Another Orientation and More Introductions

Only the new students were required to be at the first half of the orientation to get a more in-depth description about the program, its history and goals. The program's supervisor, Ken Hase-G* (Hase-G was a nickname one of the boys I became good friends with started calling him), introduced all of the professors and staff involved and then each and every new student were asked to introduce themselves and state their major. There were students from all over the world: South Korea, Taiwan, China, Australia, France, Africa, Russia, and Sweden. In total there were only 30 new students accepted that semester, and with the 20 students that were already there for one semester there was only a total of 50 people within the program. I felt really lucky to be a part of the program because it took me about 5 months of paper-work, essay writing and interviews to get accepted and I was chosen at of hundreds of people all over the world that applied. To be honest, I didn't think I would have gotten selected.

After the first part of the orientation we were all brought into a bigger room where the students from the previous semester were waiting. Lina, Kallie and I took our seats in the front and center of the room and looked around to see if we could spot the people we knew. We spotted James and waved at each other and then I pointed out Cindy, who was sitting alone in the back, and then they told me where the Swede boy from their school was sitting. He was a massive and tall blonde who had smug facial features and always wore a smirk on his face. Lina and Kallie told me to be careful to not let him notice that I'm looking at him otherwise he'd think I was checking him out. Malinda, "The Boss", came in and sat in the back with a curly red-haired girl and a tall, scrawny mousy-haired young looking boy. The French girls all sat in a table with each other and kept to themselves. A new-comer group of blonde, white American boys that all looked identical sat at their own table, looking scared and helpless. The Swedes and I could already tell that there were cliques established within the program, both in the previous semester students and newcomers; and we were our own clique.

At that part of the orientation everyone stood up and introduced each other (gah! so many introductions) and then Hase-G explained what we were expected to do that semester. First he talked about the classes offered during the semester and the procedure for signing up for classes. Each class was an hour-and-a-half long and held just once a week, except for Japanese classes that had their own special circumstances depending on if one took a regular or intensive class. After taking a placement test, each student is assigned into a class appropriate for their level.

A = Beginning
B = Beginning/Intermediate
C = Intermediate
D = Intermediate/Advanced
E = Advanced

Individuals were placed into different leveled classes for each different Japanese language subject such as Kanji; Speaking and Listening; and Grammar. Therefor, a person could be placed into level C Grammar, Speaking and Listening but test poorly on the Kanji section of the test and be placed into level A Kanji.

We also had the option of learning more than just one level of Japanese at a time. Let's say that if a student was placed into A, he or she could choose to take a regular Japanese course and learn the entire A level material within one semester. If the person is super-crazy (like I was) they could choose to take an intensive course and learn both A and B level material within one semester. Keep in mind that back in America (and the other countries that everyone came from), universities take a whole year to teach just one level. Therefor, by taking a regular Japanese course through the study abroad program, a person comparatively learns an entire years worth of Japanese in just one semester. And, by taking an intensive course, a person learns TWO YEARS worth of learning Japanese at their home university in one semester (or three months).

Each different level of Japanese courses were usually held twice or more a week with regular classes lasting the normal hour-and-a-half long each day, and intensive courses lasting three hours each day. Kanji classes were held just once a week.

After explaining how the Japanese placement and courses worked Hase-G told us about the Individual Research Project we were all expected to complete. Before being accepted to the program, each applicant had to write a one-paged essay describing what they wished to research and why. Hase-G then explained that they put us into groups of people with related subjects and work together on an end-of-the-semester presentation. He told us to meet with our groups and then he proceeded to call out the names of each person and what group they belonged to. I was grouped with the people who all had Korean related subjects, but I was researching post-war Japanese literature and it just didn't fit. I asked Hase-G if I could change my independent research project's subject to 入れ墨／irezumi (traditional Japanese tattooing) and he gave me the 'OK' and put me in a group with four Australians who were all researching sub-cultures and art in Japan.

I was excited to have changed my subject because it would be a lot easier and it would give me the excuse to visit various tattoo shops in Japan. It would also give me the opportunity to share with people that I had tattoos, including a full back tattoo. The Australians decided to make me the group leader even though I had just changed my subject and wasn't exactly sure what I would be doing. We were all slightly confused as to what was going on and how we were supposed to tie our research together and give a presentation connecting them all at the end of the semester. This confusion would last until the end of the semester until the day of the presentations.

Shortly after meeting with our groups orientation ended and the newcomers were given the Japanese placement test. Those who had no Japanese language skills were taken to a different room and given their books and other materials for the level A course. There were only about ten of us who took the placement test. The placement test was really REALLY hard. Since it was a placement test originally created by the Japanese embassy for foreigners wishing to get popular scholarships to Japanese universities, it was written for people at an Intermediate/Advanced Japanese level. The listening section was way too fast, and they used Kanji that I had never seen on each question so I had no idea what it was saying. The only sections I was able to do well on was the essay and Kanji sections. The test ended and we were told that our scores would be posted at our dorms the next morning.

After the test I met up with the Swedes in the ISC (International Student Union) where I talked to a whole bunch of people for the first time. Lina, Kallie and I were invited by Malinda, Kana and James to go to 花見／hanami (literally flower watching) which is a popular event in Japanese culture. We were to go to a park and meet up with a group of the students from the previous semester to eat and drink under the sakura trees that were currently in bloom. Before parting, we were introduced to the other girl from California, Kacey*, who had just arrived the night before. Kacey seemed sweet and bubbly but reminded me of all of the college girls that I absolutely abhorred. We invited her to come along as well.

To be honest, the Swedes and I were kind of put off and annoyed by most of the people in the program, especially the group of people we were going to meet in the park. In the next entry I'll talk about my blooming dislike towards Kacy, my annoyance towards the other students, and going to hanami.

-Ofilia

Initial observations of wild life... or SPIDERS!!!

Spiiiiiiiiiiiiders!!! Buweahhahahaha! Scared? oh? WELL BEEE AFRAAIIIIDDDDDDDD (wow that word looks weird in all caps and elongated... anyway, on to the post!)

