Myles' Self Reflection

As our study comes to a close, it’s time to give a round-up of the trip as a whole. There's so much to talk about, I've been keeping family and friends updated on Facebook every day but if I put that all here there'd be way too much. So, instead, I'll focus on some of the things I thought were the most important, and put some of my innermost thoughts down instead of just a recounting of events.

Classes

I guess I'll start with the main reason for our trip, the actual classes. I was incredibly stressed going into the placement test. I really wanted to do well but felt completely unprepared. I discovered my feelings were indeed warranted, as I ended up in the lowest level class among our group. I ended up being really frustrated with myself the first day of class because of it. However, as time went on, I realized it didn't really matter what class I was placed in. I was able to reinforce some of the more basic concepts I struggled with and actually ended up learning a lot. Most importantly, I think I was able to improve my listening and speaking skills quite a bit. I'm still not quite at the level where I can have a fluid conversation on the fly, but being forced to listen to the teachers speak only in Japanese and doing dictation practice every day was very helpful.

I think the only real complaint I have was how tight the schedule was. Most days it felt like going out to experience Japan after classes meant staying up till 2 am to do homework. Heck, even nights when I didn't go out usually ended in me staying up till 1 or 2 am doing homework. Basically, it felt like doing a semester's worth of Japanese classes in a single month and it ended up being pretty overwhelming at times, resulting in many days spent exhausted from lack of sleep.

However, even the tough schedule was a good experience in its own way. All 20 of us were stuck in the same boat, so I think the late night study sessions brought us closer together as a group. Back in Canada, I usually study alone and, for me, it can feel really difficult at times to keep studying when I don't have a goal to share with other people. Here, even if it was just in the back of my mind, I felt like I was having fun studying with everyone even when I was dying from exhaustion. The tight schedule definitely also helped me fix my procrastination problem. There was no time to procrastinate here without suffering health wise, so I usually kept my nose to the grindstone till things got done. Hopefully I can keep that habit when I get back to Canada!

At Meijijingu for our first class trip.

Adventuring in Japan

Living in Tokyo, there was never a time when there was nothing to do. It's definitely called "The City That Never Sleeps" for a reason. There is something here for everyone and there's always people taking advantage of that fact. Heck, the city seems to come even more alive in the late at night as the neon turns on and the street signs begin to flash. In a city like this, we had tons of group outings planned for us, so much so that at times I wish we didn't so I could get a moment to breath. When we didn't have group outings, with Tokyo at our fingertips, there was still plenty for us to do. I won't talk in detail about every trip I've done, instead I'll talk about the impressions of Japan that those trips gave me and what they've helped kw to learn about Japanese culture.

One of the things that most stuck out for me was how much more value cities in Japan place on having places for people to enjoy nature. There's beautiful parks and forests all over Tokyo and the surrounding areas, the likes of which you could never find in Calgary, with giant, beautiful trees. I was absolutely awestruck to find a place like Meijijingu in the middle of a giant city.The cities here are also ridiculously clean. Recycling is a way bigger thing here and you'll rarely find a garbage can in the streets. I think these things help to promote a culture where people produce less waste and keep whatever garbage they do have with them till they can find the appropriate bins for them. One of the last big things I noticed about Japan is how traditional culture is still so important in one of the most quickly modernizing places in the world. Temples and shrines from decades ago are still well maintained and well used by locals and tourists alike. Go to Akihabara, the electronics capital of Tokyo, and you'll find a shrine not five minutes away from a multistory anime store.

Shibuya coming alive at night.

Japanese Food

I already talked a lot about food in my last blog post, so I guess I'll just do a quick summary here. Japanese food is amazing, delicious, cheap, abundant, and amazing. Yes I said it twice, and I'll say it again, it's amazing. The food here is one of the things I'll miss the most by far when I go back to Canada. I guess I'll have to learn to make it myself so I don't end up missing it too much.

Meeting New People.

