The Last Month, Part 1 of ???

     I could start by saying, “it’s been awhile…” But, I don’t really want to dwell on the absence. Things are, if not ideal, certainly busy for my life in Japan. I almost forget everything that has happened. Furthermore, this blog (as I knew it would be) is a lot of work to do, in addition to the classes. Speaking of classes…ouch. It is amazing just how difficult it is for me to learn the Japanese language. Though, I will continue to try. I will not give up, but I might take really long breaks from time to time.

The above photo is a view of the surrounding area of the Budokan, to be explained further down.

     I find that the hardest bits for me, in becoming more proficient with the language, are the acquisition of new vocabulary. I do not have the type of mind that associates one word/sound with the meaning of another. I can however understand and quickly process/learn kanji. I think it is the pictoral nature of kanji, paired with my way of visually learning. I might not be able to read aloud a Japanese sentence, but I can at least gleam some kind of meaning from them (sometimes), even if I couldn’t tell you the actual word it depicts. I am curious how many other people have the same trouble in learning Japanese, or any other language for that matter.

     I do hope that people understand that I am not trying to be modest of my Japanese ability. I really am not that good at this whole “learning-a-second-language” thing. I might figure it out one day, but it will be very slow moving till then. I am happy to report, however, that my frustrations with learning Japanese have not hurt my love of Japanese culture and learning more of it. I am able to understand some things with a new lens, while realizing things about Japanese culture I don’t think I could learn in a book, or by watching a movie.

     Now, about my experiences here. I have started Aikido (ish) and have become an official member (I think) of the Aiki Budo club on the TGU campus. I’ve explored much more of my area around my dormitory. I’m cooking more exciting things, with the purchase of a grill. And… I’ve lost weight.

     Aikido first. I have attended a month’s worth of classes. So far for this month I have been unable to attend, due to finances and time concerns. I feel that it is a shame that the reason stopping me from doing things while here in Japan seems so petty. I had known that things wouldn’t be cheap here, but I failed to plan for some other costs. Shoganai (Japanese meaning, “nothing can be done,” or, “it cannot be helped”).

In The Meantime...

    Instead of studying, as I undoubted should be doing, I am stalling to write this update. In all reality, I haven't done all that much during this past period known as 'Golden Week.' I spent a large majority of the time off, relaxing in my room. While here, I have studied, played games, written, made 'art,' and watched videos from various sources. I must say, I have enjoyed it.

    Tonight, after my classes for Friday, I will make my way to the Aikido Kobayashi Dojo, I've mentioned in previous posts and on the "AIKIDO/BUDO" portion of the blog. At this time, I do not know what style of training I'll be in store for, but I hope it will live up to my dreams of Aikido training in Japan (as I'm sure it will).

    I attempted to visit the Kobayashi Dojo this past Sunday, as indicated on my FB page (and the AIKIDO/BUDO page), I found that the Dojo was closed for Golden Week. I was happy to have at least located the dojo itself. I have been in contact with an assistant instructor at the dojo, who has been most helpful. I am still waiting to see if the Aikido Kobayashi Dojo is Aikikai affiliated, but am excited to continue practicing regardless.

    Although, I have found an Aikido dojo to practice at, I will not stop attending the Aiki Budo club at TGU. At the university club, I have met some wonderful people. And, granted, the style is quite foreign to me, it is an enjoyable experience learning new things. Hopefully, the Aiki Budo training will (under my direction, surely) manifest itself in ways that will strengthen my traditional Aikido practice. I'm very excited and generally quite hopeful. Now, to siphon some of this enthusiasm and focus to learning the language better...

No Clever Title

     It has been nearly a week since my last post. A lot has happened (including me being lazy).I'm fairly certain that I have my chosen classes figured out. I'm not happy that some of courses I wanted to take will conflict with others I have to take, but there is always a way to learn what I want. In addition to school news, I have been allowed wonderful opportunities in making new friends. Friends that can help me with my Japanese. One of my bigger fears, before coming to Japan, was that I would be stuck making friends that only speak English, and that I would not be able (or be forced) to use my Japanese. Most thankfully, that is not the case.

     My current class schedule is as follows:

	Period I 8:50—10:20	Period II 10:30—12:00	Period III 12:50—2:20	Period IV 2:30—4:00	Period V 4:10—5:40
MONDAY	Comprehensive Japanese	Japanese Reading	—	—	—
TUESDAY	Comprehensive Japanese	Kanji	—	—	Intro to Japanese Music: Shakuhachi
WEDNESDAY	Comprehensive Japanese	Japanese Listening	—	Culture Clashes	—
THURSDAY	Comprehensive Japanese	Kanji	Traditional Performing Arts of Japan	—	—
FRIDAY	Comprehensive Japanese	Japanese Conversation	—	—	Cultural/Social Culture of the Japanese

     Perhaps it is not the most intensive schedule, while considering only meeting once a week, but the intensity of the language lessons might balance that out.