Ok, see, I’ve liked spiders most of my life. I have fond childhood memories of throwing carpenter ants into funnel spider webs and watching the spider scurry out and quickly start to suck the juices from the poor ant’s now paralyzed body. But apparently not everyone in this world has such nice memories of spiders. Now, don’t get me wrong… I hate walking through a spider web just as much as anyone else I know (the creepy crawly “OH ME GOODNESSSSSSS IS DE SPIDER OFF ME!?!? IS IT CRAWLING ON MY BACK!??!!? IS IT GOING INTO MY EAR TO LAY ITS EGGS AND EAT MY BRAINS OUT WITH ITS CHILDREN FOR RUNNING INTO ITS WEB AND RUINING ITS WHOLE NIGHT OF WORK!!!?!?!?!" feeling that you get when running into a web…)

Don’t give me those looks, you know you have the exact same thoughts after running into a web.

Only, now, imagine the spiders ten times bigger *and* ten times more plentiful than in America. Before I came to Japan when I thought ‘spider’ I thought of a small, maybe half-dime sized spider that you sometimes catch sneaking out from under the refrigerator. Not so In Japan. Well, I take that back. Japan has those small kinds too, but they are the ridiculously scary-fast jumping spiders that hunt... oh I don’t know… birds or something. These jumping types I kinda like now, actually. You scare them and they bounce away like a toad. But anyway, back to the huge ones! These suckers span at least 4 football fields with their legs, and their webs are.. umm.. I dunno actual measurements, but probably as big as the Milky Way? Yeah that’s about right if I had to guess.

Ok, so, I exaggerated… maybe… a TEEENY bit. But, seriously, only a little. Anywhoo, after watching these giants grow, they intrigue me now. When I arrived in Japan it was already peek “OH… MY… WHAT THE HECK IS … THAT!!!!” (said while pointing at one of the huge spiders) season. The best way for me to describe these spiders verbally (although I am going to have pictures… if I can find them) are, well, WITH their legs they are the size of my palm, without legs, the size of my ring finger, aaaand they are basically everywhere you look. However, they aren’t always this big. It’s only in late august that they put forth their true colours (bright yellow and red. Nature’s way of saying “I r going to be killz0ring you” (translation into normal English, “I’m poisonous.”)

It’s this growth process that interests me and I was sad when it ended and all the monst... err spiders suddenly disappeared when winter fell. But before we get to the superly amazingly and interesting growth process, one of the other interesting aspects of these spiders is the fact that they hardly ever move. Negating a visit by the typhoon monster (sometimes even normal rain didn’t dislodge them) I would place money on their being in the exact same place and web that I first spied them. When I first arrived, the spiders were toward the end of their life cycle and had already staked claims to what tree, post, fence or whatever they wanted. Because of this it only took roughly three days to know which areas to avoid, when to duck, (and funny as it is) when to jump. (lets just say I sometimes took the path less traveled.) but from the time I arrived till spider death, they stayed in exactly the same places and, apparently rebuilt identical webs when needed. But I dunno, I'm not sure they'd ever needed to rebuild... I can only see the webs of these spiders being damaged as a result of catching a bird… or two......(or three). I can say this because I accidentally played the part of a bird on two or three occasions, running into webs of finely woven steel and subsequently doing the freak out dance of spiderweb-on-ya. I remember it so well... one time, when I unknowingly attempted to walk through one of these webs, it felt like my face was trying to force its way through a wall the density of something between Styrofoam and cement. I know for an absolute fact that if I was spider prey, these webs are definitely strong enough to catch a good three or four of me before needing replacement.

Like I said earlier, I hardly ever saw these spiders in motion, however, there were a few times that I did. There was this one time that I was walking home late at night and I briefly glanced up from my txting and, to my surprise, saw one of these palm-sized spiders dangling from a single cord, evily clawing the air with all eight legs literally inches from my face. I also could have sworn I heard whispers of spidertalk saying, “Peekaboo! Walk one more step…please…I want… I.. want… to… to… eeeeeeeeeeeeeat…. your… your…your braaaaainseses…….Bwauehaehahahahaahahahahahhahahhahahhahahahahaha!!!!!!!... mew.” (spiders can want to be cats too, you know!)

The only other time I ever saw one of these spiders move was when I was forced by the dormitory's authorities to clean my balcony before moving out (one of the standard requirements. Bah. leaving a country is almost as hard-stupid as moving in!) Seeing as I hadn’t cleaned or been on this shabby thing called a balcony all year, when I opened my window to see the state that it currently was in, I was expecting to see a few spiders living there. In retrospect, taking into account the proportion of spiders living in japan, there were only a couple living on my porch. There just happened to be twelve palm sized spiders, which to american me, doesn't really feel like just a couple though. Oddly enough though, these twelve spiders were hanging in what appeared to be sixteen different webs. I am not sure what the extra 4 webs were for, perhaps catching birds, or human babies, but evil human me knocked them all down with two pieces of wood I had hiding behind my bed. Yep, the remnants of the 2x4 I had smashed up earlier in the semester. This whole situation was fun, but creepy at the same time. With twelve spiders around, and me having to actually set foot outside on the balcony, I was always wondering if/where one was sneaking up from to extract its revenge for knocking down its web. I was guessing if one attacked, it'd just kill me, but who knows what kind of spider derived torturing methods they have! so, I knew I had to be extra careful since spiders can be coming from below… or from the side… or from above… or from a second spider-demention... or anywhere! I have often wondered who is more sneaky, a spider bent on killin’ a person who just knocked down its web or a ninja who just… well I dunno... wants to kill someone? Is that what ninjas do? I think so. Anywho.. yeah.. So in one year, those were the only times I’ve ever seen these spiders move.

Now, I guess I should get to the growth process, since I DID say it was the most interesting part. Well, it is, but it’s kind of hard to explain. Basically it is interesting to me because when the giant yellow/red spiders disappeared I became extremely sad. But when spring…hehe…hehe…sprang (sorry I just HAD to use those words together :D) I replaced the sadness in my heart with an interest in these little green spiders I started to notice. These spiders were probably the size of a grain of rice, that’s how little they were. But anyway, I saw them all over the place, and had never noticed them before. I thought it was because I was too busy noticing the giant yellow and red spiders so I felt an odd feeling of regret for overlooking them, but little did I know, these tiny green spiders turned out to BE the giant yellow and red spiders! That’s right, apparently when they are little, and haven’t the power to make the bird-catchingly strong webs as a defense against… well… birds, so they stay a greenish colour and spin webs strong enough to catch a few of these. Once they eat a few of those, and start to get bigger and bigger and then MASSIVELY HUGE, they start to get a little yellow, and then when they reach about palm size they add a giant dot of red to their stomachs as if to say, “RAWR! I R SPIDER! I HAVE RETURNED TO EAT FRED’S BRAAAAAINS ONCE AGAIN!!! MUEWHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!!!... mew” (yet again, seriously! spiders can want to be cats too!)

