No way, you're kidding!

So AKP is officially over. Unfortunately my lack of updates in the past few months is directly related to my lack of enthusiasm for the program, but I am finally and officially on the home stretch.

In some ways I can't believe how short this year has been, but at the same time I'm not even sure I remember what America looks like anymore. It's been a year of tough times, of good times, and of times that have yet to be decided as to which side of the spectrum they'll end up on. I've learned a lot about the world, a lot about myself, and a lot about fish.

I have absolutely no plans for my last two weeks here, but I'm sure the time will fill up quickly (starting with a long-deserved trip to the metal bar tonight), and I'm really looking forward to takin it easy from now on.

Unfortunately, it's pouring right now. So fun might have to start tomorrow...

The most important thing I want to say, is that I miss you all so much and I will see you all in just a short time. For those of you I won't be seeing in the immediate future, let's make it as soon as possible.

Unless something moves me in the last 15 days or so, I suppose this is my last blog post. Thanks for checking up on me, and sorry there's about a 2 month gap! Can't wait to see you all!

Guacamole

My host dad loves salsa, and makes his own every once in a while. It's probably not quite what an American would think of as "Salsa," it's more tomato sauce with veggies in it, but we'd been talking for a while about me making guacamole to go with it. I had never made it before, but obviously understood the main ingredients and the idea.

So today I made guacamole. My first solo foray into the cooking world past a PB&J. It's sitting in the fridge right now, we're waiting for my host bro to come home with the Tostitos, but the whole family is really excited. I'm glad I could introduce them to a little American (or at least foreign) culture besides my poor Japanese accent.

I also recently started training in Aikido, which I've been doing in America for about 2 years but hadn't gotten around to in Japan until now. I've only been to two practices but they've been really awesome, and everyone's been much nicer and more welcoming than I anticipated.

I have Monday through Wednesday off from school this week, so my host family is taking me skiing on Tuesday. I don't remember the name of the mountain, but apparently it's close. So, while I hit the slopes my host mom and host dad are going to sit in the hot springs. Apparently my host mom used to ski a lot (she grew up right around where I went skiing in December) but doesn't any more for fear of injury. She is 60, so I can forgive her for that. Host dad skied a few times, but has long since retired to the hot baths.

Other than that it's been business as usual lately. I'm healthy, and enjoying classes, though they have returned a bit to the boring side, but at least my teachers display some air of professionalism.

Hope you're all doing well! Every day I inch a little closer to getting to see you all again, and I'm looking forward to it.

Looking back so far...

I've come to realize that the most interesting experiences I've had in this country... somehow end up involving food. Tonight was no different.

I went downstairs after finishing my homework and chatted with my host family. My second host brother who lives in Hokkaido (the northern-most island in Japan) is here for 2 weeks because he has an art exhibition in Osaka (he's an artist and his stuff is really awesome. Here's his blog where you can see some pictures, although it's in Japanese, so try just clicking random stuff: http://www6.plala.or.jp/seiji_honda2008/)

Anyway, whenever he comes down he brings lots of... interesting snacks. Today my host father issued me a challenge (he even used the English word "challenge" to dare me to do it) and put a small plate of brown liquid with small black things floating in it. I tasted it, and it was absolutely delicious. My host mom and dad then gave me the Japanese word for it, of which I understood a few words here and there and put together that it was some time of squid. I was wrong.

They looked up the word in the dictionary which gave the following description: "fish guts pickled in squid ink." Whoa. With this information in mind I tried another bite. Somehow not quite as appetizing as the first one, and when my host mom asked me some question I can't remember, I gagged a little bit in the middle of my answer, although she didn't seem to notice.

I went for a third go, and, in the end, it was pretty good. The texture is like eating a slug with a thick rubber band inside it, and it stuck in my teeth like a bear in a trap, but, somehow, it was good.

I honestly think that if I had tried this before coming to Japan, though, I most likely would have ejected it from my mouth at high velocity the second it hit my tongue, but I'm just so used to eating weird variations of sea food that I almost feel like no food from this country can phase me anymore.

I told my host family that it was delicious (honestly because there is no word for just "good" in Japanese, it's either delicious or it's so-so or it's horrible) at which they offered me another challenge for the future: Natto. A.K.A. rotten soybeans. Oh boy.