The last thing I'll talk about is my social experience in Japan. When it comes to meeting new people, I am as self contradictory as it gets. I love meeting new people and hanging out with everyone, but I often struggle with getting past the introduction phase because of nerves and it takes me while to get used to being around new people. Combine that with the fact that I couldn't, and still can't really, hold a conversation well in Japanese and you have a the perfect recipe for difficulty making new friends.

It really helped that everyone was so friendly though. Every Japanese person I met wanted to do things together or make conversation, and most everyone was very patient with my Japanese skills. In the end, I made a lot of friendships and connections I'll treasure for a long time. I feel like I grew especially close with my fellow University of Calgary students. I was really nervous meeting such a big group of people all at once, but now I'm extremely sad I won't be able to see their faces every day. We became so close over such a short period of time, I'll definitely be keeping in touch with everyone when we get back to Canada.

Few bonds are greater than those created by Mudkips.

Closing Remarks

I think that just about sums up most of my thoughts on Japan. This trip had its up and downs but, it was an experience I'll never forget and that I'll treasure for the rest of my life. I've had so much fun and learned so much, about Japanese and about life in general. There's a part of me that never wants to leave here, and I eagerly await the day I can return. Until next time, Japan!

My Time in Tokyo - Taylor

[Kamakura's Bamboo Forest]

The last month in Tokyo has been amazing. I have honestly walked more in Tokyo than I have my entire life. I am so grateful that I was able to have this opportunity, to be able to actually come to Japan and experience a once in a lifetime sort of trip. I don't regret a single day. 

[Kamakura with my conversation partners]

Dorm life is certainly interesting but my only complaint would be about how hard the bed was. Eddie the darling was my roommate as there weren't enough Japanese students for all of us. I found out that I would do pretty well at living on my own. I feel much more sure of my abilities and feel much more mature after this trip and that is a certainty. Even cleaning was sort of fun because we could all talk and gossip about whatever we wanted. 

My conversation partners were amazing and I am so glad I had a chance to get to know them, and to practise my Japanese. We had so much fun on the Kamakura tour! We went to a beautiful Bamboo forest and to see the Daibutsu. It was so much fun wandering around with them.

[calligraphy and aquarium]

By far my favourite activity on this trip was Shodo. Learning from a master was not an experience I am likely to ever forget. It was super fun, even though my wind was forever trapped in a box.

The Sumida aquarium at the Skytree was AMAZING!!! The Jellyfish hall was spectacular and honestly I could have spent hours sitting there jellyfish watching. 

My wallet hurt so much while on this trip, I went to Ikebukuro twice, Akihabara twice, Kamakura, Asakusa, Mejijingu, Yokohama, like we went all around Kanagawa, and I ended up going to both the Ikebukuro and Yokohama Pokemon Centers. So yeah I'm a cute broke university stereo type now. I even found a few kimono shops and a few crystal shops and all the manga shops I could ever go crazy about. Best shopping experience of my life.

[Pokemon Center and cute kimono shop]

I went to so many awesome places and have seen and done so many amazing things that there is simply too much to talk about and it's blocking me from writing anything even remotely meaningful. But I can say that I hope to return to Japan someday to experience more from the many different places here. 

[Sailor Moon exhibit in Roppongi Hills]

Moreover I can actually feel my Japanese improving. It's become so much easier to recall words and grammars and I wish I could stay longer but oh well this has been the best. 

The host family visit was to improve our Japanese skills and to see into the everyday life of Japanese people and what I found was that we don't do too many things differently. We both here in Japan and in Canada remove our shoes when entering the home and do many similar things. It was quite nice to sit back, relax and get to know someone. 

[me and my host mother]

LITERALLY EVERYTHING IN JAPAN IS SMALL AND/OR CUTE!!! WHY?!! (I blame Naoki)

[my excited but overwhelmed face as I went to buy Pokemons]

To be honest reverse culture shock is gonna be my home for the next week or two, I never got any culture shock being here in Japan which in itself is a mystery.

To be quite honest it's going to feel so weird going back to Calgary. Calgary is not nearly as nice as Japan. Goodbye Japan I'll be back eventually! 

