Living in the Floating World

My dear readers,
I hope you'll pardon the long break I've taken in updating you. A series of unfortunate consequences needed to be overcome for me to continue writing this blog, and I hope I have your understanding that life comes at me in a different pattern here then at home, and even after 6 months of being here, I'm still learning to deal with it.
Now, shall we begin?

Last I left off, Sakie and I were boarding a Shinkansen (bullet train) for one of our many small adventures in the Tohoku Region. This go around it was one of the moderate jewels in the moderate crown of Akita; Lake Tazawako, the deepest lake in Japan.

From Study Abroad: AIU

Sakie and I had made plans to stay at a Onsen (Hot Springs) hotel for the weekend, enjoying the private bath and the view. Normally our plans end up in two places: everything going terribly wrong with the whole trip needing to be resuscitated early on, or going so well that we have an experience beyond our expectations. Our trip to Lake Tazawako was most definatly the latter.

From Study Abroad: AIU

Through a countryside train station:

From Study Abroad: AIU

Hop on a bus and ride it for 20 minutes:

From Study Abroad: AIU

then get off when it appears you've hit the ocean. But you haven't hit the ocean, you've hit a massive lake that, from the bus stop, looks like you've reached the West coast of Japan if the air is hazy enough.

From Study Abroad: AIU

Our hotel, at first glance, looked like a dive. It actually looked so un-appealing that I wasn't concerned with taking my camera out and snapping a picture, because I was sure that we would abandon it and find another hotel. We decided that rather then carry our luggage around, we'd take the chance of leaving it with the front desk. We stepped into their incredibly ornate lobby and they took our bags, even though we had another 4 hours before we could check in. At the time, I thought perhaps the lobby was kept nice to cover for the look of dis-repair outside. Still thinking we might abandon the hotel, we began our walk to see what our little side of the lake had to offer.

From Study Abroad: AIU

From Study Abroad: AIU

From Study Abroad: AIU

Together we went as far West of the hotel as we could go without walking along a major roadway before turning around and beginning our walk back. There had been sporadic rain throughout the day, so the ground was understandably covered in puddles, and on our way back, in one of those puddles, we happened upon this guy:

From Study Abroad: AIU

Make no mistake about it, Ladies and Gentleman, this beetle is not small. In fact, he was as large as a match box, but twice as thick. We found him sitting knee (do beetles have knees?) deep in a puddle, washing himself, or dancing, or praying to the sun God, or just being awesome.

From Study Abroad: AIU

This guy, who I will now refer to as Don DePincer, is ranked in my top 5 most awesome things I have seen here. What's more, Sakie explained to me that beetles like this one are not uncommon in Japan. As a matter of fact, during the summer, young boys will hunt these beetles and keep them as pets for the rest of the year, and there is a bustling beetle industry for toys, foods, and accessories for young bug-hunters. I didn't have any means of catching Don DePincer (as nothing could contain his wit, cunning, and swagger), so I can only assume that he is now the Alpha beetle of Lake Tazawako, living the high life with a harem of beautiful young she-beetles draped across his (knees?).

Of course, while at the lake, I had to sample some of the local foods. It's been my experience that, when traveling abroad, your best, and safest bet, is always to go for the food that is most readily available. Also, by eating what everybody else is eating, you get a more accurate cultural experience. In the area around the lake, the local snack food was called Misotampo.

From Study Abroad: AIU

Misotampo is essentially Akita's famous rice, cooked, and molded around the end of a big wooden spike, slathered in miso paste, and put over a fire to roast. Let me tell you, as far as taste goes, its great, right up until you eat it to fast and get a mouth full of wooden spike.

From Study Abroad: AIU

Further pushing our experience at Lake Tazawako towards greatness, unknown to us, a festival was starting that day. Actually, the festival started right around the time we arrived on the bus. This means, in addition to the local flavors, we also had the opportunity to fill our bellies with the festival foods Sakie and I both love so very much.

From Study Abroad: AIU

Well, 3pm did eventually roll around, so we decided it was time to make our way back to our hotel and make the call to stay or find somewhere new. Walking through the front door, they immediatly sat us down in a posh lobby and served us a tea brewed with the local flora while Sakie filled out the paperwork. We figured once they get their tea in you, its pretty much impossible to back out, so we went ahead and let them take us to our room. Believe me, when they let us in, we were mighty glad we hadnt backed out.