This semester

Well, I won't beat around the bush. Last semester my classes were awful. My Japanese teacher was Satan realized in Japanese Person form, my electives were on par with a community college course on spirituality, and the only Japanese I learned all semester was slang from my Japanese friends.

This semester, however, looks awesome.

My Japanese teacher tells jokes in class, there is laughing, there is discussion and conversation, in just a few days I can already tell my Japanese has gotten better.

I'm also taking Japanese religion, which seems like it's going to be pretty dry. Straight up info, most of which I know already, and a teacher who drones on and on. But, it's good stuff to know in light of the culture, and it seems like, at the very least, it'll be like any normal (boring?) lecture class at Middlebury.

My translation class, on the other hand, is going to be awesome. The teacher is lively, funny, and really really really knows her stuff (from what I gather she's a rather famous interpreter...) Our homework is actually fun and engaging, and besides getting a little practice for a possible career path, it's really interesting to investigate exactly how English and Japanese differ, what makes them unique languages, and how not just to convey information from one to the other, but ideas.

That's all I have to say at the moment, that things are looking good for the next four months.

P.S. with Obama's inauguration in 5 days (6 for you guys, I guess) it's just so awesome to know that America elected a president with integrity, who we can trust in to solve our current problems (Guantanamo closed in the first few days of office? I'm sold). It's good to be proud to be American.

Mo' Pictures

So these ones include pictures from when I went skiing in Nagano at a place called Nozawaonsen, as well as a day trip to the city of Nara that I just returned from.

In other news, it snowed last night!

Pictures!

Merry Christmas!

Hello, all, I'd like to wish everyone a Merry Christmas and happy holidays!

I got back this morning from a 4 day ski trip to Nozawaonsen, which was a blast. There wasn't a whole lot of snow the first day, but my friend Nestor and I gave it our best shot (he had never skied or snowboarded before, he tried snowboarding and did great), and the second day the mountain did not open because of strong winds. Surprisingly, we got a full refund for our lift ticket that day, which just goes to show how much Japan really is dedicated to service.

That night, though, the mountain got about a foot of snow, and the next day was great, although apparently when snow falls in Japan, instead of letting you ski the freshies, they groom it. Go figure. Either way, more of the mountain was open for us to explore and we took advantage of it. The final day we went with some friends who were also in the area to a monkey park where the monkies actually have their own outdoor hotspring. There are tons of awesome pictures of that excursion and they are coming soon.

Tonight I ate dinner with my host family, but before it started they brought me into the living room where they have their Christmas "tree" set up (it's plastic, but they decorate it and friggen love it), and presented me with my Christmas gift: 3 bottles of wine.

My host mom's words were the best part though:

"Gooraygoo, (my name pronounced in Japanese) happy birthday! Oh, I mean, Mayree Kooreesoomahsu!"

The whole family has work tomorrow, so we're not actually celebrating Christmas traditionally, but I'll be thinking about all of you! Have a great holiday!

Update!

I don't have much in the way of Japanese cultural experiences this time. I did go to my first onsen (public bath) with my host family recently, and that was very relaxing, but filled with naked.

I've got finals this week, just two, on tuesday and wednesday, and after that I'm pretty much free. I'm leaving friday night for a hard earned 4 days of skiing, which I'm looking forward to with my entire being. This year is going to be the least skiing I've done since I was 5 years old, and that means I gotta cherish every moment of it. For those interested, there's some information about the mountain here:

http://www.vill.nozawaonsen.nagano.jp/info/english/start.htm

It's called Nozawa Onsen (the town is also filled with onsen, the public baths, including one that only monkeys, not humans, may enter) or for those more hip to the Japanese language, 野沢温泉。

The snow conditions are not looking great at the moment, unfortunately, but I'll take what I can get. Perhaps now would be a good time to try some telli, I'll see how that goes. I promise to take lots of pictures, too.

That's it, for now. I hope you're all doing well! It sounds like Vermont is getting a bit of snow. Lucky...

More Photos!

Took me long enough...

More Japan!

Most of these pictures are from Tokyo, when it starts getting green again, it's back in Kyoto.

Two posts in two days?! Say it ain't so!

