Final Summary of HIFfing

Top 4 of Hakodate

So HIF technically ended about two weeks ago, but I've been running around Japan (Tokyo, Nagoya, Kamakura) sans internet and thus haven't been able to keep up on my blog too well. Very sorry to all the people who read it.

Anyways, looking back upon my experience at HIF with the filter of nostalgia, I recall the good times and memories made with my Hakodatian friends. The night before I left, I went up Hakodate mountain (by myself because my host family was too busy to come with me) to see the night view (yakei). The Hakodate night view is said to rank among the top three night views in the world (Hakodate, Naples, and Hong Kong) and it is indeed quite a beautiful sight. When I was up there staring out over the city which I had come to know over the past two months, I realized that I had changed since I began my exciting cultural experience. I had come to understand more about Japanese culture, the people, and the language. I also gained a greater appreciation for my own country and the things that America has, but Japan doesn't. What I missed most in Japan were American's many obese people, stick deodorant, and Mexican food. On the other hand, Japan has far superior fireworks! During the Minato Matsuri festival, there was a spectacular fireworks show, including some that would explode after people on boats threw them into the water.


Here's a summary of my favourite parts of Hakodate:

1. Architecture! A must see is the Russian Orthodox church. Be sure to go inside to take a look at the highly ornate interior.

Be sure to stop by the Episcopal (I think) church nearby. The church's unique arches and cruciform design make it an unusual example of modern architecture in Hakodate.


My favourite Western building in Hakodate was the Future University. This post-modern glass mammoth building houses everything a University student might need all within a single envelope. Classrooms, gymnasiums, lounge space, bookstores, etc. are all packaged in separate glass containers. The glass interiors make many views of the side look like section cuts through the building. This idea was the best part of the building in my opinion despite the building's horrendous energy use. I'm sure heating and cooling the high 7 story-ceiling takes loads of energy that could be put to better use.

2. Japanese fashion / crrazy looking people. I have more picutres of them, but I haven't uploaded them all because my computer is running out of memory. For example, this lovely couple that I saw coming off the train one day. Notice the mj leaf blingin' necklace.

3. Tea at the British Consulate. This is a must-do when in Hakodate. Stop by the consulate for a nice tea time lunch after class ends. The consulate is right near the old Hakodate ward hall (the blue and yellow building). This is the afternoon tea set (quite tasty!).

4. Tanooki. Keep an eye out all through Hakodate/ Hokkaido for the Tanooki statue (even better if you get to see the real animal!). I didn't get to see a real Tanooki, but this is a picture of the Tanooki with the biggest balls that I could find. Tanooki are known for their large testicles and crazy libido. I'm not sure what a real Tanooki looks like, but I think it's some kind of mythical raccoon animal.

I will leave my readers with this last image of the Tanooki. He welcomes you to Japan, so please go to Hakodate and see him!!

Tokyo

Sorry to all my blog readers (if there are any), but that last post was waiting to be edited even though I started writing it a long time ago, but I:ve only gotten around to it now. The last few weeks of HIF were incredibly busy with Minato Matsuri (the harbor festival), project work, pakcing and finals, but I:m trying to write a little blurb just to let my readers know what i:ve been up to!

So minato matsuri was amazing and I:ll have to do a whloe nother post on it when I have more time (complete with pictures and all!) but anyways, it:s a five or six day festival with the whole city of Hakodate involved. After finishing project work and presentations and undertaking the final, I finihsed packing and headed down to Tokyo, my present location, to stay with Chris.

My first few days were spent with Jessica Jeffers because she was also staying with Chris, but he was mostly gone because he:s always incredibly busy. Today I went to the Ueno national Japanese museums to see a bit of history and do some sketches. It:s really really hot here. I:m sweating up a storm, but not now because I:m hiding out in an internet cafe in Harajuku. It:s not as easy as I thought to find one of these things. But nevertheless I managed to. Tomorrow I plan to go to Disneyland with some friends, so I had better get going back to Okusawa so I can get an early start. I also have to make a few phone calls from the payp@hone outside Okusawa station because I had to return my precisous little keitai (cellphone) before I left HIF. Sad *naki (tear)*. Anyways, better get going so I don:t miss the last train to Okusawa.