From Study Abroad: AIU

From Study Abroad: AIU

Our room turned out to be larger then Sakie's apartment in Tsuchizaki! Complete with a rocking chair, a raised tatami mat section with an area to sit and look out onto the lake while drinking tea on soft cushions. Everything was pristeen and visually pleasing, with only a few things throwing me for a loop. One being the two beds, but I was then told that it is not so unusual to have two, to seperate a sleeping wife from her snoring husband. The other was the bathroom, which consisted of a sink and a toilet, but no shower. It all seems so logical now, but at the time I had forgotten that we were at a hotel that specializes in it's private and public bath. And, after settling in, we got a chance to use the private bath.

From Study Abroad: AIU

I'm sure you've all noticed the important aspect of this bath. Normally I would take issue with bathing outside, but since comming to Japan I've taken on an attitude of indifference to normally embarassing situations, so I went ahead and dove on in (not literally of course). There is indubidably something about onsen bathing that cannot be matched. If you were to take away any ingredient, the whole experience may very well be ruined. When the time comes for me to come home, onsen bathing will be sorely missed.

From Study Abroad: AIU

As night fell, we made our way to the hotels restaurant where they served us a 5 course dinner of local cuisine, many of which I couldn't stomach, and was somewhat happy to see Sakie could not stomach either. While we sat at the table in our Yukata, the light cotton robes that are traditionally worn at onsen hotels for their comfort and refreshing feel, the staff informed us that the local festival was going to hit a fevered pitch soon with a dragon dance and fireworks display.

Sitting in our Yukata on the tatami mats, watching a fireworks display, I really go the feeling that I was having the kind of experiences you can call once in a lifetime. Thanks to Sakie and the spirit of adventure, I was experiencing that which many will only ever read about in novels. I am a foriegner, living in Japan, a world completly different then my own, and I'm living here as passionatly as possible.

From Study Abroad: AIU

My time together with Sakie at Lake Tazawako was something that I'll never forget as long as I live. We both enjoyed ourselves so much, in fact, that we decided not to let it end when we left the hotel. But that, my dear reader, is the story of my text entry.

Keep that Ball Rolling

As hard as it is to believe, I do from time to time run out of things to do here in Akita. It's not a bustling metropolis, after all. AIU tries to keep its charges entertained by providing video game systems in the lobby or music studios that students can go use, among other things, but everything seems to be for a small select group of people. The video game systems always have the same 4 guys playing Mario Kart, and the music studios are constantly reserved for the 5 or 6 cookie cutter "rock" bands that live on campus. For these reasons and more I often find myself finding ways to use my time. And when all else fails, I resort to wandering.

From Study Abroad: AIU

Through wandering away from campus I not only find a sink for my time, but also get the lay of the land, and some pictures of the countryside. It's through wandering that I've found Akita to be a really beautiful place, so long as your not near anywhere busy. Once you step outside of town and away from the main roads, you find some real beautiful scenery.

From Study Abroad: AIU

Allow me to change the subject somewhat drastically here. Since comming to AIU I've attended meetings for a handful of clubs, but so far the only one I've stuck with has been AIU's Aikido Club.

From Study Abroad: AIU

Ever since I started taking TaeKwon Do I've enjoyed the discipline of martial arts. Aikido is a traditional Japanese martial art and is performed by blending with the motion of the attacker and redirecting the force of the attack rather than opposing it head-on. Unfortunatly, due to the nature of University, every time a new student shows up, we have to go back to our most basic forms to give them time to understand them, so that they dont hurt themselves when things get more complex.

From Study Abroad: AIU

Many people who've studied Japan have an understanding of the "In" and "out" crowds, the speach formalities associated with them, and how the are distributed. Aikido Club is my first experience here of being part of the "In" crowd. I've got sempai, or upper classmen who speak informaly to me, and whom I speak formally to, and those under me who I could speak formally to if I knew how. It is with this group that I've had some real fun with. For example, our sempai's birthday at Okonomiyaki!

From Study Abroad: AIU

That is Shugo, the Aikido team Captain. A really cool dude from Aomori. He helps us all out, is happy to speak Japanese or English, and takes the brunt of the punishment if anybody else in Aikido does something to upset Sensei.

From Study Abroad: AIU

Lucky for me, my time spent with the Aikido Club rarely conflicts with the time Sakie and I spend together. While Aikido Club shows me what it's like to be a student at a Japanese University, Sakie shows me what its like to live in Japan.

From Study Abroad: AIU

With her by my side we've traveled to Oga many times, passing by the giant Namahage statues on our way to adventures beyond.

