Tidbits.

Hello!
Sorry I haven't written in a while.  I haven't really felt like writing... sometimes keeping a blog makes it feel like a vacation, when it should just be life.  So when it just feels like life, I don't want to write.
Life has been good!  School is pretty boring, but I'm making friends, which is fun.  There are windows in my classroom!!!  Such a new idea, after dwelling in the caves of Conval for three years.  School is just starting at home and I am SO GLAD that I am no longer stuck there.  Yay.
It's starting to cool down slightly.  It's still really hot, but I could see all of the mountains for the first time yesterday!  I really am excited for autumn.
I went to my first Rotary orientation.  There are only 2 other exchange students in my district!  Only one was there though.  I'll meet the other next month.
Swimming class at school is so bad it's funny... They have all been taking swimming classes in school since the beginning of time, and I never learned how to do all the fancy strokes.  I don't even know the names.  It should have been embarrassing, but once again, my tendency to not be super emotional helped me out and I was fine.
I've been playing guitar.  Please don't tell my banjo... I feel guilty enough already.  I don't like it nearly as much as the banjo, but I like it more than not playing music, and I am making progress!  I have new calluses on the fingertips of my left hand.
I've gotten 3 letters so far!  They really brighten my day [hint hint...]  Getting an actual letter is completely different from getting an email or some internet type note.  It's so much more personal.  I feel like I am looking over the person's shoulder as they're writing it.
I feel like I should be writing about living in a temple.. there is so much to tell! But it is also hard to describe it well enough.  I don't know how to relay the experience fully.  I think I'll just have to do it a little at a time.  Often, at 6:30 pm, I'll go out with my mom to the bell nest to the temple.  There is a large stone base, with steep stairs leading up to a platform.  The platform has a large decorated roof, held up by pillars.  Hanging from this roof is the bell.  The bell is gigantic.  It is maybe a meter across, and its sides are maybe and inch and a half thick.  Hanging next to it is a heavy hexagonal log.  It always makes me a little worried... it is held up by a rusty old chain and some wire.  I feel like it's going to crash down at any moment.  There is a rope hanging from this log, and I pull it back and then let go to ring the bell.  The bell makes a wonderful noise.  It is deep, and it seems that the vibrations set other objects around it vibrating too.  After 11 strikes on the bell, the whole atmosphere is vibrating.  It's like swimming in sound.
Interesting food stories:  shrimp cookies, barbecued wild boar, green tea ice cream [in the box labeled "Classic."  The other flavors in this box were vanilla and rum raisin.] and eggplants... they show up often and are only 4 inches long.

Little random thoughts

I've had three days of school.  It is fine, the people are nice and all say "Kawaii!!!!" whenever I walk by.  I don't understand anything, so I just sit there and do nothing during class most of the time.  Hopefully I'll be able to catch on eventually.  I'm with first year high schoolers, so everything they're learning in math and history and classes other than Japanese and Japanese Classics I have learned before.  I kind of don't love the idea of being in high school, because I was trying to get out of that, but at this point it's more something to fill my time and a way to make friends than a stressful depressing routine, so it's okay.

Language:  I can't talk.  I kind of feel like I'm a cube of ice, and all of the words and things I learn in Japanese are heating me up, but I won't start to melt until I hit a certain temperature -- once I understand some magical amount of Japanese I'll suddenly be able to communicate a lot, but until then I am just soaking it in without really making a lot of visible progress.   A logistic curve.  This is my theory.

Kind of homesick today.  Played piano, and playing Imagine was sad.  Then I discovered that I left my most loved grey tattered sweater at home.  Really sad... that sweater makes me feel so cozy.  It's my equivalent of a baby blanket.

Went to my first Rotary meeting on Monday and made a speech.  I was really nervous about it, but everyone said that it was good Japanese, so I think it went well!  I'm going to an orientation thing on Saturday and meeting the other 2 exchange students in the prefecture.

Analyses

Got notebooks for school this morning.  Even something as simple as that can be quite confusing in another country...
The Problems:
1.  I don't know how many I need.
2.  Do I need one for every class?  [which presents sub-problems. listed below.]
3.  Will I be taking notes in class?  [underlying issue:  what is the purpose of the notebooks?]
4.  Will I be doing homework in these books?
5.  Will I be doing homework at all?
6.  I don't know what size is normal for school.
7.  I don't know what thickness to get.  [underlying issue:  i dont know how much work i'll be expected to do, and i don't know how much japanese students use notebooks.]
Anyway, I ended up getting 3 thin little notebooks.  My host-mom picked them out-- she said they were the same as what her kids used.

