Update

In case anyone still checks this blog, you should know that I do not plan on making any more posts.  I have several drafts that I wrote for my own sake, but I have no intention for finalizing or publishing them.  If you are interested, please feel free to contact me.

Anyhow, I have continued to update the photo album (now at over 1400 pictures and videos) and I try to add meaningful comments as often as possible.  https://plus.google.com/photos/112802092097010289376/albums/6012741787245851409?authkey=CPKmgNLLo6iqxAE

Kumamoto

2014年05月18日

Today, お母さん and I went to Kumamoto, a city not too far from here.  I got to ride the Shinkansen, or "bullet train" for the first time!  I'm also happy to report that streetcars are still somewhat common in Japan.

In Japan, most cities have mascot characters to represent them, and among the most famous is Kumamon, from Kumamoto.  In Japanese, "kuma" means bear, which explains his appearance.

You can find Kumamon's face on just about anything, even outside of Kumamoto.

Our first destination in Kumamoto was Kumamoto Castle (熊本城).  Japanese castles are quite different from European castles, but still just as beautiful.  I am only posting one picture here, but more can be found in the photo album for which a link may be found at the top of this page.

Afterwards, we visited Suizen Park (水前寺公園), whose name roughly means "temple before water" (here "before" refers to location rather than occurrence in time).  It was extremely beautiful and had some of the cleanest water I have ever seen.  I even had koi eat directly from my hand while I pet them.

While at the park, we visited the aforementioned temple.  お母さん taught me the proper etiquette for visitng a Japanese temple, which begins with washing one's hands: fill a water scoop, wash one's left hand first, then one's right, pour some water into the cleaned left hand and take a sip (from the hand, not the scoop), then allow the remaining water to run down the handle of the scoop.

Hands cleaned, one may approach the temple shrines.  At a shrine, one makes a monetary offering (5 yen coins are considered the luckiest), bows twice, claps twice, makes a wish or prayer, and then bows again.  the Japanese temples are very interesting and beautiful, but custom prohibits photography of the sacred areas, which are the most elaborately decorated.  

Later that night, back in Fukuoka, I skyped with Amalia, who had done a homestay with お母さん for 10 months.  She lives in Germany, and the instant we started talking, I was speaking German as fluently as if I had been in Germany the past week, rather than Japan.  I guess that's how you know that you speak a language "well enough.". One day, Japanese...

Just Another Day

2014年05月17日

Today was just another day in suburban (but still very much urban) Japan.  お母さん took me to visit a beautiful Japanese garden before she left for work.

We drank 間茶 (ma-cha; a thick green tea) with a beautiful view of the garden on a quiet morning.

Afterward we fed the koi fish.  Check the photo album for more pictures and videos!

I also stopped by a Hokkaido Fair that was going on in central Fukuoka before heading over to the Canal City shopping center and watching a Japanese band called KANIKAPILA (http://kani7.com/) perform.

Afterward, I biked around aimlessly through all the sketchy parts of the city and then going to WAHAHA's rooftop party (http://srv01.sakura.ne.jp/tmp/flashMob20140517.mp4), where I met a lot of interesting people and made some of my first Japanese friends.  One of them is even going to North Carolina in August to spend a year at UNC Greensboro!  Small world, huh?

Sushi and Tempura

2014年05月15日から2014年05月16日まで

Yesterday I got to meet a police officer who stands at the Hakata train station and is famous for being exceptionally friendly.

But the highlight of the day was when my host family took me out to a conveyorbelt sushi restaurant.  This is the best way to eat a lot of sushi in Japan without going broke.

Those of us accustomed to America's sushi selection would be amazed at the variety here!  I had everything you can get in the US, shellfish, octopus, squid, and all kinds of fish eggs.  There were fish I'd never even heard of.  Not to mention all the things that can be on/in sushi that I had never imagined: cream corn, blue eggplant, and even raw bacon.  I should also mention that salmonella isn't an issue in Japan; special care is taken with food production, since so many dishes include raw meats and eggs.  And it was really interesting to see orders of french fries and parfaits coming down the conveyorbelt.

And to keep the ball rolling, today お母さん helped me make tempura!

Rolling Right Along

2014年05月14日

Every meal I have had on this trip has been absolutely delicious!  The house I'm staying in is a lot larger than I had expected for a Japanese home, and it's extremely pleasant to stay in.  I even take Japanese-style baths each night and sleep on the floor, which I have found to be much more comfortable than most western beds.