Yes, that's right, I had ANOTHER cultural experience worthy of mentioning here, and I'm ready to share it with you all. This time it's about food, specifically, "how the hell did i eat all this stuff without throwing up all over the table?" No, actually it was all delicious, but, tonight for dinner we went to the same restaurant we went to for my birthday (which makes me think I may have eaten this all before and just not known what it was) but I ate the following in this order:

1. Chicken heart
2. Chicken esophagus
3. Chicken cartilage
4. Ostrich
5. BEAR MEAT, RWARRRRR!
6. Frog
7. Horse. No, just kidding, my host family ate it but I refused, mostly for Pam's sake

I have to say, eating bear meet made me feel like a man. It wasn't that great though, for future reference, too chewy.

I don't know what else to say about that, it all kind of speaks for itself. I've often been surprised at what I can eat, though. Spinach, for example, has grown on me quite a bit. Never thought that would happen.

I should clarify this whole thing, too.

I have a host brother, of course, but I also have another, older host brother who does not live at home but in Hokaido, the northernmost island of Japan. He came here for the weekend (my first time meeting him) and so there's been festivities since saturday. He's really cool, he's an artist, and very interesting, and has treated me like a family member since the moment he arrived. His wife is here as well, and while I haven't talked to her as much, she seems every bit as out there and with it as he does. Quite a cool couple.

I guess this post is kind of short, but I don't feel that bad since I posted yesterday as well. Hope you're all doing well! Sorry to those I missed on skype this week, the weekend has been very busy.

Getting my hair cut.

So I've sort of been waiting for one of those cultural experiences that would really make a great story, and today it came. I got my hair cut.

Whenever I'm about to do something in Japanese that might actually require some explanation (such as how long to cut my hair, what style I want, etc.) I always worry a little bit. And then there's the problem that I never talk while getting my hair cut, I just think it's kind of weird. So I was worried I'd get a chatterbox for a barber and then have to think the whole way through.

We'll get to that in a little bit.

First thing when I walk in, two gorgeous women, perhaps the two most attractive women I've seen in this whole country, greet me with smiles and seem quite adamant that I understand just how attractive they are and that I should not go to any other hair salon because of this point alone. Well done, ladies, it worked. They asked me if I wanted a stylist, a pro stylist, or a super stylist. What? I went with stylist and was told I would have to wait a half an hour. I didn't have that much time so I asked who I could get now, and 2 minutes later I was sitting in the chair with my own super-stylist asking me what I needed done.

I said something to the effect of, "I want my hair shorter," knowing there was no way I was getting out of here without some trendy Japanese hair cut. I was brought to get my hair shampooed and was wrapped in like 8 layers of towels and a heated blanket. They even put a towel over my face, which added to the surprise when my not my super-stylist but a woman I couldn't see began talking to me. Thankfully, when the towel came off my eyes, she was, of course, beautiful. I was then brought back to my seat and told to wait.

A third person walked up and combed my hair a little bit and I wondered, "if my super-stylist is so super, couldn't he have done this himself?" but before I knew it I was getting a massage. A really good massage. Japan 1, America 0.

After 10 minutes of relaxation, my superstylist came back and started cutting. Only, instead of scissors, he used a razor blade. He did talk to me a little bit, but when he heard I was from America, he excitedly called over his super-model friend to talk to me, as she had just been to los angeles about a week ago. Yes.

When I was finished, it didn't look as horrible as I had feared. I definitely got a Japanese interpretation of the word "haircut" but it turned out all right. I thanked super-stylist and the attractive women at the door. Then I thanked them again. Then I stared at them for a few seconds and left.

I'm not sure how long I should wait to book another hair cut for next weekend.

Pictures!

I finally did it! Here are the first 118 pictures of my trip. I have about 70 more, but kodak is making me upload them 1 by 1 (and don't tell me I'm being an idiot and that I can upload 60 at a time, I know for a fact that this is either my computer or kodak's fault, not mine).

So when I regain my patience I will upload the rest, and from here on upload them in smaller batches to make my chore a little easier.

So here it is, the first album:
Japan!

So I have some bad news

I was completely wrong about being able to upload pictures. I still have to find the right cord, but I am continuing to take pictures, so at some point you'll all be treated to a bajillion of them. The last few weeks have been fairly routine, lots of "I hate it here" times and lots of "I love it here" times. It's pretty give and take, really.