I went out to the country today!  It was beautiful.
My theory about beautiful surroundings in Japan:
The nature is beautiful...mountains, rice fields, flowers, valleys, etc.
The town is not... lots of fading signs, grey buildings without any decoration.
The houses are nice-looking...those roofs that look like/ are made of bamboo, etc.
Inside traditional houses is really beautiful...sliding paper doors with paintings on them, tatami floors, art, statues, etc.
My host-mom, host-grandma and I went to an old woman's house for lunch. [I think she was my grandma's sister...she had a little area set up in honor of my grandma's dead brother... or perhaps she is my grandma's sister-in-law?]  The house as way off in the country.  The roads were clearly not made with cars in mind.  Driveways are at very acute angles to the road, and the road is very narrow.  The house had flowers all around it and gardening equipment and out back there were potatoes and pumpkins in the shade under a piece of canvas.  [We had a pumpkin at dinner].  Inside, it was cluttered and smelled like cats but the windows were open and the curtains were fluttering and there were little fascinating things tucked everywhere.  And a HUGE cat.  There were also framed pictures of various cats. We had bitter tea and sushi [i cut raw squid with chopsticks] and little grapes [but the peels are not eaten here].

lunch

Later, I walked around by myself for the first time.  I went to the little park my host-mom showed me earlier and explored and read and walked barefoot for the first time in a long time.  It was very pretty and nice.  I've always wanted to be the kind of person that reads in parks alone.  There is also a playground there.  I very much want to use the swings...but I think I'll wait till there aren't lots of little Japanese toddlers and their parents around.

in the park

I kept track of how much tea I drank today.
Today I drank less tea than usual, because I was at the park during afternoon tea time, it was really hot, and I was not at home for lunch.  But, even so, I had 11 cups of tea.

Miso soup.  At the beginning, it was scary.  Drinking chunks of tofu and seaweed and little mushrooms intimidated me.  Now, it is comforting.

My house.

The Mystery Beast o.O

Tonight, after showering and taking a bath, I went into the living room as usual.  My host mom was in her pajamas, sitting on the floor pillows. [They're called zabuton and there aren't couches here...just zabuton.]  She looked up from watching TV and just said "Uparupa." very solemnly.  It was the funniest moment.  Uparupa is a silly word already, and it is the only thing she said, just "uparupa," so it made me giggle.  I looked it up in the dictionary, but it wasn't there.  She tried to describe it to me, but all we could establish was that it was a type of pet, and that the TV show was about an animal hospital.   Finally, I looked it up on my computer.

uparupa [ウーパールーパ]

Some culture, Some musings.

So many things to write about!  This will be very disorganized, and I'll probably forget half of the things I had in mind.

Rhubarb yogurt.  They have it here, but I had to explain what rhubarb is.  All I could come up with was "big red celery."  It's yummy.

Yasutaka has gone to the USA.  While my family was in Tokyo for 2 nights doing airport things, I stayed with Masaki Ito and his wife Mercedes.  The first afternoon I was there, one of Mercedes' spanish students was over. He just got back from 2 years in Chile. [Background info:  Mercedes is from Spain.  She speaks Spanish, English, and Japanese.  She teaches Spanish at a training place here for people who go and volunteer around the world.]  My brain was SO utterly twisted around itself.  Mixing Spanish, English, and Japanese was a workout.  It was fun, and I was able to communicate much more than usual, but it was definitely mind-boggling.  Anyway, staying at the Ito house was very nice.  They are both very kind.

Yesterday my oldest sister's friend Maiko took me around Komagane.  Went to Kozenji -- a 1,150 year old temple.  Gosh I don't even now how to begin.  I think I can't.  General reaction:  wanted to become Buddhist immediately.  Incense was blowing through the trees, stone statues were hidden throughout the forest.  The moss between the rocks glows [literally].  Moss is everywhere.  Everywhere.  The stone fences have kanji etched into them.  I bought a pack of incense and threw it into the massive urn in front of the temple.

Then she took me to see the river.  From a little bridge, we could see the mountains and the town below.  The water is perfectly clear.

Had cabbage/sticky potato/octopus fried pancake type things for dinner.

This evening, I discovered that the temple I live in is much much much bigger than I realized!  After tea, my host-parents showed me around more.  My host-dad showed me all of the bells and wooden fish drums and instruments.  Very old, very Buddhist.  [instruments and ceremony things, not otousan! although he is very Buddhist.]  I guess this is another time when I'll just need to take pictures.  There are endless hallways with big windows and sliding doors opening into tatami-mat floored rooms, with statues and shodou on the walls and incense in the air.  [it's a good thing i like the smell of incense!]  Outside, there is a little stream and rocks and Japanese small trees and a 13 year old yellow lab, Momo.