Peace----

夏子

Yesterday I did some project work for the semester project here at HIF. The subject of my project is the relationship between the different religions in Hakodate. For prouject work, Matthew White-san and I tried to fill out some surveys that we made for Hakodate people. First, we tried walking around the area near HIF, but there weren:t too many people around there, so then we went to the train station where we figured there:d be lots of people waiting around with time to spare. When White-san and I arrived at the station, we found that there were many Japanese people waiting around, but they weren:t from Hakodate, they were mostly tourists and we didn:t want tourists to answer our questions, we wanted Hakodate people. Anyways, we did end up getting a few surveys filled out, but most of the Japanese people we asked said they didn:t have time and then they started laughing at White-san and I. I was really surprised at how mean the Japanese people were because it wasn:t just one person who laughed at us, but it happened on several occasions. Before doing the surveys, I was under the impression that Japanese people in general were very polite and reserved, but apparently they aren:t and they acted just like normal Americans would have. Usually Japanese people pretend they are really impressed by the amount of Japanese foreigners can speak and they compliment them on trying to learn the language and complement them on everything they do, but I guess that:s only when they:re trying to be polite.

Anyways, White-san and I thought we:d go to Goryokaku to get our surveys filled out. We got on the shiden and managed to get one survey filled out by the nice lady sitting next to us. At Goryokaku, we tried handing out the surveys to be completed, but nobody acknowledged us, so we tried the Yale method of "have food, will get surveys done" and bought a dozen donuts from Mr. Donut. We stood on the sidewalk with a sign saying "free donuts". There were a couple of Japanese people who passed by with interested looks on their faces, but they were most likely wondering what two gaizin were doing with free donuts and were probably too timid to find out.

Then, out of the crowd came our saving grace: Natusko. She filled out the survey, but refused a donut and asked us questions and practuiced her english with us. She then proceeded to help us get the rest of our surveys filled out! She was sooo nice and really made up for my dwindling impression of Japanese people. She took us to another corner and flagged down a flock of Japanese high school girls riding by. They filled out all our surveys and ate most of the donuts! Who cares if our survey results may have been a little skewed by our demographic pool, we got them filled out! Natsuko was amazing and we couldn:t have done anything without her, so we gave her the rest of the donuts in the box. Anyways, that was a great experience with Japanese people and I will never forget to repay the kindness Natsuko showed me that afternoon. <3

New Approach

So I:m going to try a new approach to blogging with this blog and instead of doing a day by day account of the last week, I:ll try to focus on highlights and impressions i:ve had.

So I think the most exciting cultural thing that happened this past week was that I got a haircut. I went to a hair salon and asked the barber for a Japanese Style haircut. There were three different prices for haircuts at the salon I went to depending on the skill level of the person cutting your hair. I got a haircut from a Junior sytlist so it was the cheapest rate (2800Yen), but there are also normal and senior stylists too. I enjoyed the experience and chatted with the barber a bit in Japanese. I was impressed with how much we could talk about with my limited Japanese skills. I really felt like I:ve learned more Japanese since I came here.

At HIF we have to do project work and research something in Hakodate. My group is researching the connection between the different religions in Hakodate. There are many sects of Christianity (anything from Greek Orthodox to the United Church of Christ) as well as various sects of Shintoism and Buddhism. I:ve discovered that most Japanese people are tolerant of all religions and respect everyone:s beliefs and don:t really care what your religion is. When I went to the gospel choir practice a few weeks ago, I didn:t ask if anyone was Christian or not because is considered a little rude to ask about religion here. Anyways, I really enjoy the tolerant attitude that people have here, unlike in America where people will criticize or discriminate against you because of your religion or even just because you believe in religion.

In other news, I watched a movie last week after school bout some Japanese art school students (they showed a movie last week and today). It was a very inspiring film about how the students: passions for art collided with the complex love triangle(s) between them. Anyways, the movie really inspired me to focus a bit more on the architecture and art of Japan, so I:ve started walking around after school exploring Hakodate and the cities sites. This week I walked to the old Russian consulate here that was mentioned in my Fodor:s book, but it wasn:t anything exciting and I couldn:t even go inside. I also went to 高龍寺and some other Japanese temples to take some pictures of the architecture. I really enjoy visiting temples here because they are so peaceful and I get a sense of what old Japan might have been like.