[melon pan my new addiction]

[cute puppy in Shimo-Kitazawa]

p.s. Karaoke is literally the best!

[me and the cuties doing some karaoke]

Gaby's Self Reflection

This was the first time I traveled without my family and therefore I was a little scared and nervous about going so far away from home. It turns out this was one of the best decisions I have made in my life. I have learned so much from this experience! 

 Life in Japan:

The train system in Japan is quite overwhelming, especially after getting used to the simple, 2 line, train system in Calgary. Even though it seems extremely complicated it is really easy to understand if you pay attention to the signs, they will tell you where to go! And even if you can’t figure your way on your own, asking anyone at the station will be of great help J people are so nice and willing to help, that they will do their best to guide you even if you can’t speak Japanese. Which brings me to the first train ride I took on my own: I was coming back to the dorm from my host family’s house, I jumped on the train headed to Shinjuku but didn’t pay attention as to whether that train would be stopping at my station. After practicing maybe 10 times in my head how to ask in Japanese if I was on the right train, I gathered all my courage and asked the lady beside me if this train will stop at the Mukugaoka-yuen Station. She replied (in Japanese) that the train will not stop at my station and that I should transfer to another train at the next station, she then complimented my Japanese skills (I’m pretty sure she was just being nice but it felt really good anyways :D). Long story short, I was able to get back to the dorm safely! Thank goodness the last class we had before we went to our host family’s house was about asking for directions at the train station!!　 たすかった！

Food:

OMG food! The food in Japan is amazing!! I’m usually a very picky eater and so, I was really worried about coming to a foreign place and eating weird food. But I did my best and tried everything that was put on a plate. Some highlights about this experience:

-Nattō: fermented soy beans with rice. Tastes funny but it’s not bad. My host-father was really surprised that I was able to eat it (apparently not many Japanese people like nattō).

-Sushi, noodles: Simply delicious! First time I tried sushi with raw fish. Tonkotsu ramen is my favourite of all noodles! Best thing I have ever eaten!

-Ginger: WHY?! Why is this even a thing? Haha I tried ginger for the first time at the Kaiten Sushi place. Suke-san said ginger is used to remove poison from the body…I said it tasted like poison… This is all I’m gonna say about the topic…

Life at the I-house (Dorm):

I’m not gonna lie… Life at the dorm can be somewhat stressful. Being used to relying on my parents for every little thing, I found myself not knowing how to shop for groceries, make food or even use the washing machine, plus everything is written in Japanese which adds an extra challenge to the whole thing. I have burned bread, forgotten to put oil on the pan before preparing eggs, tried to prepare noodles in a plate, etc… Thus, I have been living of cup noodles and convenience store food for the past month.

But life at the dorm can be pretty awesome too! I love coming back home after 4 (very long) hours of class and being received by a bunch of people, it makes any bad day become a good one. I have always considered myself an introverted and therefore the first time I saw that many people together waiting to meet me and talk to me I was a little scared and overwhelmed ( especially because I didn’t trust my ability to express myself in Japanese), but the stress and pressure faded away every time I met someone new! And now coming in through the dorm’s door is one of the highlights of my day.

New Friends:

Before I came to Japan, I was under the impression that Japanese people were really quiet and shy, which made me think that my entire stay in Japan was going to be filled with awkward silences. I was so glad to discover I was wrong! They are all so friendly and eager to be friends with you; it really took the weight out of my shoulders to be the first one to start the conversation. I felt right at home from day one.

I have made so many good friends throughout this experience! Not only I grew closer to the other 19 U of C students that joined the program, but I also was able to meet many students from Senshu University and other international students. Yeah, sometimes the language barrier gets in the way of understanding what the other is trying to say, but somehow it ends up working out.

I was able to meet even more people during the Kamakura and Yokohama tours! I was surprised to find out that many of my guides were studying Spanish at University! It felt so good to know that there are people in Japan interested in my first language, and that they could learn something from me as I was learning from them.

I really hope I can keep in touch with every single person I met during this program!