From Study Abroad: AIU

We've taken friends to the beach

From Study Abroad: AIU

And gone to the top of Mt. Kanpu to check out the observatory

From Study Abroad: AIU

From Study Abroad: AIU

I am incredibly blessed to have her with me here in Japan, and I look foreward to having her by my side when it comes time to see the rest of the world.

From Study Abroad: AIU

I love you, Sakie Fuse.

Rip, Roarin, Ready to Sleep

Hey Abe, it's your body, can we talk? It's about your health. I understand the cafeteria says that the food they serve is made with health in mind, but...well, I think they may be glossing over a thing or two. We...your body that is...all agree that you aren't getting enough calories. We run around only a few hours after a meal, and that is if we even get to fully digest it. Didn't you put to and to together before? Japan has the nicest toilets in the world, and for good reason, a significant amount of time is spent on them. I'm just saying, see if you can't get some vitamins or minerals in your system, and no, the minerals in the water don't count. I'm glad we had this talk.
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Lets see if I can wrap up an update in the time before I hop on a bus to head to Tsuchizaki. This weekend is the Kessen Rock Festival, where I will accomplish one of my Japan-goals, seeing my favorite band: Asian Kung-Fu Generation, in concert. Ben and I will spend the night at Sakie's apartment, then hop in the car early in the morning and drive to Iwate, see the concert, and stay in a hotel in Iwate so we can drive back to Akita bright eyed and bushy tailed.

I really think that this concert is going to be good for me. I've started to feel AIU is like a large ship floating in the middle of the ocean with no wind in its sails. The crew and passengers need to find something to do to bide the time before the winds, but some of us go stir crazy first. I've done so much to try to keep myself entertained. I've written in this blog, worked on my audio podcast over at www.jonandabe.com, and started writing a short story about an American detective working in Japan. My time spent with Sakie is probably my most productive. With her we've planned this Kessen Rock Festival Trip, a smaller Hot Springs vacation we'll be taking at the end of the month, and we've started to plan my parents visit. We haven't just done the short term stuff either, we've even gone so far as to start a "Sakie and Abe's Life Together Notebook" with sketches and brainstorms, like this one:

From Study Abroad: AIU

In case you can't tell (and who could blame you), this is a diagram, or more accurately a blueprint of the house we're planning to live in when we move to the states and live together. I sketched out a basic floor plan of the house, and together we filled it with the things we would like to have. It was a warm and fun way to burn a couple of hours. We've also made lists of where we would like to travel, the places we would like to see, and what order we would like to see them in. Certainly alot more constructive then AIU's main pass time.

From Study Abroad: AIU

Heavy Drinking.
I wont go into to much detail, except to say that alot of unhealthy drinking habits have started here at AIU, and not because of some party atmosphere like you might experience at some colleges, but more because there is nothing else to do after you've studied. The cafe and LDIC have closed, and the only vending machine thats still on is the one that dispenses beer. I'm lucky enough to have obligations that take me away from some of the drinking parties, so I've actually done less drinking here then back home. Yea, go me!

Upon further thought, my time here has been punctuated by really interesting events. Not always entertaining, but always interesting. For example, A Noh Play. For those of you who don't know the difference between Noh play, and the world famous Kabuki play, I'll explain the difference.
Kabuki is, according to wikipedia: "the highly stylized classical Japanese Dance-Drama. Kabuki theatre is known for the stylization of its drama and for the elaborate make-up worn by some of its performers.
Noh plays, according to me, are a minimalist style classical Japanese snore-fest. Noh theatre is known for droll monotone conversations and the sounds of the audience falling asleep and falling out of their chairs.
But hey, I guess the venue was pretty impressive.

From Study Abroad: AIU

From Study Abroad: AIU

From Study Abroad: AIU

From Study Abroad: AIU

Oh, did I fail to mention that at a Noh play, the audience sits outside in the elements? Yea, it is what it is.

From Study Abroad: AIU

From Study Abroad: AIU

After watching a 3 hour Noh play, while sitting in the rain in a plastic lawn chair, I decided it would be nice to relax a bit by hopping in the bath.

From Study Abroad: AIU

I just can't win, some days!

Sacrifice for Gain

Never before has there been a digital camera that has held on to live as tenaciously as my Fujifilm FinePix A600. Covered in chips and dings, aging mechanisms that cause the lens to extend so slow you'd think the thing ran off steam, and a piece of scotch tape holding the battery door closed, it continues to do what I ask of it. It will be a sad day when it finally gives up the ghost.