Anyways, so… yeah.

I like spiders.

[Ken Hase-G] That’s good.

-Fred

Boring excitement.

It was all black. Everything! THE WALLS WERE CLOSING IN!!! THE WORLD IS EEENNDDDIIINNGGGG!!! Oh, wait, nono, it was just the dark hotel, the night before my flight to Japan, and I was sitting there on my brand new laptop plunking my feelings of mild anticipation into written word. I wrote:

To be honest, [going to Japan] hasn't hit me yet. I know a little while ago I said it had, however that was but a fleeting thought. I do not think that it will hit me until I land in Narita and realize something such as, "oh my goodness... they are all so short... and me 6'1"... I AM GODOZIRA!

Anyway, time for me to get some sleep. I do have an exciting day ahead of me. Well, its more like stressful and boring I suppose...

And a day full of stressful boringness it was. In the morning I was awoken by my parents and then endured the groggy five minute drive to the Atlanta airport. We got there four hours early and ridiculously early in the morning as all international flights "require." We had no trouble checking in, and then sat at Wendy's for an hour or so tiredly awaiting my departure through security. When I finally had to leave I hugged my parents goodbye and entered the mindlessly forward-shuffling security line. I found my gate fairly easy, and was forced to sit around for the next few hours being bored out of my mind and extremely annoyed at the “be there 4 hours early for international travel!” standard. I boarded my plane and when it lifted off I had finally departed from American soil for the first time. On this journey the only the instructions I had were, “When you arrive in Japan, exit the terminal and you’ll see an orange counter. It is the limousine bus service. Take it to Yokohama. Your tutor will meet you there.”

Stepping onto that airplane with so little information was slightly nerve wracking. I mean, I felt like I drastically lacked information, had poor Japanese skills, (My Japanese was about to the point of almost communicating “I have to pee!” after three or four tries) and basically zero experience in air travel, and during this trip I was about to fly 5000 miles landing in an Asian country for a year long exchange program. Pretty valid reason for being nervous if you ask me!

Before this international flight, I had only one experience in air travel, and It was a one hour flight from GA to NY with no transfers or layovers or anything. Ahh... memories... anyway, at the time of that flight I was sixteen, and I was dropped off at a gate, and immediately picked up right as I exited the terminal. Not a huge airport experience. Layovers? Checking the monitors for the number of my next flight? Navigating terminals? I had no idea these things even existed, let alone how to do them.

I boarded the first leg of my flight and sat down in my window seat hoping my currently absent seat mates would either be pleasant or not make the flight. That leg was only an hour and a half or so I wasn’t really that concerned, but still…

A few moments later a woman and her 10 year old daughter sat down next to me. "Oh no a kiiiidddddd…" thought a wary me, but she was well behaved, and as they were walking up I noticed that the daughter’s carry-on luggage happened to be a violin. Definitely a plus in my book. Once everyone was settled, I got to chatting with the mother, and the more we talked the more she reminded me of my early years with my mother and my cello. I guess this was mainly because they were going home from a Suzuki convention, but still. Throughout the flight the mom was perky and preoccupied with sudoku, and the daughter was well behaved and colouring, so all was well and stayed well throughout that flight. We chit chatted about music and whatnot for a few minutes, and then I succeeded in sleeping for the hour remaining before being awoken by the “we are now approaching…” speech.

It wasn’t till I awoke that I groggily found out that the flight monitors existed. This happened when I pulled out the boarding pass to the second leg of my journey to check what gate I must be at, aaand it was totally blank. What?! I thought it would just be printed on the ticket, I mean that’s how the first boarding pass worked, right? Much to my chagrin, it was totally blank! Silly untraveled me, I had no idea what to do. After a few moments of quick brainstorming I came to the conclusion that, yep, I still had no idea what to do. It was a pretty stressful moment, seeing as the first leg of my journey put me 20 minutes behind schedule and my layover in O'Hare was only 50 minutes long. But I sucked up my pride and asked my new found friend what to do. I mean, I HAD already told her that I didn‘t travel much, was going to Japan, played the cello, cry at sad movies, sit down when I pee, have murdered 5 people, flown to the moon and mars, wanted to become a famous dog trainer, never finished the 6th grade, ate live octopus, cut off my legs once so I could be crippled for fun, invented the internet, caused global warming, ate yogurt, petted a dog, licked a frozen pole, had to rip my tongue off said pole, cried a little, couldn’t taste things for days, once smacked off the high dive, didn’t like roller coasters, sporadically had super powers, could see the future, ate pie, liked pie, wanted more pie, wanted her to make me pie… etc.

Ooor, I could have just said “since we had hit it off and chatted a little.” but anyway, back to the story. I asked the lady sitting next to me for advice, and she told me “oh that’s what the monitors are for!” problem solved.

I left the airplane, checked the monitor, found my next gate, sat around boarded for a few moments, (the gate wasn't far from where we arrived) boarded the plane, and sat myself down in my comfy aisle seat, once again hoping my seat mates wouldn't be, for the lack of a better phrase, poopoo heads. Originally I had planned to study Japanese a bit on this 14 hour flight from O'Hare to Narita, but when I sat down I realized, the Asians had attacked! They were everywhere! I was embarrassed to pull out my “Genki: Elementary Japanese” book and study “Hello, I am Fred, nice to meet you.” like phrases again. So, I didn't. Instead I read the few English books I had snagged from my parents moments before leaving them, listened to the little Japanese music I had brought, and slept. Randomly I did this in a pretty solid rotation. Read for an hour or so, listened to music for half an hour or so, tried to sleep for an hour or so, and repeat. For fourteen hours. Ugh. Oh and I peed a few times. That flight was boring. ugh. Anyway, I did start and finish a relatively boring a six hundred page book flight, so thats... kind of an accomplishment?