Before going to class, I was watching the tv and the programming stopped for 5 full minutes minutes during primetime broadcasting to lead people through stretches.  I've heard this happens a few times each day in Japan.  2 of the 3 instructors did the stretches from a seated position, to encourage the elderly and handicapped to participate.  I remember that many years ago Nickelodeon stopped airing shows for one full day to encourage children to play outside, yet this only happened once, so it was easier to change the channel than one's lifestyle.  The main difference with the stretches in Japan, is that they become routine, habitual.  Once something is a habit, like fastening the seatbelt, it is no longer a burden.  Wearing a seatbelt is something that the Japanese government still needs to push, though. I've noticed that most people do not use seatbelts while in the backseat, just like in Brazil.  Most people also do not use helmets while riding bicycles, which is not abnormal in the US, just a lot less common.

Today I took the bus to class and found out that every single bus turns its engine off each time it stops (either at a bus stop or a red light), rather than idling and wasting gas).  I also found that there was a change machine in the bus, so one is able to pay with exact change.  

After class, I went to a ramen shop and a movie theater with two of my teachers and another student.  The movie was Thermæ Romæ 2, which was a fictional story about a Roman architect who accidentally time-travelled to modern Japan and brought back the bathhouse practices and customs to ancient Rome.  It was based on a manga (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thermae_Romae) I haven't read, and I didn't understand most of what was said, but I have found Japanese television and movies to be incredibly interesting and informative, if strange at times.  I have placed a few videos of Japanese television within the photo album that you may reach by following the link at the top of the blog.  I update the album with new pictures and videos much more frequently than blog posts, so check back often!

Anyway, after the movie, I biked home using the bicycle I am renting from the school.  One of my teachers lives near my Host family's house, so she biked back with me to make sure I didn't get lost.  That goes to show how devoted the teachers at WAHAHA are!  I am absolutely loving my classes.  To my knowledge, I am the youngest of the students at the school and the only American.  One of my two classmates is a Ukrainian anthropologist, who practices Iai-do (a martial art involving the use of a katana, which he often carries) and speaks Ukrainian, Russian, English, and Chinese, in addition to learning Japanese.  My other classmate is a Taiwanese factory manager for a European athleticwear company, who also speaks Chinese and English, in addition to learning Japanese.  The two other students I have met are from the UK and Germany.  Both of them also speak many languages, and the whole group is very interesting to talk to.

Settling In

2014年05月13日

One of many Japanese arcades.

They always have an entire floor devoted to prize-grabbers, and all with really good prizes (none of that cheap stuff)!

That's right, even ice cream...

And of course, Pachinko: the infamous Japanese slot machines, which seem a lot more involved, loud, colorful, and addicting than American slot machines.  I didn't try one, but I will at some point.

Yesterday, I spent the morning doing homework, the day at class, and the evening walking around the city.  I even got lost at one point and rather than pull out my handy dandy map, I walked up to a random person and asked him for directions.  What a wonderful feeling to be able to ask a question correctly and understand the answer!  I can already tell that WAHAHA was an excellent choice.  All of my teachers are extremely friendly and helpful.  Not to mention how much more quickly I seem to be learning with just 2 classmates and a 3 hour class each day!  To top it all off, it is infinitely helpful to not have anything else to worry about (other classes, exams, work, clubs, and other obligations).  

WAHAHA had been putting me up in a hotel for the past two nights, while my hostmother visited Germany, but today I finally got to meet her.  She has told me to call her お母さん (oh-kaah-san; mom) and her husband お父さん (oh-tow-san; dad).  I already feel like part of the family!  お母さん speaks some English, but we speak Japanese primarily and only use English to clarify or explain something.  This kind of practice in a foreign language is truly priceless.

First Impression of Japan

2014年05月11日

After having spent a week in Korea, I couldn't help but compare and contrast it with Japan.  First off, I can actually read the signs (whether I understand them or not is another matter), and my extremely limited Japanese vocabularly feels infinite when compared with my 4-5 word Korean vocabulary.  It's a great feeling to be able to communicate with more than 4 wonderful people and a cat.  