Yesterday was also the last day of school for my host brothers. From now on all they are going to do during the day is play baseball. I think my host mother said thaty they have practice from 9 in the morning until like 5 in the afternoon or something like that. I don:t always understand clearly what she:s saying, but I get the general jist of it. Yesterday I did some shoppoing with my mom and brother. My brother bought a black tanktop/wife beater type shirt and when we got home he put it on along with his running shorts and sweatband. Then he said he was going running and draped a towel around his neck before heading out the door. Although this might not sound like an unusual excersize outfit in America, it is apparently unusual in Japan. My host mother commented that he looked like a strange person and I told her that it:s standard American exercising wear. The people here wear sweat pants and long sleeve track jackets when running to protect themselves from the sun so they don:t get dark. Anyways, my brother was basically trying to wear the same clothes that Rocky Balboa wears because he practically worships the guy. He listens to the soundtrack at least once a day, he:s quite the character, my brother.

Yesterday I went to Mirai Daigaku (future university) of Hakodate to look at its modern architecture. The building is basically a huge rectangular box with all the components of the university housed inside. I don:t think Michelle Addington would appreciate it because of the large volumes of unused space that are probably heated in the frigid Hakodate winters. Anyways, the most exciting thing about the university was the glass partitions/walls defining the various programattic spaces in the building. Everything was glass so you could see from one classroom through several others to the beautiful scenery outside. You can also see literal section cuts through the building because all the walls are glass and it:s intersting to see the interaction between the pushing and pulling of volumes.

I:ll leave you with a nice photo of a squid fishing boat here in Hakodate at the fishing harbor. Hakodate is famous for its squid and the squid is the official animal of Hakodate. As I mentioned before, everymorning I pass the fishmarket that sells live sea animals of everytype. The most common animals are squid and giant Japanese crabs. The squid fishing boats have many lights on them to lure the squid to the boat at night and then (I suppose) the fishermen scoop them all up with a net.

Days 29 - 35

Day 29

Today I had the final exam for the semester. It was pretty difficult and lasted all 3 hours of school. After the devestation was over, I went to Kentucky Fried Chicken to celebrate the end of the first semester with some genuinely non-Japanese food. It:s hard to believe, but I was actually feeling pretty sick of Japanese food because I:ve been eating it for over a month now. I went home early after lunch to relax and unwind before heading out to Sapporo tomorrow morning!


Days 30-33

During this time, I went to Sapporo for the nakayasumi break. I did lots of things, but I*ll just highlight the best parts for anyone interested in going to Sapporo:

Day 30
I went to Sapporo with some other HIFfers and we stayed at the Guest House Nonaka. I:d really recommend it because it is centrally located near the Susukino district of Sapporo. Susukino is a kind of seedy, but lively part of town where many host men and women are available for hire if you:re feeling lonely. The love hotels are also in this area. The people working at the guest house were really nice too. I:d strongly recommend making reservations for a hotel early on because when I made reservations about 2 weeks before break, every hotel in Sapporo was already full for Saturday night.

The first thing I did was go to the Hokkaido university Botanical Gardens. They were quite nice and relaxing. The weather was cloudy at first, but cleared up by noon. There was a rock garden in the Botanical Gardens, but instead of a Japanese rock garden, it was a Canadian rock garden = :( After grabbing lunch, I went back to the hotel to take a nap because everyone was pretty tired from waking up early for our train.