Recent interesting things? Well my host father loves salsa, and he made some of his own today after I translated the ingredients from a tostitoes jar into Japanese for him, and he was thrilled. I tried to convey to him that one eats salsa with tortilla chips, but he insisted on Pringles. Why, I don't know. To eat them we didn't dip, instead we used chopsticks to pick up the salsa and put it on the chip and then eat it. It was very tasty though, so I put up with the unusual way of eating and scarfed down all he gave me.

It's finally getting a little cold around here. Oh wait, no it's still 70 outside. And I heard they had snow in Vermont last week (whhhaaaaattttt). The colors of the leaves are just barely starting to change. It's great weather but I do kind of wish winter would hurry up and get here.

Last night a few AKP friends and I stayed over at a Japanese friend's house, and she made Taco-yaki (little fried balls of dough and octopus) which is huge in Osaka and in the general area of where I live. Then this morning we went to the aquarium which was really cool, 2 huge sharks and some cool rays, as well as penguins, dolphins, etc. I mean, maybe that's not surprising since it was an aquarium, but I guess it's been a while since I've been to one.

I still haven't joined a club, but I never seem to have free time anyway, so I'm not worrying about it for a little bit, although I've been looking in to doing some pottery, especially since my host father is buddies with a really famous (apparently) potter in the area, so I'm going to do my best to get over there soon.

My landscape gardens class is still really insteresting, and by the end I'll have a ton of cool sketches to show, maybe I'll take pictures of them and post them on the internet.

I don't have a whole lot of interesting news at the moment, so for that I apologize, but I just wanted to let you all know I'm still alive. I'm sure something really cool and interesting will happen soon, and when it does I'll be sure to write about it.

Take care, everyone.

Post-Wedding Japan (with pictures coming soon)

Hello all, so it's been a week since I've gotten back to Japan after being home for Rob and Casey's wedding (congratulations, guys!) and it's certainly strange being kicked around between the two cultures. Before the wedding I couldn't wait to go back to America, and then as soon as the wedding was over I couldn't wait to come back here.

But I had definitely forgotten how much of an outsider I am here, which is something that still bothers me actively, but since there's really nothing I can do about it, I've started to get used to it a little. And, of course, those Japanese that actually know me don't treat me like an outsider at all, so it's a process.

And then there are days like yesterday, where I remember that Japan is easily the most excessively entertaining place I've ever been. For example, for 15 bucks you can play video games in what they call "4d." You are given a fake gun and enter into an area built to actually look like the locale of the video game. You're wearing 3-d glasses and the walls are screens projecting 3-d images of monsters that you shoot at. Essentially, it feels like being inside the video game. (I didn't play, but it was explained to me. 15 bucks is 15 bucks, after all).

More interestingly for everyone not as nerdy as I am, we took a school field trip this weekend to Hiroshima and visited the peace park and museum, and heard from a genbakusha (a survivor of the atomic bomb) who was gracious enough to tell us her story. We then went by way of ferry to a small island called Miyajima which is famous for a large torii gate in the middle of its bay (one of those red wooden classic-japanese-image things, I'll put up a picture in a bit) as well as the wild deer on the island, which are so tame you can walk right up to them and pet them. It was a beautiful place, totally old school, but of course very touristy.

Yesterday two friends and I went to Osaka with 3 Japanese friends where they were holding a matsuri (festival) and there were just tons of people there. I've realized since being here that Kyoto is really not very large at all, but Osaka is on par with New York or Chicago. Kyoto is more like a Cincinnati. We saw Asahara (a Japanese Olympic runner) race some little kids on a track, held a large iguana, and got dressed up in samurai gear for a few pictures. We ate some taco-yaki (fried octopus) in America town and then went and rode the giant ferris wheel which you can see all of Osaka from. A very cool day. Today is a national holiday (Sports day...) so I'm just hanging around home, eventually to do some homework.

And that's it for now. I finally have a way to connect my camera to my computer, so now I just have to remember my flickr account information and I'll have tons of pictures up soon.

Thanks for reading, see you all later.

Yeah, It's been a while

Well, I have had a very busy last week and a half or so, I'm sorry for not keeping you all informed!