It ended up that no one sat next to me, so I had a lot of space. Overall it was as pleasant a 14 hour flight as could be expected. Toward the end of the flight, I talked with the American across the aisle from me. He had been in Japan before, spoke fairly good Japanese, and oddly enough during the flight walked all over the place making friends with all the old Japanese people. When I spoke with him thought he had sat back down in his seat. All I remember of that conversation was that he told me, “You’ll have fun... Just do whatever is suggested and never say no to anything, ever, the whole year, even if it sounds really, really weird.” I nodded my head and tentatively decided to live my year with that logic. (Other than morally corrupt things like when I was invited to a Love Hotel ; ))

We made plans to meet up sometime because he was located in Tokyo and I was in Yokohama, but we didn’t ever follow through on them because we didn’t exchange contact information since he had already been in Japan and could go through the “Already been in Japan or Japanese citizen” line of customs. It was a lot quicker than the first timers line, so he was already gone when I got to baggage although we said we'd meet there. He wasn’t one of them hawt Asian chicks anyways, thought, so I didn’t really think much of losing contact so quickly.

Like I said, it took me a while to get through the first timers' customs and being untraveled like I was, I accidentally went to the one carousel that had people gathered around it. I stood there for a good 10-20 minutes wondering how I could ensure that this was the right place, but since it was the only one with bags or people in the whole airport, I just stood there. Everyone was Asian, who was I supposed to ask? I didn’t know if anyone even spoke English! When my bags still hadn't come, and I spied two white people with bags who were talking in English walk by, I asked for help. They told me about the monitor’s (yet again) which I hadn’t noticed. I thanked them and found the right place for me (which had no bags on it even when I first got there) I wandered around it mentally scratching my head in “wtf”ness and then turned the last corner and saw my bags sitting on the floor in a line of apparently unclaimed bags. Apparently by the time I left customs my flight’s bags had already been completely collected and the 7-8 that were left were just pulled off the carousel and placed on the ground. I thought this was rather odd because I walked pretty briskly to customs when I got off the flight, and didn't have that much trouble in customs, so I can only guess that everyone on my flight was already from Japan and flew through customs and got their bags before I made it though noobie-firstimers' customs. Meh, who knows.

Anyway, I grab my bags and went through the mandatory “are you bringing drugs/alcohol through here” blahblah and exit the terminal with just the 3 lines of instructions I had been emailed nervously running over and over again in my head. Luckily, although they were much more concise than I would have liked, they were perfect. I exited the terminal, and a big bright orange counter was right in front of me. I bought a ticket (in English since I was too scared to try Japanese) and went out to the bus stop (which was right outside) and waited for my bus to Yokohama.

Even though the majority of people in the airport and on the plane were Asian, it hadn’t truly hit me that I was in an Asian country until I stepped onto that bus and for the first time ever I noticed and truly felt that I was the minority. The only language I heard was Japanese, every seat but one was taken by a Japanese person, everyone was wearing Japanese clothes, people were using Japanese cell phones and reading Japanese books... sufficient to say, it was an odd feeling being a white male and being the only minority on that bus. I sat down next to a Japanese business man in the only empty seat left, and 20 minutes later remembered that I had forgotten to say “座ってもういいですか。” (May I sit here?) which is the polite, and culturally expected thing to do. "Oh well," I thought, "I’d have been too nervous to say it out loud anyway."

I dozed off and on for the two hours that the bus trip took and then arrived at YCAT (Yokohama) terminal. When I stepped off the bus, three hours later than planned because of delays, my tutor was standing there bored but still holding a piece of paper in hand saying “Fred Nicodemus.”

He picked up the heaviest of my bags, waved goodbye to his tutor friends, and after briefly greeting me, we shuffled off toward Yokohama's taxi stop. He had planned on taking the subway to Minesawa-kamicho, but it was late, we were both tired, and I had heavy bags to carry. All I remember about the conversation we had that first night was that I attempted to talk in Japanese, and failed, and he attempted to talk in English, and failed. I do remember him trying to remember the English word for "Major" and i said "senmonwa?" and he was all happy... but the littlest Japanese from a white person makes Japanese people happy, so meh. Anyway, this first taxi ride in japan was kind of weird because Yokohama is full of small one-way looking roads that go both ways, lots of lights, an looots of people. Before this trip, I hadn’t been in even a mid-size city before, and Yokohama is the second biggest city in Japan.

The ride was a mishmash of poor communication in two different languages, tired feelings, bright lights, excitement, and exhausted enjoyment. We arrived at Minesawa dormitories at around 7 at night, briefly talked to the office ladies briefly, signed a few papers, and then went to my room, B-122. He then showed me, more with body language since at that point we knew we couldn't communicate with language, that he had bought me a few gifts. Toilet paper, tissues, a Japanese sized towel, a sheet, and a pillow. I thanked him, we had a few awkward bad-language inspired moments of silence and then he left saying he’d meet me tomorrow. I remember sitting on my bed a few moments, wondering if I should go out and explore, or just pass out. I was exhausted and scared of exploring alone because I didn’t speak Japanese well, so I decided even though it was only 7:30 at night, I would go to bed. I drifted off to sleep my first night in discomfort because of my horrible bed but wondering japan wondering what the people in the program would be like, happy that I wasn't sitting any longer, and a lingering excitement in the knowledge that I was in a different country.

Thus I ended my trip, and first moments in Japan on a hard, springy, horrible bed, with a rather hard and annoyingly uncomfortable pillow, three unpacked bags, and one life-changingly exciting year ahead of me.

But seriously, that bed sucked REALLY bad before I got the futon.

-Fricodemous (I really do have trouble remembering how two names are supposed to go together ; ) )

Gossiping with the Swedes pt. 1

The next day (my third day in Japan) after eating breakfast, I went to the Gumyoji station and waited for the train to see if I could recall how to get to school on my own. I noticed that two of the Swedish girls (one of them happened to be that tall blond I saw running around during my first night in Japan), and a French girl were also waiting to board the train. We all recognized each other from the orientation the night before, so we introduced ourselves once again to become better acquainted.  

I found the tall blond Swedish girl especially friendly. Her name was Kallie* and she talked with an American accent. Compared to a lot of people who didn't use English as their first language, Kallie's English was pretty good. Kallie and Lina* (the other Swede) were both international business majors from Jönköping University in Sweden. They both admitted that they did not speak any Japanese and didn't know a whole lot about Japanese culture. They chose to study abroad in Japan because it would be "different" and they wanted to experience another culture besides one they would be used to. They had both travelled around Europe a lot and wanted to expand their world knowledge. Kallie had just finished studying abroad in Germany and said she was planning on going to grad school in California after she graduated. Lina told me that it is very common for college students in Sweden to study abroad. From what I recall she said about 95% of all college students in Sweden study in a different country for at least one semester (remind me to look this up).  