For dinner, we went out to some pan-Asian restaurant where there was a confusing, mystical, hidden charge that we had to pay. Basically, we had to order a drink with our dinners, but they didn:t tell us that when we went in. Anyways, food was okay, but the best part of the restaurant was that they had ice in the urinals! Post-Dinner, we all went out for some nomi-hodai (all you can drink for an hour and a half) at a nice little bar (Bob:s). After drinking our fill of really weak mixed cocktails, we went out to a more lively bar for some socializing. The other bar called Rad Brothers was full of gaizin (foreigners) and the drinks were a tad expensive, but they had thumping beats and we just hung out and talked for a bit. When we tried to find our way back to the hotel, the person who knew how to get back to the hotel had already left, so we wandered around in a giant circle looking for the Guest House Nonaka and found it finally after about 30 min at least of walking.


Day 31

Most likely the best day of the whole trip. I went to Moerenuma Park outside of Sapporo. We took a subway to the end of the line and from there we took a bus about 20 min to the park. The park was designed by famous Japanese-American sculptor Isamu Noguchi. If you go there, be sure to go into the glass pyramid to learn about how Noguchi designed the park. It is truly a work of art and a masterpiece. There are also awesome playgrounds there in the Sakura No Mori (Cherry Forest) that will bring out anyone:s inner child. Oh there:s also a beach/pool thing there so bring your suit if you plan to cool off.

I returned to Sapporo and went in search of the *Virgin Forest of Sapporo*, which is apparently a national monument thing. It was really cold though, so we didn:t stay there for long. There is a ropeway up to the top of the Virgin Forest mountain, but it was too cold and too far for us to walk, so we turned back. We did, however, see the Hokkaido shrine, which is apparently pretty big, but we couldn:t go in because it was already closed.

Back at the hotel, I changed into some warmer clothes and then asked the Guest House nonaka people about internet cafes to sleep in that night because we didn:t have a hotel room for that night and also I asked a bout Ohnsens to take a bath in and I think the people felt so sorry for us that they let us stay in one of their other rooms. Essentially the room was a closet, but the lady put in a couple of futons and it was fine. Another reason to stay at Guest House Nonaka: the people are so nice!

That night we all went out for a debaucherous(?) night on the town. The best place we went to was a club called *Booty* somewhere in downtown Susukino area. Their website is www.booty-disco.com so check it out if you:re in Sapporo. I stayed up for most of the night dancing and having a fun time with my friends in the club and we didn:t get back to the hotel till after sunrise. It was a good time.


Day 32

Woke up in time to check out at 10:00 and then went to find an onsen where we could shower after all the dancing last night. There was an onsen about 5 blocks away that was pretty cheap (300 yen). There were all sorts of baths there too, so we stayed there for a while relaxing.

After that, we had lunch at the JR station at a great soba place on the top floor. From the JR station, we caught a train out to Otaru, the *Venice of Japan*. Upon our arrival, we were a bit disappointed to find that there was only one canal and it in no way compared to Venice. It was still very scenic and nice there though. I walked around a bit looking at the little town and ended up having dinner at Umi Neko, a wonderful European restaurant in an old warehouse. The restaurant played Jazz and served Italian food. I really felt like I wasn:t in Japan anymore, which was a bit of a relief because I sort of miss Western food and culture. Anyways, I would recommend going to Otaru early before the afternoon because by the time we got there, all the pleasure boat tours that go around the bay were finished and apparently the scenery is really nice around there.

Returning from Otaru, we went back to the hotel to rest because we were all so tired.


Day 33

I woke up early again to catch the subway to our 7:30 train back to Hakodate. I slept the whole way back, oh BTW the train cost 10,000 Yen there and back. Yeah, so I got back home and did some laundry, took a shower, and took a nap, did some homework, and went to bed.


Day 34

It was my first day back to school. I feel kind of strange being back in Hakodate after the weekend in Sapporo, the fifth largest city in Japan. I also felt wierd having to go back to school because I really just wanted to explore the city and travel around and see more like I did in Sapporo. Anyways, school:s fine, but I kind of feel like I should be concentrating more on seeing Hakodate and the surrounding area and experiencing it rather than concentrating everything on my work.


Day 35

Toiday I went to school and now I:m going to Judo! We had a great lecutre after school about the Japanese and their view on religion. It was given by David Gardnier from COlorado College. I would really recommend going to the lecture if you come to HIF. It was by far the most interesting one so far. Anyways, now it:s off to Judo to get my ass kicked!

