a language that is absolutely beautiful, I know that I am on the road to doing something incredible.
Pre Travel