The French girl wasn't really chatty at all, and whenever we asked her a question she responded in a short and annoyed manner. Noticing this, the Swedish girls and I decided to keep her at a distance.  

Since we were all headed to the university to look around, the Swedish girls asked me if I'd like to explore the campus with them. We got off at stop 22 and exited the station where we met up with Lina's Japanese student counselor, Kana. Kana and Lina went up ahead of Kallie and me while we talked about our experiences in Japan so far. We then got on the subject of the other people from our home universities that were in the program as well; and then the next thing you know, I was already involved in GOSSIP.  

Oi!  

Besides Lina and herself, there was only one other person from their university in our program. He had already been there for one semester, and they had heard some rumors that he was making the biggest ass out of himself in Japan. According to Kallie, this guy (who I would later learn was given the nickname 'モンスタ’, monsuta=monster) was completely full of himself and believed he was God's gift to women, but was actually just extremely desperate for any attention at all. They advised me to stay away and not say a word to him otherwise he would think I was coming on to him and then he would never leave me alone. They also told me that he hated Japan and refused to learn Japanese (which I would learn to be true) so they (and everyone in the program) were extremely confused as to why he was in Japan, especially for a whole year.  

After Kallie and Lina told me about their monster from Sweden, I told them about "Mr. Ambassador" Brad. As we approached the university's 食堂/shokudo (dining room) for lunch, we continued to laugh while having a grand ol' time making fun of the idiots from our respective university's who thought they were far superior than their peers but were just the biggest jackasses we'd ever known. Right as I had finished telling them the story about how Brad announced how he was ONLY going back to Japan for the food, I spotted the jerk-face sitting on a bench in front of the 生協／seikyo (student store, co-op).  

"Speaking of the devil..." I said under my breath to the other girls while approaching him with the hugest shit-eating grin on my face.  

He looked up, and without saying 'hello' or asking me how I've been, he snidely said, "Well, it looked like you already found your own little gang."  

What the heck was that supposed to mean? Ugh, he's such a jerk. I shrugged it off and asked him what was wrong and why he was holding his stomach.  

"I've been sick since the first night here. I went out to sushi and haven't been able to eat a thing since without having to throw up." Brian hung his head down and looked like he was going to die and then continued, "So, I'm waiting for my student tutor to meet me here so she can take me to the doctor."  

You have no idea how badly I wanted to laugh out loud at him, but instead I could only point and laugh at him inside my head. Heh heh heh. Yah, you only wanted to come back for the food, eh Mr. Ambassador? Hahahahahahahahahahahahaha! I smiled, wished him luck and then the girls and I walked around while busting out with laughter about how perfectly hysterical the events had just taken place.  

We then proceeded to find our way to the shokudo with Kana and a few other Japanese girls, one who happened to be a counselor of a girl from California whom she had not met yet. We got our food and found a spot inside the crowded shokudo where the gossiping continued. Umi, Kana's best friend, asked me if I knew the girl from California she would be assisting later that evening.  

I had no idea who she was, but I did have a question of my own. At the orientation the night before, after finding out I was from Sacramento, all of the dorm assistants asked me if I knew Cindy* and when I said I didn't they all nodded and looked at each other in the most suspicious way. I had only seen Cindy but a few times the semester before when she had joined in on a few of my Japanese classes before she left to study in Yokohama at the same university. The way in which they asked me seemed a little odd, so I asked Kana if she knew Cindy and why people kept asking me in peculiar ways if I knew her.  

Kana immediately snapped, "She's a liar! Stay away from her. She's a bitch."  

Kana's English wasn't the best, but she continued with the confusing story (confusing only because her English was so broken and she had problems tying everything together) about how Cindy had a boyfriend back home but is cheating on him and how she had tried sleeping with her boyfriend (an American who was also from California). Cindy was not to be trusted and had made quite the slutty reputation, according to the Japanese girls, so the Swedes and I decided it would be best not to hang out with her.  

The gossip would continue while we finished lunches and Kallie, Lina and I got to know each other better. We exchanged numbers and made plans to hang out the rest of the week and go to Tokyo over the weekend. Within the weeks to come, Kallie and Lina would become my closest friends in Japan even though I felt no real connection with them or share any similar interests. Little did I know that Kallie and Lina secretly despised each other--even back in Sweden. Eventually, Lina would become closer to me than Kallie and my group of friends would change; but before then Kallie, Lina and I had problems making friends with the other students just because WE didn't like them and found most of everybody extremely annoying.

Gossip pt 2 / Izakaya

Umi left to pick up the girl from California she would be assisting and Kana, Lina, Kallie and I left the other Japanese girls to meet Kana's boyfriend from California, James*. James was pretty fluent at Japanese and ended up being really helpful to the Swedes and I during the first few weeks. Within just a matter of minutes Kana had asked James to tell us about Cindy. From what he explained she had caused a lot of problems within his group of friends and was a key reason why most of them were no longer as close as they once were. He didn't really delve into anything specific; but, like Kana, advised us to stay away from her because she is nothing but drama.

We all boarded the train and got off at stop 20 (Yokohama eki) and walked to the station's Exit 5 where we met up with two other male Japanese student tutors and another guy from California who had just arrived the previous day. Exit 5 was THE meet-up spot in Yokohama if anybody had to wait for someone to meet them. We walked around downtown for a bit and then went to Yodobashi Camera to buy accessories for our keitais. I purchased a cute little panda charm and a sticker of a black cat to remind me of my kitty back home. I also bought a cable so I could connect to the internet and a converter for my computer plug. By the time we left the 7 story electronic store it was already dark outside. We decided to walk around a bit to get a taste of the nightlife in Yokohama.

After an hour or so of walking around we were getting pretty hungry. James led us to an alleyway between two buildings and directed us inside an elevator which took us to the 5th floor. From there we entered a dimly lit Japanese restaurant called an izakaya. James explained that every dish on the menu, including the BEER!, was 300 yen (about $3.00) and that everyone shared eat dish. Us newcomers didn't really know what to order so we let James and the Japanese student tutors order everything for us.