So last Friday, (not three days ago, but the friday before that) my friends and I went out for our first karaoke experience. I stuck to what I knew and sang Guns N' Roses, as well as "ABC" by the Jackson 5 which I quickly realized I knew not a single lyric to. Well, other than "ABC, 123, etc." Karaoke was both not as embarrassing as I thought it would be, and way more embarrassing than I thought it would be. Perhaps I should have consumed a little more alcohol beforehand...

The next day we made our first trip to Osaka, which has a section called Denden town which may as well be called Video Game Land, or possibly, Greg's favorite place on earth. Really old video games which you could never find in America are pouring out of shop windows on to the street, and the area is famous for its negotiable prices, so if you find the same product at two stores, you can show the lower price to the higher-priced store, and that store will sell you the product for an even lower price. I didn't buy anything (somehow) but I'd be lying if I said I wasn't tempted to every 5 feet.

Sunday was a chill at home day (they usually are) and Monday was class, but Tuesday was a national holiday, and also happened to be my 21st birthday. So, Monday night we, the Midd Kids, plus a friend from summer school and some Midd kids from other programs went out to a pub (which an english speaking bartender, though we spoke in japanese anyway) and had a great time. Tuesday, of course, was more drinking, this time with my host family. They took me to the Suntory brewery which is very close to my house, very awesome, and very free. We took a tour of which I took a few pictures even though I was asked not to, and got free drinks at the end! Before that my family took me to a sushi lunch, which was both fantastic and incredibly cheap. A huge plate full of sushi plus soup, tea, and coffee flavored jello (never again) was 12 bucks, and would probably be around 30 in America. It was awesome. For dinner we went to basically the opposite kind of place, a real shack of a restaurant my family frequents a lot, where we sat at the bar and talked to the bartender the whole time. It was a yakitori place (grilled chicken) but of course they grilled every thing else too.

I talked my family out of ordering horse, and reluctantly ate a piece of raw chicken, which I told my host family would raise hell in America. It was delicious, however, and the bartender was a real character. I felt pretty proud of myself too, as I heard other guests in the restaurant commenting to each other about how surprised they were at my Japanese skills. I guess all this education has gotten me somewhere.

Wednesday and thursday were same old same old, and friday my garden class went to another awesome garden where we sat and drew pictures for a few hours. I have to say it is definitely my kind of class. Friday we went into kyoto and chilled by the river after hitting the arcade, and yesterday went back to Osaka, though I was only there for a short while. Today was another family sunday, with the exception of some studying with some buddies.

So now you're all caught up, mostly, although I'm definitely saving material for conversation at the wedding next week. I'll see you all there!

Week Two

Ok, so for everyone who I should have e-mailed/called/talked to personally by now, yeah, I'm sorry. For those of you who have skype, and would like to talk to me sometime, my skype name is gregselover I believe. Since I'm 13 hours ahead of the east coast, though, and don't really know your schedules, if you would like to talk to me on skype, or on the real phone, please send me an e-mail of sometime you might be free! The e-mail address I check most frequently is gselover@middlebury.edu but I also check greg.selover@gmail.com.

Anyway, Japan. Last night my host brother took me to a metal bar and we blared the new Metallica album over the sound system, it was absolutely awesome. Today is a holdiay (respect for the elders day) so my host brother and I spent all morning figuring out how to set up wireless (which we finally did and is how I'm posting this right now). Exactly when all my interesting stories happened is becoming a blur, but a few of them did occur to me that I thought I would share.

So, when my friends and I first got here and were looking for something to do, we decided to see if we could find an arcade. We thought we knew where we were going but headed off rather blindly into the city to find one. We ended up asking a little boy if he knew where a "place where you can play video games" was, only we used the word "television-game," which specifically implies video games that are played on your tv, as opposed to a computer or in an arcade. What it boils down to is we inaddvertantly asked this little kid if we could come to his house and play video games. After about 10 seconds of silence he said, "I have no idea what you're asking me" and left.

I've got more stories, of course, but I thought I would spread them out over the week. So look forward to more later.

Japanese class also finally starts tomorrow (last week was review week) and one of my electives is in Japanese, which I hadn't realized before. I think it's going to be a blast.

The First Real One!