   

This was the best experience of my life and honestly, I don’t want to leave yet. I still have a couple of weeks in Japan and I plan to enjoy them to the fullest!

I’m sure this won’t be the last time I’ll visit Japan!

Sarah - Final Post and Self-Reflection

Here's the funny thing about Japan: just like anything else, you get used to it.  All the talk we had of culture shock in the weeks leading up to our departure from Canada, didn't really seem to take hold.  I think the only real shock was getting used tot the trains, but even then, that was a quick adjustment since trains are the main form of transportation to anywhere.

Having been here for four weeks already (already!) and that I'm going to be here an extra week after, I still feel like I'm going to be missing out on some parts of Tokyo.  The city is just so huge, and there's so much to see and so much to do, and so much walking to get where you're going (I think I've actually lost a bit of weight from all of it, to be honest) and I feel like I could be here for months and still not see everything there is.

Everyone in the group has been great, but it's also an entirely different experience going off with maybe one other person or even just by yourself to see what the city has to offer.  Taking the train by yourself late at night and being crammed together like sardines because you wanted to see a part of the nightlife in sacrifice for the showers closing before you get back to the dorm; walking into a restaurant and ordering food from the ticket vending machines where there's no English in sight; standing in the midst of a station like the Shinjuku terminal and watch everyone go around you and go about their day - it's in the little things that make the depth of your memories better.  Even with the excitement of being in Tokyo, you get used to seeing shrines and vending machines everywhere, or of getting in the habit of looking right and then left when crossing the street.

There's so many things I could say abou Tokyo, or Japan, but they're all overused and I guess have become kind of cliche.  Like, "you'll never be able to prepare for the enormity of the city until you're really here", or "the trains are something you get used to, but it's hard to wrap your head around them the first few times you ride them", or "this has been a unique lifetime experience, and I'm so glad I
was able to come."  Yes to all of those, but still. I know I'm luckier than most, to have been able to come on this trip.  This has been great, having this kind of environment to learn and explore in.
There's been so much to do and so much to see, but in the end I'm just hoping I'll still be able to remember all of the things I did and the stuff I've eaten and the places I've been to and seen with the
same sort of feeling I had when I was there.  There's a word in Japanese, that doesn't quite have an
equivalent in English: monoaware. It roughly means "the pathos of things" and is the awareness of the impermanence of all things and the gentle sadness and wistfulness at their passing.  That's what I feel like right now, I suppose. I know what it is that I have right now is a passing, fleeting moment that I know I have to savour.  And in the end, memories will blur and moments will be forgotten but I am glad that I've been able to come here.

I know I've been kind of wandering a bit, and I don't reall know what to say now. There's one more day to edit and add to the post, so maybe I'll write something more there. I'll make a note of any edits below, I guess. But for now, here's to hoping I can make it back to Japan in the future.

ALL THE FOOD - Myles & Sarah

Japan is so well known for what was and is staple foods: sushi, udon, ramen. But there is also many different kinds of fusion and foreign influences in cooking styles and food variety.  Our focus this week was on the more traditional foods, as well as the numerous bakeries with foreign influence; notably French.

Some of the traditional foods that we've encountered during out time here have been the various types of noodle bowls.  Ramen joints are popular and abundant, and tiny fast-food style restaurants dot the streets offering quick bowls of noodles to salarymen and passersby.  Udon and soba are the common choices in these style restaurants, whereas ramen is generally served with variations in broth and toppings.

Myles's Thoughts

One of the best parts of being in Japan so far has been enjoying the local food. It’s cheap, it’s delicious, and it’s everywhere. One of my favourite Japanese foods so far has been chicken karaage. Chicken karaage is essentially small pieces of fried chicken, but it’s definitely not like your standard western fried chicken. My best guess is that it has something to do with the cut of meat, seasoning, and breading they use. It’s just so flavourful and the breading, when done well, is just amazing. I’ve had the opportunity to have it on may occasions so far, at a buffet, at our welcome party, on rice from the school cafeteria, and even in curry. Every time it seems to get more and more delicious.