Time went on and the beer and food had filled us all up. We got on the subject of our favorite Japanese words and when I was asked what mine was I mindlessly blurted out "BUKKAKE!" without even remembering that I was in Japan and everyone had known that word. Hello!!! Who was a dumb-ass? The noisy restaurant had immediately gone silent and I felt really embarrassed. The Swedes and newcomer from California didn't know what the word was so Kana shyly explained it to them while the others continued to laugh and make fun of me.

Eventually we had to call it a night since it was getting pretty late and we all had to wake up early for our orientation at the university the following morning. It is a custom in Japan to only pay for what you ordered. So when we paid for the meal we split the bill evenly (betsu-betsu) since it was an izakaya and we had shared everything. The waitress came back with a new check showing how much we all needed to pay and after taking care of the check we left. It is also a custom to not tip in Japan so we didn't have to worry about that. I greatly preferred the customs for paying for meals in Japan over the way things are done in America.

The Swedes and I boarded the train back to our dorms and the boys and Kana boarded the train back to the dorms near the university where all of the boys in the program had to stay. Kallie, Lina and I made plans to get up and eat together before heading out to the orientation. I was excited about meeting everyone in our program. It was required that all of the newcomers and people who had been there the semester before needed to be there. Before sleeping I brushed up on my Japanese a bit because I had to take a placement test that would decide which Japanese classes I needed to take.

I had a really good day. I made friends with two girls from a country I had no knowledge about and I was stoked to be exposed to more new cultures than just Japan's.

-Ofilia

Orientation

I woke up from my nap, left my room, walked down the stairs and then entered the meeting hall located near the entrance of the dorm complex and sat down in a chair seconds before the orientation began. I looked around the room to scoop the others out and it appeared as though everyone already knew at least one other person. When the orientation began everyone was asked to tell their names and where they were from. The Aussies, Swedes and Frenchies all knew each other before departing, just like I knew the two others (Eli*-whom I have not yet mentioned-and Brad) who came from my school. The only problem was that this was the girl dorm and I was without friends or people I knew so felt lonely and a bit shy compared to the others who seemed a bit more at ease.

Malinda "The Boss" and the other dorm assistants introduced themselves and then started the orientation process. First, they explained the laundry rooms and the schedule and sign up forms for getting a new change of bed sheets and blankets. Then they passed out sheets explaining the AC/heater remotes since all of the buttons were written with Japanese. This did not help me because my AC/heater and remote were different than all of the others. Last, the explained the complicated procedure of taking out the gomi. To be honest, I never figured it out so I just wore a hoodie to cover up my face every time I went to the garbage dump area at the dorms because they set up cameras to monitor everyone to make sure they were doing it correctly.

The New York Times article "How Do Japanese Dump Trash? Let Us Count the Myriad Ways", along with a slideshow, reveals just how tedious taking out the trash is in Yokohama:

"YOKOHAMA, Japan - When this city recently doubled the number of garbage categories to 10, it handed residents a 27-page booklet on how to sort their trash. Highlights included detailed instructions on 518 items."

During the orientation we were instructed to literally separate everything (i.e., plastic, wrappers, papers, string, clothes, metals, cardboard, etc.) from each other, and depending on what certain items were we were told how to dispose of the gomi in the garbage dump area. Certain items were to be placed in a plastic bag that was to be tied up; other items were to be placed in a plastic bag that was not supposed to be tied up; and many items were not supposed to be in a bag at all. Oi.

From what I came to learn at the end of that semester, most cities in Japan did not have to follow such tough guidelines for removing their trash and that the guideline was a decision made by the city of Yokohama itself in order to cut down pollution.

Here is Yokohama city's guide on removing gomi: "How to put out Your Garbage and Recyclables"

After the orientation was over I asked one of the Japanese dorm assistants to help me set my keitai up into English and then I exchanged numbers with him, Malinda and a few others. By that time I was pretty exhausted from waking up extremely early and then running around all day so I decided to get something to eat at the shopping street (a tonkatsu bento) and then returned to my dorm room and crashed.

-Ofilia

Dorm Room Pictures

While I waited for the orientation, I took photos of my room:

This was the kitchen.


This was the desk. On the left was my dresser.


This was my uncomfortable bed.

This was my bathroom.

Second Day/Errands

Within what seemed like days, I woke up. I had no idea what time it was, but it felt as though it was at least 10 am. I jumped in the shower/bath and got ready for my first day in Japan. After getting ready, I was really anxious to walk around the shopping street and find something to eat for breakfast.  

I grabbed some money and my keys to my room and headed down the stairs to the entrance. I glanced at the clock on the wall and noticed it was 7 am, which was a lot earlier than I had expected. However, what I did not know was that that clock was broken and hadn't budged in years and that it was actually only 6 am. Therefore, none of the shops were open when I took my stroll and the only people who were out and about were businessmen headed towards the station to start their commute to work. I tried to play off that I knew what I was doing and where I was going and continued to walk on through the shopping street, past the Gumyoji Temple, and walked up a hill until I spotted a McDonald's that was located just before the train tracks on the left. Being that it was the only thing open during this time, I decided to have my very first meal in Japan there.

McDonald's. Ugh. How American of me. ; p  

I entered and was greeted with irashaimase (welcome) by every employee. I had no idea as to what they were exactly saying to me since I didn't know keigo (polite form of Japanese), so i just ordered in Japanese which wasn't hard to do since everything on the menu was written in Katakana.  

“ホットケーキと小さいコーヒーお願いします。”（pancakes and a small coffee, please.)  

I ate my first meal in Japan alone while feeling as though all eyes were on me. I watched the other people to see what they were doing so I didn't make an idiot out of myself. I was mostly worried about what to do with the gomi (trash) after I had finished since they were so strict about it. Luckily, a man had finished before me so I watched him discard everything into the correct waste basket and then I followed his example. Not so difficult. Only plastic in one and only paper in the other.  

After disposing of my trash I headed back. It was around that time that all of the shops started to open so I bought a couple of things (a pillow, toilet paper and a couple of towels) and then headed back to my dorm.  I went through the entrance and asked the office lady for the correct time and then returned to my room, set my iPod's clock to Japan time and then took a nap before meeting with Erika.  

Erika met me at the dorms like we had planned and we headed towards the station to get everything I needed to done. First off, we went to Yodobashi Camera where I bought my keitai (Japanese cellphone) which only cost a dollar with my student discount. Little did I know at this point just how important my keitai would be. Before going to Yodobashi, I had told Erika that I originally didn't want a cellphone while I was there because I wasn't planning on making friends so didn't see the point of it. She laughed at me.  