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Having now been in Japan for a little over three months, I'm beginning to understand the plight of the exchange student. 3 months is just about the amount of time it takes you to compile a mental list of all the things you miss from home, and those thoughts begin chipping away at your resolve. I'm already seeing it working at the foundations of some of the other students, and I hear a lot of talk in the cafeteria about getting home. Since I will not be one of those headed home come August, I've been trying to either suppress the thought of home comforts, or try to supplement them with the best we can pull off here. Example: Taco Bell.

For those of you who don't know, the same company that owns KFC and Pizza Hut also owns Taco Bell. Knowing this, I'm all the more frustrated by the fact that they have KFC and Pizza Hut here, but for some reason have not opened a single Taco Bell on the entire island of Japan. So, Ben Strickland and I gave it our best shot.

From Japan Pictures

While the ingredients were not quite the quality we were hoping for; with the cheese being the kind you put on a pizza, the lettuce being more cabbage then anything else, and the meat being...well, Japanese style meat, we gave it our best shot and were pretty pleased with the result. Somewhat similar to Mexican food, and no food poisoning.

From Study Abroad: AIU

It's important when one lives on a campus as small as AIU's to be able to get away from it all when you need to. Even spending my weekends away from campus with Sakie, I still find myself beyond my stress threshold at least once a week, and that is when I throw my bag over my shoulder and head off into the small wooded park next to campus. In this small wood I find privacy and quite, the party-going type that makes up most of the AIU student body don't venture out here, and I can feel safe and sound lying in a small field, and enjoy the view of the bright blue sky, and think about nothing at all for an hour or two.

From Study Abroad: AIU

From Study Abroad: AIU

I've brought Sakie here a time or two as well. I hope in doing so she enjoyed our time together there.

From Study Abroad: AIU

From Study Abroad: AIU

A number of the most interesting experiences I've had in Japan so far have been thanks to AIU's Community Outreach Service, or COS. The COS office's sole purpose is to set up opportunities for AIU students to volunteer all around Akita prefecture in a number of different domains. The first of these that I ever took part in was a trip to Minami Naraoka Elementary School in Daisen City.

From Study Abroad: AIU

This would be the first of many trips to this same elementary school, actually, but this time is definitely the most memorable for a number of reasons. The first is that we went there to join the children in planting rice.

If you've never planted rice before, you are a bad person. I kid, I kid! Rice planting happens something like this:
-First things first, you remove your shoes and socks, and roll your pants up above the knee. This step is really important for step 3.
-Second step is to make your way out to the rice patty, and wait while a worker lays out a grid in the rice patty. It is best to use this time to steel yourself for what you are about to do.
-Step three, Jump into knee high mud.
-Step four is to take a handful of the little rice plants, and shove 3 or 4 a couple of inches into the mud where the lines meet.
-Step 5, get clobbered by flying mudballs.

While learning how to plant rice, and then going out and doing it is a cultural experience I felt like I would enjoy, planting rice with the kids from Minami Naraoka is what made it into something I will never forget. I hope my readers will understand why there are not so many pictures to mark the occasion, as most of the experience took place in knee high mud, or with hundreds of excited children underfoot. To mark the occasion and send us off, once our time was up at the school the kids got the marching band together and put on a show for us:

From Study Abroad: AIU

From Study Abroad: AIU

What cannot be conveyed by pictures was the sentiment in the air that moved a couple of the other foreign students to tears. These are the kind of unique experiences that I studied abroad to have.

Another of these trips was to the Akita Omoriyama Zoo, again through COS.

From Study Abroad: AIU

Located atop a hill with a scenic view, it is one of those zoos that doesn't look like much from the outside, but hides alot of surprises behind its big, fake, bamboo fences.

From Study Abroad: AIU

From Study Abroad: AIU

The point of this trip was similar to the one before it: to speak English in the company of people who are trying to learn it. The difference this time being that before it was to elementary school students, but now it was a group of parents with very young children they were wanting to expose to English as early as possible. Again, A trip to a great zoo is neat, but a trip to a great zoo while surrounded by local families who came to see you makes it a treasured memory.

From Study Abroad: AIU

From Study Abroad: AIU

From Study Abroad: AIU

Our day at the zoo together ended around lunchtime, when, as planned, the families pulled out backpack sized bento lunches and fed us until we were to stuffed to walk back to the cars. I can only hope this isn't the end of the home made Japanese bento lunches I'll have while I'm here.

From Study Abroad: AIU