Speaking of food on rice, another very popular dish here is donburi. Donburi is very broadly defined; it could essentially be considered any sort of food placed on top of rice in a bowl. It does, however, illustrate the importance of rice in Japan. Rice is usually considered to be the main part of the dish, with meat, vegetables, and anything else serving as an accompaniment or side dish to the rice. This runs contrary to Western ways of thinking, where the starch is usually considered the side to some sort of meat dish. Thus far, I’ve been able to try karaage don and ten don. No, ten don is not the nasty part of an animal no one wants to eat. The ten comes from the天 in 天ぷら (Romanised as tenpura). Both were delicious, and it was actually really nice to have a lot of plain, hearty rice to cut the richness of the fried foods on top.

(Karaage don)

Now we jump back to curry. Amazing, delicious Japanese curry. Japan has taken this dish, which finds its origins in India, and made it their own in a big way. It’s a staple of every household and every cafeteria in Japan, it’s just that good. Japanese curry is usually lighter on seasonings and spiciness than Indian curry, often includes some kind of pickled vegetable, and is usually served with rice and some other component to round out the dish. Let me tell you, everything tastes better with curry. Rice, vegetables, meat, fried things, everything. If I could eat curry every day for every meal for the rest of my life I just might. I’ve had curry on several occasions so far. In fact, the first breakfast I had here was hamburger steak breakfast curry from the school cafeteria. Since then, I’ve had chicken curry, katsu curry, croquette curry, curry, curry, and more curry. I actually had the best curry thus far just yesterday. It was at a little hole in the wall joint where everyone just sat around the bar-type-thing and told the single obaa-san running the restaurant from the center what they wanted. I got the mix curry, which came with karaage, meatballs, and a hard boiled egg. It was one of the best meals I’ve had yet by far. It was creamy, just the right amount of spicy, and the meat accompaniments went very well with the sauce. The place also had amazing service. The cook even brought me tissues when she noticed I was sniffling from the heat of the curry. If I could remember the name of the place, I would definitely recommend it.

(Mix curry)

Lastly, I’ll talk about one of the dishes that Japan is most famous for, sushi. I didn’t actually have sushi for quite sometime after I got to Japan. Then I had a lot of it, all at once. I usually feel sick at just the thought of sushi if I eat it too often, but that hasn’t been the case here. I guess that’s a testament to just how good Japanese sushi is. I think I went to kaitenzushi three times just last week. Kaitenzushi is a type of sushi restaurant where you order sushi on an electronic menu and it’s brought to you on a conveyor belt. The variety of sushi there was awesome. Salmon, unagi (barbequed eel), ebi (shrimp), the list goes on. Unagi is still my favourite by far. It’s light, tender, moist and delicious. One of my new top picks though is maguro (bluefin tuna) sushi. It has such a rich, meaty taste, about as close as you can get to having steak in the fish world. Then there’s all the crazy sushi I’ve had at kaitenzushi. I went once with my host family, at which time the dad just kept telling me to try a piece and take the challenge, and I just kept saying yes. This resulted in me trying uni, kanimiso, and shirako sushi. Uni is also known as sea urchin. I’ve heard it’s supposed to have a rich, buttery taste but that was not the experience I had. It tasted very alkaline and unpleasant, though maybe that was from the leaf in between the sushi and the rice? Kanimiso is basically crab guts. It wasn’t actually that bad, fairly creamy but that taste wasn’t super great and I probably wouldn’t try it again. The last and the weirdest was shirako. I had no idea what it was until I Googled it immediately after eating it. I don’t know if I’ve ever been so surprised after eating something and everyone at the table got a good laugh out of it. Shirako is translated to English as “soft roe”. This translation is completely misleading. For the uninformed, shirako is the organ used by male fish to spray their sperm in species who reproduce by dispersing their gametes in the water. The ponzu jelly it was served with was sour, alkaline, and completely disgusting. I couldn’t even taste the shirako itself. I could, however, feel it. I don’t even know how to describe the texture, but it wasn’t pleasant. I’m told that high quality shirako has a very creamy taste and texture, but I won’t be trying it any time soon. Anyways, I could yammer on and on about Japanese food, it’s one of the things I’m going to desperately miss when I’m gone. But, for now, I’ll end it here. Moral of the story, eat Japanese food, and never stop eating it.