I have never felt more American than during my time spent in Korea.  I often forget that I'm considered a minority in the US, but it is a fact nonetheless.  Yet in Korea (which does not receive many visitors from Latin America, relatively speaking), I was immediately labeled as an American.  In Japan, on the other hand, people are often surprised when I tell them I come from the US.  I believe this difference can be attributed to two simple facts: most Americans (like Japanese, Koreans, and the inhabitants of any country outside of Europe and Canada) speak only a single language, and I more closely resemble a Japanese than a Korean.  However, everyone can still tell I'm not a native Japanese, and young children in both countries often stare at me because I look so different from the people they are used to seeing.  It's pretty adorable.

Well, on to more important matters.  I had been prepared to aimlessly stumble around Fukuoka until I gathered my bearings, as I had done in Seoul, but it had been arranged for the director of the WAHAHA Japanese Language School to pick me up from the airport.  This proved to be immensely helpful as she helped me transition to speaking primarily Japanese (correct or otherwise), gave me a tour of the city, checked me into my hotel for two days, and bought my first Japanese meal (pictured below).

There are so many more kinds of fish here than in the US!  Gone are the days when 4 different kinds of sushi in a single meal was a rare luxury.  

My first trip to a japanese comic store, with more Anime than I could have imagined.  Some of the collectibles are extemely old, rare, and expensive.

I ended up spending most of the rest of my day at this beautiful park, Ohori Koen, and watching the sunset from the ruins of Fukuoka Castle (pictured below), which is also in the park.  Tomorrow, my first day of class at WAHAHA.  じゃ、また！

Meditation on Korea

2014年05月11日

Almost as soon as I had gotten settled, I found myself departing.  And yet, I feel as though I had experienced a significant portion of the Korean culture.  My strategy was as follows: try everything (bone soup, extremely spicy foods, kimchi for breakfast, and even Korean natto), walk without fear of getting lost, and bring a map so you don't actually get lost (unless you speak or are trying to learn the language, in which case being lost is an excellent excuse to approach a stranger and start a conversation).  In Seoul, I walked all day long without being able to speak to anyone or read most of the signs, but that just meant I had to be more observant to figure things out.  Below are some of clever ideas I noticed:

Most restaurants have these call buttons on the table to hail a waiter/waitress.  This both allows them to use their time more efficiently and prevents unnecessary interruptions by well-intention, yet overly eager, servers.

Metal chopsticks are used almost exclusively, but at home and in restaurants.  This prevents the unnecessary waste of using disposable bamboo chopsticks.  Of course, disposable chopsticks are still used for take-out.

Most restaurants and foodcourt areas have metal cups and self-service water.  Some places even had these UV cup sanitizers!  Incidentally, very few places offered beverages with your with your meal aside from water, and I didn't see a single soda outside of a vending machine the entire time I was in the country.  Even then, most vending machines offered only tea and coffee (and maybe juices).

The other beverage I saw with some frequency was Pocari Sweat, which is similar to Gatorade.  The primary difference: this beverage lists the ions (as in the chemical notation of elements with positive and negative superscripts denoting the scarcity or abundance of electrons, respectively, as compared to the total number of protons, thereby denoting the net charge of each atom of the element) that it replenishes, instead of masking them all with blanket term "electrolytes," which many people forget are actually salts (and a lot more sugar than in Pocari Sweat).  Another difference, the size of the can.  Every drink can is the size of a Red Bull, or smaller, which is really more than enough to quench one's thirst.  

And it's not just their beverage habits that are healthier.  I found that tomatoes and fruits were just as common for dessert as chocolate or western sweets.  Just a thought.  Though I will say that Korean sweets are really good, especially at the bakeries, which are amazing and remind me of Brazilian bakeries.

In addition to the healthier eating habits, everyone walks everywhere.  This can be attributed to the fact that Korean cities are incredibly compact.  Most cities, regardless of overall size and population, have the same urban feel to them.  This means that most people love in high-rise apartment buildings, every necessity is within walking distance, there is abundant public transportation, and a lot of the country remains forested and relatively untouched.  Granted I haven't conducted a thorough research study and analysis of how these dense populations affect the surrounding natural areas, it seems like a pretty good model.

In this picture, you can see how most of the crosswalks I encountered were directional, meaning there is a predesignated path depending upon which way you are crossing the street.  No one actually seemed to follow the arrows, but it's still an interesting idea.  What people did do, almost without exception, was obey the cross signal.  Most people would not jaywalk, even if there were absolutely no cars coming and it was a very small street.  Very small streets with little car traffic didn't always have sidewalks, so people would walk in the streets and yield when necessary, but wherever there was a cross signal, it was obeyed.