We bought my keitai and went back on the Blue Line to our next stop in Maita where I took my picture in a photo booth; went to the district office to register for national health insurance and gaijin identification card; and then take a break to drink tea and eat lunch at a curry shop. That was my first time eating Japanese curry, and I loved it! Erika and I had small talk once again and she told me that she had never been to America but would like to live in New York someday.

After our lunch she said we needed to go to the university to pick up information about orientation and my Japanese placement test.  We hopped back on the blue line and got off at stop 22; walked 20 minutes to the 留学生センター（International Student Center, or ISC for short) and met with Kazoi-san* who was in charge of running the ISC office. She had me fill out a few forms for my student I.D. card and then showed me where my own individual pick up box was located. Within the box were a few more forms with information about the orientation and sheets that I would need to fill out after I had chosen the classes I would be taking that semester. Before I left Kazoi-san told me that I would learn everything I needed to during orientation and couldn't wait to see me around.  

Erika and I left the campus and she dropped me off at the station. She asked if I could figure out how to get back home on my own, and I hesitantly said I was able. Before I said' thank you' and 'good-bye' she reminded me of my stop number (12).  

My first train ride alone was very uncomfortable. I can't even begin to explain what it was like being a gaijin in Japan. All eyes are on you. It might not be blatantly obvious that people are staring at you (and yes, there are times when the person sitting next to you does turn their head to stare, making your entire ride awkward), but they are. Most people look away when you turn your face toward them and then continue to look at your from the corner of their eye. At times I felt like a celebrity and at others I felt as though I was some sort of asshole, invading their precious country and disgusting them with my gaijin-ity.  

I successfully made it back to the dorms on my own and had an hour to kill before the orientation. At the entrance of the dorms was a sign that had the names of the people attending the orientation along with what country they were from:  

Australia: 6 

France: 3

Sweden: 2 

and America: 1 (being me)  

I was extremely excited but nervous about meeting some of the people who would be attending the university through the same program.  

I went back up stairs to my room and waited.

-Ofilia

Tutor / Dorm

Erika, my assigned Japanese counselor, was a 24 year-old college student who was studying to be an English teacher at the same university that I would be attending. Compared to the other counselors I would meet, her English was very poor so I was confused as to why she wanted to be an English teacher. Erika loved to read, drink French wine and hang out with her friends in Tokyo. She was an only child but had a black pug that she gave an ordinary English name, like George. Other than those few facts, I didn't learn a whole lot about my counselor due to her limited English skills and my shyness to use Japanese.

She helped me carry my luggage throughout the busy Yokohama station from YCAT; past the busy shopping areas like SOGO, The Diamond, and Takashimaya; to the Yokohama City Blue Line. There, she bought tickets for the both of us and then we put our tickets through the gate which sucked them in and then brought them up through the next side for the passenger to grab and use as they exited the station when they arrived at their destination. I was unaware that I had to do this, so I left my ticket at the first gate. Erika had to purchase me another ticket when we made it to Gumyoji where the dorms were located.

Erika printed out a map of the bus line I would be riding on every day and circled the Kanji and stop numbers that were important. Stop 12 was where my dorm was located; stop 20 was where Yokohama station was located; and stop 22 was where I had to get off to walk to school every day. I thanked her and reassured her that I wouldn't forget my ticket at the first gate again.

I had been awake for about 20 hours and after many hours of traveling, being stressed and overwhelmed by a completely new culture, I was becoming delirious. We continued lugging the baggage through Gumyoji's shopping street when it started to drizzle. The street was like a dream-land that had lights and streamers twisting and winding all about; with beautiful, airy symphonic music playing through the speakers; and there were various quaint shops that displayed its Japanese food, crafts, and all sorts of items to lure the shoppers in. A cute, little old man bowed his head and said, "good luck in Japan!" as he noticed that I was a new resident. It really made me happy to be given such a sweet welcoming by a local in the district I would be residing where most of the residents were old.

As I approached the end of the shopping street I was taken aback by people carrying signs, screaming the same phrases over and over into megaphones. I glanced around and noticed posters of people with the names written next to them on stuck to the walls. I asked Erika what was going on and she couldn't explain it. Later, I would come to learn that it was election week in Japan which is perhaps the noisiest time in Japan. People drove in trucks all day long, blasting their sirens while screaming "vote for so-and-so" until a certain hour of night (I want to say 9 PM).

Following Erika closely behind, I crossed the street and quickly took notice to a tall blond who was crossing in the opposite direction. She looked so out of place that I could only guess that she was a new student as well. Erika took a left and then continued on a little bit further until we made it to the entrance of the dorms. We went through the first set of doors and then were met by a short blond girl, three Japanese students and an office lady. They introduced themselves as the dorm assistants and said that if I ever needed help I could call them or go to their rooms. The short blond was referred to as "the Boss." At first I didn't know what to make of her as she seemed kind of bitchy. Malinda*, "the Boss," had already been there for one semester and was fluent in Japanese. She was originally from Sweden but had been studying at the University of Sheffield in England so had picked up an English accent.

Everyone asked where I was from, and when they heard that I was from California they all oooo-ed and aaaawwww-ed. They then asked if I knew Cindy* who was from the same school as me back in California. I said I knew who she was, but didn't know her.

"Let's get you into your room so you can have a proper sleep," Malinda said while directing me and the rest of the gang up the flight of stairs and to the 3rd floor where my room was located. She opened the door and we set my luggage on the floor.

"この部屋はちょっと変ね？(This room is a bit weird, isn't it?)” she commented to the others. I agreed in my head.

She showed me around the room and how to use to toilet, shower, kitchen sink and AC/heater and then showed me the trash can. Disposing of litter was really complicated in Japan, so she said that she would go over it during orientation later the following day. After explaining everything about my room, Malinda and the other left. Erika had to get going as well since she lived about 2 hours away near Gunma, so we made plans to meet at the dorm complex in the afternoon the next day to get a keitai (cellphone), gaijin (foreigner) I.D. card, register for national health insurance and visit the university I would be attending.