Days 22-28

Day 22

It:s rained today. A lot. So I took the cable car this morning from the train station to HIF. I also didn:t finish my essay for class, so I quickly finished it before school started. Unfortunately when I got to class, I found out that we had a quiz, but I didn:t get the vocab list that the quiz was on, so i pretty much shippai shita. Class was difficult today as I was a bit underprepared. I went to Lucky Pierrot for lunch though because there was a sale on the pizzas there. Attencion! Don:t ever order the pizza from Lucky Pierrot even if it:s on sale! It was the greasiest thing I:ve ever seen. I feared for my life that the pool of grease would engulf me and do me in.

After, I went back to HIF for the kimono culture and ettiquite class. It was pretty cool and I learned a lot about how to wear a yukata, and more importantly, how to tie the yukata belt. It made me want to take my yukata back to Yale to wear everyday.
I went home for dinner, but my parents were on a travel trip so I had was on my own to forage for food. I ended up buying a bento from the Hasegawa store near my house and just eating that.


Day 23

Today in class, our host parents came to watch us debate. Unfortunately, my parents didn:t come because they:re still on their business trip. We debated on the Japanese education system, but I sounded quite incompetent and incoherent because my Japanese isn:t good enough yet. After that I went to the last pottery class and glazed my pot. Then I came back to HIF with Bailey to wait until Judo time.

When we left for Judo we ran into some High school students running down the HIF hill in costumes handing out papers. One girl approached me and tried to get me to do a survey for a parade that they were having for a school festival. Each class dressed up in a different costume and had a large themed float-like thing they were carrying on their shoulders. Man, how I wish I had my camera! Drat it:s still broken.

So I went to Judo with Bailey and got my ass kicked today. It was quite refreshing and I learned a lot. Anyways, I was covered in sweat and smelly, and had to go out to dinner after practice, so Bailey and I asked our Judo coach where a public bath was that we could freshen up in. Sensei ended up taking us in his car to a nearby public bath where I paid 300 yen to use the shower and bath there. I had no towel or soap, so I borrowed a towel and bought some cow soap (the alternative was herb soap, but that:s not nearly as fun) before heading butt naked into the public bath full of Japanese men. It wasn:t too awkward. Coming from Yale, I:m used to the whole being naked thing and all. So I showered and met Bailey outside the bath.

Side note: Bailey:s name is really spelled Bay Lee, so sorry if I get it confused

We walked to Goryokaku where we met up with some other HIFfers before embarking on Tabe-hodai (all you can eat in an hour and a half) Shabu Shabu. It was glorious. Plates of paper-thin raw beef, heaps of veggies, and seas of udon endlessly appeared like magic before our eyes. Very fulfilling. The tabe-hodai place is right by the gorokaku coen mae stop across from Daiei in case anyone:s interested.

So dinner ended at 9:45 and everyone went home because it was getting late. I waited at the cable car stop for a bit, but then looked at the schedule to find that the last cable car was at 9:58. Too late. Luckily, Bay Lee:s parents were going to pick her up, so I asked them for a ride to the train station, but they drove me all the way home! (about a 15 min drive) They were so nice and so awesome, I wish they were my parents.


Day 24

Today was the BBQ with the Iai high school girls. Good times were had by all HIFfers and Iai English club girls. Their shirts said *speak it sister!* because they:re in the english club at an all girls school. I found it quite amusing. I ended up talking with White-san and a student (Chisato) for a bit and we made a date to see the new Harry Potter movie when it comes out. Chisato commented that White-san was iroppai (sexy) and we taught her how to say iroppai in English.

Ato de, I went up the Goryokaku tower with Bailey and Emily. The HIF office gave everyone in the program free tickets, so if you:re thinking of going up the tower, be sure to ask HIF if they:re giving out free tickets first.

Today was also Tanabata matsuri. A festival when small children go around to the houses in the neighborhood, sing a song, and get free candy. Think Halloween without the scary costumes. It was quite cute and all, but I didn:t get to go out with my family because when I came home from Goryokaku, my brothers had already left from the house. I don:t really get to do anything with my family because they:re always so busy/ are so jaded after hosting kids for 20 years. Beware of Jaded host families, yo!