In addition to all the walking, every stairway either had a ramp for handicapped people or a narrow ramp for people to wheel bicycles rather than carrying then, whichnis both burdensome and dangerous).  That's something NC State could definitely use. 

Many parks and public spaces also had these sturdy exercise machines that utilize the user's weight as resistance, meaning most ages and body types are accommodated.  The wooden structure in the background contains free weights, for those who prefer them.

I also encountered many of these machines, in addition to volleyball and basketball courts, under the highway that runs along the Hangang River.  In the US, this is the kind of public area in which one would expect to find homeless people, drug addicts, plentiful graffiti, and the lingering stench of urine.  Yet here, I found none of those things, but rather happy couples eating picnics and senior citizens enjoying their days without fear of harassment.  It seems that on average, everything was slightly better cared for.  Even the asphalt!  I didn't see a single pothole or even even a questionable patch of asphalt in need of replacing.

Aesthtics also seemed important in Korea.  This cellphone tower was made to resemble a tree.  And it wasn't a special tower; most of the towers I saw looked this way, which is quite important given the number of towers that appear in natural areas in a country where you still have a cellphone signal in parking garages and subways.

And here we are at the last picture I have to share.  Congratulations for reading through all of that!  In this picture, we see a safety harness with which one may descend from the window of any high-rise building, should it become impossible or otherwise impractical to exit one's room through the door in the event of an emergency.  Just one more clever idea for which the proper consideration should be given.

Not pictured:

-Spaceship toilets with heated seats, automatic lids, built-in fans to remove odors, and the notorious bidet feature, which is supposed to be more effecient than toiletpaper alone.

-Squat toilets, common in public restrooms, which are not at all uncomfortable and allow one to use restrooms of questionable cleanliness without having to touch anything!  I really wish we had some of those in the US...

Now off to Japan!

Hanging Out with Mina

2014年05月07日から2014年05月11日まで

It's so great to have some people I can talk to!  I speak English, Portuguese, German, a little Spanish, and a little Japanese; but in Korea, people only speak Korean.  Let that be a warning to those who see English as a global language.  If I were staying in Korea any longer, I would have made more of an effort to learn the language.  As it is, my primary focus is Japanese.  I just knew how to say "hello," "thank you," and "goodbye," which proved to be enough to navigate Seoul and get some food every once in a  while.  However, I now had 4 wonderful interpreters/tour guides to take me sight-seeing and, more importantly, explain everything to me.

Over 4 days and 5 nights, I got to see the university where Mina's father works and Mina's brother studies, try many foods, visit the site of the 1993 World Expo, ride a mag-lev train, see many museums and galleries, kayak, and climb a mountain.  I've posted all the pictures from my trip in one place with varying levels of captions: https://plus.google.com/photos/112802092097010289376/albums/6012741787245851409?authkey=CPKmgNLLo6iqxAE

First Impression of Korea

2014年05月05日から2014年05月07日まで

It still hasn't really set in that I'm actually in Korea, or Asia for that matter.  The only reminders are that everyone has a smartphone but not an iPhone, the cars are all normally-sized but overwhelmingly Hyundais, and just about every electronic is Samsung.  Aside from that, Seoul could be New York City, except for how clean everything is, and how safe it is to walk through back streets at night.  And also how many large parks with dense tree cover there are.  

And of course, I can't forget the food (this meal cost me $5).  By the way, almost every single meal comes with kimchi on the side.  Yum!

In all, I walked for about 11 hours my first day in Seoul: from central Seoul to Gangnam, climbing mountains, crossing bridges, visiting museums, and walking through tunnels (around a kilometer long) along the way.

Flying Over the Motherland

2014年05月05日 (The date changed because We passed over the International Date Line, not because the day ended.  On the way back, I will arrive in the US within a few hours of the time I left and still on the same day).

Thanks to a free upgrade, I got to spend my 13 hour flight to Seoul in the 2nd floor first class section of a Boeing 747.  Although, that still didn't mean I could sleep more than 3 hours or so...  At least I was excessively comfortable and well-fed.  However, the best part was that the plane flew in the same direction as the sun, so it was constantly daytime and I got to watch the landscape change as we flew over Siberia.