(Kaitenzushi)

Sarah's Thoughts

Despite being a very technologically advanced country, Japan still retains a lot of its older traditional foods, which can be found in their breakfast foods, or in the amount of attention and devotion that goes into their food preparation and cooking.  100-yen breakfasts are very cheap, very filling, and often accompanied by miso soup - an old standby for breakfast foods.  The foods range from curry, to broiled fish in a mirin-miso sauce, to sandwiches.

Breakfast aside, there are a million different places to eat lunch or supper at.  Quick-serving noodle joints, ramen restaurants, curry shops, as well as other country-featured foods like Indian or Italian can be found all nestled along the same street.  The noodles are cooked just right, drowning in a bowl of delicious broth: tonkatsu (pork-bone broth) is a staple, as is shio (salt) and shoyu (soy sauce) based broths.  Chasiu (pork meat), nori (seaweed) and some green vegetable garnish the noodles, and some places often offer other toppings, such as bamboo shoot, onions, or extras of chasiu or seaweed.

Definitely one thing that I've noticed is that when serving food, there is lots of smaller side-dishes that make up the overall meal.  At the homestay, two of the meals consisted of smaller dishes - pickles, salad, rice, and meat and vegetables.  And although they are all presented on different plates, there is a cohesion to the flavours.  Everything is fresh too, from the fish to the vegetables, which adds to the Japanese tendency to not over-flavour their cuisine.

One of the last things I've noticed about food in Japan is the abundance of French bakeries, and the variety of bread and baking available in konbini and grocery stores.  Whatever the reason, French baking and pastries have become commonplace in Japan; there's all kinds of shops selling croissants and rolls, or the crepe stands that litter the sidestreets in Harajuku.  The kinds of breads that are sold - like melon pan (bread) or the cream-filled buns - have distinct Japanese touches, like matcha flavouring or lack of sweetener or sugar.  Overall, despite being projected as one of the most expensive places in the world, the food is relatively cheap, extremely delicious, and well worth the experience. 

Kimono and Cultural Appropriation - Gabriela & Taylor

This is Taylor and Gabriela, here to discuss Kimono; its history, different styles of kimono, and whether or not foreigners should wear kimono. 

Before the Heian Period, Kimono was simply a word to describe clothing and only those of high status wore anything ornate. During the Heian period, straight cut kimonos became commonplace as it made work on kimonos easier for the makers. With this style of cut the maker need not take in the wear's proportions to make the kimono. This way everyone could wear a kimono and at a decent price. Kimono then became commonplace to wear around town. 

There are a variety of Kimono types and styles and the list is much too long to possibly name them all. That being said there are a few more interesting ones to point out.
Komon - this kimono has a simple pattern and is considered everyday wear. 
Yukata - worn for summer festivals and not much else. 
Furisode - worn by unmarried women as shown by the long sleeves to mark marital status. 

We visited two kimono shops within the last week, one was rather fancy and up-scale, the other was humble and small (cute). Taylor felt rather uncomfortable going into the expensive shop as she felt she was being judged for just standing there. In the smaller one we felt much more comfortable walking around and looking through the merchandise. The yukatas we saw were mostly of the furisode style with the long sleeves to indicate that the women wearing them would be unmarried. 

Cultural Appropriation is when a specific part of a culture is taken by someone not of that culture and worn or used in the likeness of a costume. When it comes to kimono, the safe thing to do would be to wait and be invited to wear it by the people of Japan, otherwise you get people who wear the kimono as a bathrobe, and disregard the cultural significance of the item. Cultural Appropriation has become a big discussion as of recent times as we see more and more culturally significant items and practices being taken and warped to suit others needs. 

Cute.