Reading The Wild Sheep Chase.


I am not homesick, and I am not having intense culture shock.  This is just where I live now.  There are things I need to figure out, like how to speak Japanese etc, but that will all come.  It is very simple...  this is my home for this year.  So I feel at home and I am happy and comfortable.

Proud Bragging Moment:
It was dark.  I had to brush my teeth.  There were 2 buttons on the mirror.  I saw that one of them had the kanji for "moon" and "sun."  I pushed that button.  The light turned on.
Moral of the Story:  I can figure this stuff out!  [and I know some already:) and can use it to learn more.]  [it's a chain reaction, man.]

a Parasol, a Nautilus, a Glob of Red Ink

I successfully asked my host-mother to go for a walk with me to explore!  It was short, because it is hot today, but she showed me the culture center, where my host-father teaches shodou　「しょどう」, and a park.  The park is beautiful and I'm going back as soon as I can.  I'm not even going to try to explain.  I will later, once I've been there again and taken pictures :)  I think I'll go there often!  It was nice to spend time with my おかあさん (okaasan: host-mom) and to see some more of Komagane.  

I am reading The Fellowship of the Rings.  

TV [テレビ]:  A lot of it is seeing famous people react to different things.  There will be a group of people sitting on a stage, and someone will introduce something, like technology or a game etc, and they will all go "eeeeeeeeeeeiii!" and someone will say something amusing, and they all laugh.  Tonight, they were playing with sea creatures. 

It was sunny for the first time today!  I still couldn't see the mountains all the way because of the humidity.  Maybe this will give y'all an image of how big the mountains are [they're blocked by humidity on a clear day!] and how muggy it is [the moistness of the air blocks mountains!]  After writing this, I think maybe it doesn't make sense, but I'm trusting you to put it together...

My older host brother, Eishin, showed me his kyudo bow and equipment after dinner.  [Kyudo　きゅどう is Japanese archery].  I don't really know what to say about it, but I was impressed and wanted to make a note of it.

After seeing the kyudo things, my host-father showed me shodou [calligraphy].  There is a stick of ink, and a stone ink-basin, and he put water in the trough in the basin and rubbed the ink stick on the flat part of the basin for a loooong time.  Then he used a large brush to draw kanji [Chinese characters] on big pieces of thin paper.  Afterward, he signed them with his stamp [いん].  The whole thing is so beautiful.  If I can, I'll take and put up a picture, because I really can't even describe it.  [I find myself writing that a lot...Lesson: Take my camera with me!]

Yesterday, I wore my yukata [summer kimono] and geita [those wooden sandals] to the Obon Festival.  There were lanterns and fireworks and sparklers and cotton candy and people dancing a Japanese dance.  Very Japanese.  Perhaps the epitome of Japanese. 


Tomorrow my family is going to Tokyo.  My other host-brother, Yasutaka, is leaving for his year in Pennsylvania on the 18th, and they are staying over in a hotel the night before, I guess so that they aren't rushed on the departure day.  Eishin lives there and is going home.  I will be staying with Masaki Ito, my Rotary counselor, and his wife, who is from Spain and speaks English.  After that, I will be an only child.  


Exactly one week till school starts.  [ :D + :O ]

Words.

1. Difficult - Muzukashi

2. Okay/ Good - Daijobu

3. I don't understand/know - Wakarimasen

4. Yes - Hai

5. Sorry/excuse me - Sumimasen

6. Delicious - Oishii

Probably 98% of what I say.

The Beginning!

Hello everyone!  Sorry, but this is going to be short because I can't think.  I feel like all of my brain is used up trying to soak in Japanese.  It is soooo hard, but I am learning a lot!
Everything was fine in the airport, got to Tokyo fine.  Masaki Ito and his son picked me up, and we drove an hour to Tokyo, had a tea break at a restaurant there, then drove 2 hours to Komagane.
It's been raining all the time-- there is a typhoon farther south.
My family is great!  All of my brothers and sisters are here for Obon.  They are leaving soon though.  I have 2 sisters and 2 brothers.  Also an aunt and cousin are here.
My home is near the middle of Komagane [I think].  It is attached to a temple [almost 1000 years old!].  There was some sort of event with lots of people the first day I was here.
My brain has run out.  There are definitely wayyyyy more things I should be writing about, but I just don't have the energy.  I am much worse at Japanese than I thought I was before I left.
I'll put up pictures soon.  I have to take them first....
Bye!