So, I’ve been here since Monday (I’m writing this on Saturday, but I won’t be able to post it until Monday), so by the time you all read this it will have been a week in Japan for me.  All I can say is this is probably the hardest thing I’ve ever had to do in my life.  Let me start with some fun stuff and then I’ll get to the more interesting challenges.

 

As I’ve probably told you guys, I am one of 8 Midd kids here and all but one of them I know pretty well, so it’s really nice to have some friends I can talk to.  I still haven’t talked to anyone in the states in person, which hopefully I’ll fix soon.  I just signed up for a Skype account, which if you have a computer with a microphone or a webcam, we can talk online for free, so if you like, check that out at skype.com

 

Anyways, Japan is crazy.  I’ve eaten more than 20 things already (most of them fish) that I still have no idea what it was I ate (which may be to my benefit), drank a soda that tasted exactly like an apple, with an aftertaste of the apple skin.  I was impressed.  We stayed at the Kyoto Tower Hotel from Tuesday to Thursday, and last night I came home with my host family, who is extraordinarily nice, but speak no English whatsoever.  We all drank a bit last night and had a good long conversation to break the ice and there were surprisingly few moments of complete misunderstanding or inability to communicate.  Not to say that there weren’t any, but I can communicate much better than I thought I would be able to.

 

Reading stuff, however, is a whole different story.  It’s impossible and there’s nothing I can really do about it.

 

My family lives a bit out of the way, my commute is 45-60 minutes, and requires that I take a bus, which only comes ever half hour, so if I ever miss it, I’m half an hour late for school.

 

On Thursday two students from the Doshisha Daigaku (where I go to school) showed me how to commute to my house and back and helped me do a bunch of paperwork I couldn’t read, and they were really awesome.  However, when we got to my house and rang the doorbell to say hello to my host family, my host mom stepped out the door and immediately into a huge pile of dog crap, courtesy of my “host dog” Yanchan.  Needless to say, it was a pretty embarrassing moment but we all just laughed and me and my guides were on our way.  They took me to two awesome meals, and then to a huge arcade, 7 floors of video games.  I honestly wasn’t sure what to do with myself at that point.  They don’t start school for another month, so I’m not sure when I’ll see them again, but I’m hoping they’ll be my first “Japanese friends,” I think we hit it off pretty well.

 

I also am thinking of teaching English as a small part time job.  All I have to do is stick around school for a few hours once a week and speak English with Japanese students, I don’t even have to instruct, just have conversations, and I think that too will be a good way to meet people.

 

Today the AKP students all went to a huge shrine together and received a blessing from the gods for a good school year and then my family took me to an amazing sushi lunch, and now I’m here.

 

It’s all very overwhelming and I’ve had some intense moments of home sickness, and have also reconsidered my position on Japanese food a little bit (It’s all delicious, but my stomach is just not used to it).  It’s definitely been tough, and I stick out like a sore thumb (I get STARED at, like, really really stared at.) But, luckily people seem rather delighted when I speak to them in Japanese, and most people are enthusiastic about speaking with me, although just about every one I do speak to ends up asking me questions about their English.  I guess we all have to learn from each other.

 

I miss you all who are reading this, and it’s been a bit tough.  When I’m with my friends, it’s great, but of course a host family is a sort of strange situation, sometimes we’re very talkative and sometimes I just can’t think of anything to say at all.  But of course I’ll manage, and it’s only week one, and on a normal weekend I would probably be hanging out with my friends, but this weekend is obviously a hang out with the host family time.  I swear I’m not neglecting them right now as I write this, we hung out from about 8 in the morning until 2 today, and I’m currently “napping,” but I should probably go back down stairs soon and try to strike up a conversation.

 

By the way, Dad, my host father LOVES golf.

 

Hope you’re all well, good luck with the school year or whatever it is you’re up to!  Thanks for reading, too.  If you all get skype I can talk to you in person some time.

 

Jya, mata.

I'm here!

But don't have any time to write. Just know that I successfully made it, everyone. I bought a beer (actually 2) last night! And the first english sentence I saw in Japan was spelled wrong, which made me chuckle. This place is nuts, by the way.

I also haven't figured out how to call the states yet, so none of you will be hearing from me verbally for a while, but when I do figure it out I'll call.

Testing

Future home of Greg's blog about his adventures in Japan.