I said goodnight to Erika who had seemed to be getting more comfortable using English with me. I was finally all alone. It wasn't entirely peaceful and quiet since the sirens were still blasting and people were still shouting in their microphones. I checked to see if I could pick up an internet signal so I could get in touch with my family to let them know that I had arrived and was getting situated, but could not. So instead, I opened word and jot down a few things about my long journey:

"Phil, Dylan, me the undercover agent, bombs in coach purses, hush-hush trips to Thailand, security just minutes after boarding. I’m living in JAPAN. WTF. I can’t carry a conversation with my tutor in Japanese, let alone even think coherently. My room isn’t at all what I expected. Ripped off! Shopping, orientation=tomorrooowwww. California! Malinda, the Boss."

Shortly after I closed the laptop and got ready to sleep then made my bed and crawled into it. I didn't have a pillow so used a fluffy jacket I had brought to rest my head on instead. I had problems sleeping that night since it was extremely cold and the bed was painfully uncomfortable. Since I couldn't figure out the damn remote to the AC/heater, I put on pants and and sweater in order to keep warm.

That night I remember feeling so alone. It was the first time I had lived solely by myself and wasn't sure if I could manage on my own. I thought about Japan and what adventures would come my way. I wondered if I would make any friends but wasn't counting on it since I knew I would be so unlike every single person studying through the same program. After more thinking, the sirens and noise died out and I started to drift to sleep.

Then,

finally,

I was asleep.

-Ofilia

Going to School in Japan / Plane Flight part 1

Before going to Japan I had imagined my experience of studying abroad as being the exact opposite of how it actually turned out. I had come up with the idea that I would not relate to a single person in my program, nor would I have any desire to spend time with or make friends with anyone there. I was to be alone with nothing else to keep me company but my music and my books. Trips were supposed to be taken solely by myself so that I could take time to reflect and contemplate my life; the current situation I was in and what possible directions I would have to take after returning to my terrible life back in America. I loved being alone and lost within my own thoughts and I really never expected to meet someone I would be on the same wavelength with. I could not believe how wrong I would become.

The day before I left to Japan was a nightmare, and it eerily foreshadowed what would enfold during my time in Japan and when I would return. In short, my father cussed out my husband (now ex-husband) and they despised each other--immensely; my sister got into a huge fight with her roommates who were my close “friends” over the last couple of years; and on top of that, Mr. Head scene honcho, who vehemently hated me, had turned most of my “friends” against me and they all gave me the cold-shoulder the night before. I could not wait to get the heck out of that city to be away from it all in Yokohama where I would not have to worry about this ridiculous drama. 

Everything was falling apart.

I was in need of a break.

I desperately needed change in my life.

------------- 

Sitting alone in a chair in San Francisco International airport I thought about how the moment I had waited for nearly half my life was finally becoming a reality. I was going to Japan! I was about to embark on the biggest, most frightening adventure of my life and I was so ready for it. The only thing I knew I would miss wholeheartedly was my cat. She was my best friend and, I must add, the greatest cuddler of all time. The thought of not having her purring and drooling while nuzzled cozily beneath my arms devastated me more than the fact that I would no longer be with my supposed friends and family. In all actuality, I was more than happy to be getting away from my abusive husband and drama-filled hardcore/punk scene “friends.” I needed time to think. I used the excuse that Japan would help me with my future--and I have no doubt it will look fantastic on my resume--but I had always wanted to spend a portion of my life there since I was a little girl. Japan had always seemed like a magical place to me and I had wanted to go there more than I had wanted anything in my life.

While waiting for my flight I had spotted Brad who, along with one other boy from my college, would be going to Yamate-Hashi National University* through the DINO Program* as well. Brad was not my favorite person in the world, and to be honest, I had always thought of him to be an ass since the day I met him as he was really quite condescending. 

We both put on our fake smiles, and greeted each other.

“Are you ready to go to Japan?” He asked.

“Yes! I’m ready!” I beamed back.

Brad, being the little bitch that he was, replied, “Well then, you aren’t really ready because you don’t know what to expect," and then turned his back on me to sit down. 

I smirked, nodded and then exposed my shit-eating grin and agreed with the all-knowing self-titled ambassador of our city to Japan and president of my university's Japan Club that he was right! Of course, I had no right to say I was ready for Japan because, unlike him who had already studied there for a year at the prestigious Waseda University in Tokyo, I had NEVER been to Japan before and could not be ready for it.  The jack-ass.  However, he was right when he said I didn't know what to except about Japan, but he had no idea exactly how ready I was to get to Japan.

----

The plane flight was perhaps the most irritating experience of my life. Not only was Mr. Obnoxious "ambassador" sitting close-by, but I would end up sitting in next to a psychotic man who was being followed by the FBI! What had happened could have easily been seen in a comedic sitcom or the complete opposite--a horror movie. 

I sat down in my aisle seat only to immediately having to stand back up for the man who would be sitting near the window. He introduced himself giving his full name, Phil Dylan, and then told me he was going to Thailand and promised not to bother me too much throughout the flight. I smiled but didn't say anything back. I was not keen on making friends with this seemingly lonely, needy middle-aged man whose only carrier-on luggage was an acoustic guitar he claimed to play classically; hence the reason he wore his fingernails long. He reminded me of my then father-in-law a lot. He talked too much, about himself of course, and would not shut up even though he knew he was grating on everyone's nerves. I decided it would be best to keep my headphones on throughout the entire flight and crossed my fingers hoping the battery would not die.

A nice-looking woman found her way to her seat situated in between us when the pilot of the plane walked down the aisle and stopped by our row. The pilot? I wonder what he could possibly want? Next thing you know, he's shaking hands with this weirdo Phil guy and then asked in a tone that a parent would give to their five-year old, "Phil, are you going to behave yourself on this flight? Or do we need someone to sit next to you?" 

I froze. What!? Who was this man, and why would he need to behave himself? Phil laughed and said he was nothing but a gentleman on plane flights and claimed he wouldn't pick up on any of the airline hostesses.

A few minutes after the pilot had left, security continued to walk down our aisle making it obvious that they were there to keep an eye on Phil. The lady between us must have been dying! Luckily for her, she was given a new seat in first class and a man was given her place. The man was of middle-eastern descent, quiet, middle-aged and dressed very properly. Phil immediately picked up conversation with him, telling him exactly what he had told me.

"I'm going to Thailand!" He laughed and then hesitated to say, "but..." he paused and smirked to himself, "you already knew that, didn't you, Mr. FBI Agent? And you," he quickly glanced at me, "Mr. FBI Agent's assistant."

-Ofilia