Day 25

Today I did nothing but study for a test on Monday. The weather was brilliant today after all those days of rain, so I went to the beach across the highway from my house. I studied and tanned there all day and that was about it. There are lots of clam shells on the beach here. I found some nice shells and took them back to mi casa. Tonight, I took a shower and discovered that my nicely reddened shoulders were in quite a lot of pain. I don:t know how to say sunburn in Japanese, but I sure got one here! Luckily, I have some nice body butter to keep my skin happy though :)


Day 26

Today I went to school as usual and had my test. It went alright I think. That:s about all that happened at school. Afterwards, I learned how to play the ancient game of Igo. It:s pretty hard and I don:t understand the strategy yet. I ended up losing 3 times straight to Alyssa :\ It:s really confusing. It:s not like checkers or chess at all even though it looks like it.

I did some research today on the net about new cameras and after school I went to Yamada Denki to look for one. I ended up not buying anything because I found two cameras there that I liked and watned to do some more research. And yeah that was about it and then I went home to do some homework.


Day 27

Today I went to school and everything was normal. Afterwards, I went back to Yamada Denki and decided to buy the Sony T100. It:s pretty awesome and I love it, except I can:t change the menu language to anything other than Japanese. Oh well I guess I just have to learn more Japanese! Yay!

As a concluding thought for the day, even though I:m in Japan, I feel like I went in some wierd time warp and am in America back in the 80s/90s, but everyone speaks Japanese. Everything about Japan is eighties nowadays. The hair styles and fashions scream excess, eighties, and anything goes. The mullet and men with long hair are in. Girls wear side pony tails and have crazy outfits. Acid wash/ stressed jeans are all the rage and Japanese guys wear jeans with so many holes that they have to wear another pair of pants underneath.

My host brother listens to the Rocky soundtrack every day. He says it:s his training music. Eye of the Tiger is on repeat as he tries to learn it on his guitar. Tonight, I watched Full House with my family, but it was all dubbed in Japanese. I told my mom that Mary Kate and Ashley Olsen are like in their 20s now and she couldn:t believe it. My host brothers even laughed at the jokes on Full House. It:s so odd. I feel like Japanese culture, humor, style, and music are all being replaced by the American way of Life. Kids have stopped obeying their parents. Homosexuality is even now only recently being discussed among people other than sociologists. The sexual revolution has arrived in Japan. The Japanese don:t know too many American bands, only some know the rappers, but everyone from my host mom to the Iai high school girls knows Cyndi Lauper. What was her last good song? Girls Just Want to Have Fun?

What is happening to Japan? What is happening to the Japanese? What is happening to the Japanese language? Nobody knows how to use keigo (polite speech) anymore. There was a newspaper scandal about how an author didn:t use keigo when talking about the emperor. Who else would you use keigo with if not the Emperor of Japan?

All of these thoughts are of great concern to me. I fear for the future of Japanese culture...now, on with the show.


Day 28

I went to school today and tried out my camera on the way to school. Here are a few pictures I took on my commute.

This is a Japanese toilet sign

Here are some of the happy residents of Hakodate that I pass by everyday. There are so many seafood places here! So much live seafood and so fresh! It:s kind of sad. I have the burning desire to push over all the tanks and set them free! Why torture the poor animals by making them wait until they have to die? Anyways, whatever. Freshest is the bestest right?

Days 13-21

Day 13

Today Japanese college students came into class and I got to ask them questions about what college life is like in Japan. It was pretty cool, and Cortina-san and I taught them about Sake Bombing, they thought it was hilarious.

After class, I went back to the pottery place for the second sesh of pottery making. I really recommend doing the pottery activity at HIF because it:s lots of fun and the sensei are really helpful, patient and nice. Oh yeah and after I finished, I went upstairs with some other HIF people at the pottery place and listened to the sensei:s husband:s Jazz collection. He had the biggest stereo I:ve ever seen in someone:s house and was blasting the Modern Jazz Quartet.

