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.