Today I also had ika sumie soft cream a.k.a. squid ink ice cream! It was pretty tasty, but I can:t say that it:s my favorite. It tasted like speakers I thought, but other people thought it tasted like charcoal or smoke. A must try if you come to Hakodate.



Day 14

Today I got to try Kyuudoo at the local all girls high school. Kyuudoo is the ancient art of Japanese archery with ginormous bows that are like bigger than I am. First the teacher showed us a presentation of a formal archery session. There was a lot of special positions and protocol before he actually shot the arrow. Unlike archery I:ve done in America that took seconds to shoot an arrow, it took the sensei about 5 min at least to shoot one arrow. I guess the sport is just as much about skill as it is about the tradition behind the art of Kyuudoo. Drawing the huge bow wasn:t as hard as I thought it would be, it:s actually quite fun, but I was still amazed that little 15 year old girls can draw a huge huge bow. Really incredible.


Day 15

So I didn:t finish my homework before going to class today. It was quite taihen. In other news, I went to Jyuudou at Chubu High School. It was a lot of fun tumbling around, doing handstands, etc. at the trial day. There were a lot of HIF people there and it was quite crowded. Anyway, I plan to go to Jyuudou every day! Homework today was taihen because I had to write a speech for the speech contest coming up. I chose to write about whether or not people should have televisions in their houses. Anyways, I don:t think I:ll make it far in the speech contest, but everyone has to do it so sikata ga nai.


Day 16

The Hakodate University students came to class again today. This time they talked about the admission process to get into Japanese colleges. First the students have two options: They can either take a test, or have an interview and hope to get in that way. Apparently, they have to take the admission test at the university they want to get in to. My host mom said that the hotels/ hostels in Tokyo are all booked up around admission time because of all the students taking their tests. Our student also said that they generally don:t apply to many colleges because they have to take so many tests and that most students choose the test option over the interview becasue the interview:s a lot harder.

After class, Mr. Ozawa (the awesomely cool program director at HIF) helped me get my tickets for this year:s Summer Sonic concert in Tokyo. It:s goonna be awesome and I:m so excited! check it out to see the sweet line up: www.summersonic.com

Then I went to Goryokaku to ring in the weekend (it was Friday night). I met up with some other HIF people, including Mr. Jack Yamada and some Russian University students. We (all 12 of us!) went to a restaurant for nomihodai (all you can drink) in Goryokaku. I talked with some of Jack:s friends from Tokyo who frequent the Shinjuku district and asked them about good bars and clubs. After that, we went to another bar, but I didn:t get anything because it was getting late and I live really far away and I had to be home before ten.


Day 17

TOday all the HIFfers went to Onuma Park for an overnight trip. The park was pretty awesome with lots of nature and a large lake filled with islands. The area is famous for its bears so there were lots of bear pelts and taxidermied bears. Unfortunately I couldn:t spend too much time in the park because the HIF schedule only allowed 2 hours there to get lunch and explore. Oh yeah for lunch I had a giant yaki soba plate as big around as my arms. It was pretty steki.

Anyways, we all got back on the bus to go to the Hotel Greenpia where we would be staying. When we got there, the hotel was in the middle of nowhere in a valley, but had a sort of resort area and park surrounding it. There were hiking trails, which I went on, but couldn:t go up very far because of all the bear warning signs and there were lots of like park golf and a slider and an atv course and bicycle rentals (all of which cost money, of course), but I didn:t go on those. I did, however, find a large pile of discarded tires and climbed on that with some friends, that was one of the highlights of that day. There is also a fittness/ obstcle course that:s pretty fun. Watch out for ticks if you go hiking. There:s also a great pool there with a water slide, but I didn:t go to it because it cost 200 yen.

That night, there was a dinner party complete with lots of karaoke entertainment. The food was great and the singing teachers were hilarious. Apres de ca, I went to the onsen (Japanese bath) with some friends. It was nice and realaxing, but really really hot! I couldn:t handle staying in there for too long. By the way, you have to go in completely naked and can only bring in a small towel, which you:re supposed to wear on your head. Coming out of the onsen, I was surprised to find that my towel had been stolen, so I kind of borrowed someone else:s to dry off before putting on my yukata (Japanese bath robe like thing).

Then the fun began and I celebrated being in Japan by having a party in the hotel room with some friends. I don:t know if I can write this, but if you are 20 years of age (legal in Japan) I recommend buying beverages before coming to the hotel because the stuff at the hotel baiten is wayyy over priced. Hahaha oh yeah and when we first arrived at the hotel, the hotel workers gave us a demonstration of how to use a card key to open a door.


Day 18

I woke up and left Onuma quite early, arriving back in Hokutoshi around 11 in the morning. I went with Charles to his host family:s house because we were going to do zazen that day. Zazen turned out to be zen buddhist meditation. It lasted from 1 to 6 in the evening. I had a great time and it was an amazing cultural experience. I learned a lot about the proper way to meditate and in between the meditation sessions, we listened to a lecture from a monk and copied a sutra. Apparently if you write the sutra, you can write a wish at the end and it will come true. While meditating, I was really really tired from enjoying myself the night before but if you fall asleep while meditating, a monk will come and slap you with a stick. I only got slapped once, but some people got slapped multiple times. Apparently with zazen, you:re not supposed to close your eyes while meditating. I usually meditate with my eyes closed, so it was a little difficult to concentrate on nothing with my eyes open.

After the meditation finished, the monks served us some okai, tsukemono, and sesame tofu. It was all really tasty (and vegan!). When I finished eating, a monk came by and poured tea into my rice bowl ?_? Charles: host mom said that I had to clean the bowl using a piece of pickled cucumber. I did, and then I had to pour the dirty tea into my other bowl and clean that one too, after that I had to drink the nasty dirty tea with all the floating little pieces of food and I had to eat the piece of cucumber I washed everything with. Ewwww........ gross, but apparently they do it at all Buddhist temples in Japan so cleaning is easier for the person cleaning the dishes and it:s good manners.


Day 19

Today I went to class, it was hard as usual. AFter class, while waiting for Judo to start, I made reservations at a hotel (Guest House Nonaka) in Sapporo for the nakayasumi break. Unfortunately every single hotel I could find on the internet in Sapporo (including then one i:m staying at) is booked the night of the 14th, so I don:t know what I:m going to do with my friends that night. Making reservations was a huge pain because I had to call and then fax over a list of which boys and girls would be staying in which rooms and then I had to call again to make sure the guy got the fax. The first reservation I tried to make with my friends got cancelled because of some wierd Japanese formality about confirming reservations. Anyways, I recommend MAKE SAPPORO RESERVATIONS ASAP!

Oh and Judo turned out to be canceled yesterday.


Day 20

Today after class, I went to Asahi Elementary school with the HIFfers. We got to play with little kids and it was so amazing! I played with a class of fifth graders and taught them how to play telephone. The little boy sitting next to me kept telling me who liked who in the class, but how he didn:t like anyone. And the girl sitting next to me kept tapping my knee for some reason. In the kids: classroom were paintings of a building next to HIF that they did and they were craaaazy good. I couldn:t believe that fifth graders painted these things by hand, they were better than anything I could do in fifth grade, that:s for sure.

After that, I went to Judo with Adi and Ross. Practice this time was wayy more hardcore and I actually got to learn how to trip people and how to grapple. It was lots of fun, exhausting, and a great work out. I really want to continue it, but I definitely got thrown around pretty good. My lower back hurts a lot today, so I don:t know what I:m going to do. Practice also got out after 7:00 so by the time I caught the shi-den (cable car) and the JR train back to Kamiiso, it was already 8:40 and then I had to eat dinner alone because the family had already finished eating and then of course, I had homework to start. It was extremely taihen. At this point, I:m thinking of just going to half of the practice, especially if they:re going to be every day.


Day 21

Today I went to class. I:m not going to Judo today because I have to do laundry and I:m going to a gospel rehersal tonight, so I:ve gotta prepare my singing voice! Today we had to do some project work for class. I don:t like project work　because it:s just more work. But it might be interesting, if not stressful. Oh yeah p.s. my camera died on Friday night because it was in my back pack and the lense got scratched =( BIG =( now I gotta get a new one =(