     I was disappointed not being able to take the Judo class (along with "Modern and Contemporary Cultures of Japan"). I am investigating whether or not I can make room for the Judo club activities, along with my Aikido desires. The biggest difficulties with participating in any extra activities is that I do not possess the free flowing funds to just "do it." I need to balance my costs, daily, to hope that I can continue doing all the fun things I want to here. The costs of food, is rather high, but I have begun to discover secrets to make yen last longer. For instance, I discovered a little convenience store on Gakugei campus (with help from a classmate from my Japanese language classes) that have bento style lunches for under 400 yen. Before, I would purchase half the amount of food in these lunches for twice the price. I have also been eating a good deal of ramen. Something I suppose a college student can never truly escape. Although, the ramen here is much more filling, and better in many regards (or, perhaps that is an unconscious bias — regardless I enjoy it).

     Other costs, not entirely anticipated, include buying books for classes, a sort of safety deposit on my room, and a new backpack (mine ripped, literally, in half). Also, to cut down on the amount I would bring with to Japan, I forgo bringing dishes, kettle, massive amounts of clothes, an umbrella, and various other things like soap and toothpaste that I knew I could just purchase in Japan. Plus, I tried to budget for my Aikido expenses, but did not consider the extremity of transportation costs, or time involved. Much rethinking, and budgeting is being done.

     I need to be leaving for school soon, so I will cut this short. But, there is more to come. I feel like I am finally settling in. Which is good, though I wonder, in the back of my head, "What next?"

Classes Have Begun

     It has been a few days, but the time has come to update, accordingly. Classes have started here for me. And, although not too difficult (yet, I imagine) the structure and experiences are ever so complicated. As of now I have only taken my Japanese language courses. A majority of the other courses meet only once a week, and in some cases less frequently than that. Classes that I am planning to take at this time, in addition to Japanese language, conversation and kanji, are as follows: "Traditional Performing Arts of Japan," "Cross-Cultural Ideas," "Culture Clashes," "Cultural Social Psychology of the Japanese," and "Introduction to Japanese Music: Playing Shakuhachi."

     I might also look into taking a field course, "Geography of Japan: Historical Landscape of Yokohama and Kamakura, in Kanagawa Prefecture." This field course appears to basically be a series of field trips around the area. History and travel both work for me. I am somewhat saddened that I cannot take a Judo class being offered, or a modern/contemporary culture class, due to my Japanese language studies. But, the overall reason for my trip is to strengthen my Japanese speaking ability.

     My walk to the Gakugei campus takes roughly 30 minutes, and affords a very beautiful series of views. I'll work at taking and posting more photos of the changing scenery here. Speaking of which, in Japan it is the time associated with cherry blossoms. Many trees are in bloom and as summer approaches, they are dropping cherry blossom petals, almost a reminder of fallen snow. On the "PHOTOS" page I have included a handful of images of the cherry blossoms, or sakura. The sakura shape is very distinct, and has become, to a certain degree, an identity for Japanese beauty, and certainly a symbolic concept.

     On this past Saturday, I went to a hanami,  or "flower viewing" party. Deep down, I know the flower viewing was important, but people here at the Hitotsubashi Village really enjoy partying. I was able to speak a great deal with other students from all over Asia (Korea, Thailand, Taiwan, China and of course, Japan). The best part being, sometimes the only common language we would have would be Japanese. And, with any party, drinks were provided. And, with drinks, I become much more talkative. It was a good time that ended with me sleeping really hard and resting well through the night (of my own accord, in my own bed... thank you).

     The most difficult part about living in Japan, currently, is that I want to eat something from every shop I walk past, and stop in for a treat at every convenience store. I could spend my entire time here eating. The difficult part arises when I realize that I have no where near that kind of money. We'll see how things play out, but I'm sure that learning how to cook traditional Japanese food will remain a priority. In fact, I think they have a club for that...

     For now, I need to return to studying, responding to emails, and working out time slots for practicing Aikido. Perhaps I mentioned it, but TGU has an Aikido club, although of a slightly different style. I plan to investigate. Also, there is a local dojo (that is not an hour away like Hombu is, sadly) that I would like to learn more about. I'm thinking that when I find a place for Aikido practice, I will make a tab at the top of the page for "AIKIDO" so as not to bore some of you non-practioners with my aiki-lingo.

A Less Than Sunny, Sunday

     Things here have been wonderfully busy, with a dash of lazy. It has been a few days since the last update, and with that time, I have learned more about my neighborhood (by getting lost in it) and learned more about my current university. Adventures have been had, indeed. As mentioned, I discovered the location of TGU with relative ease on Saturday. On Sunday, I returned to the campus to attempt to properly locate the proper buildings. That Sunday, absolutely no luck. There are 3 or 4 entrance I now know of, while only one "main" gate entrance. However, this last Sunday had some sort of event taking place that confused my understanding of TGU building placements. I've since learned (in TGU orientations on Wednesday morning) that the campus also contains a middle/high school as well. I believe that the events on Sunday were school related in regard to the younger students. In the end, I still wandered the campus, with no clear direction, and before long, ventured back home… ish.

     I figured an attempt at a different way home, in hopes of seeing more of the city of Kodaira, would do me well. I walked west of the university grounds, and then south. At some point I found myself at Kokubunji Station. I explored the station, and its nine floors of shopping. Not really much for me to want to buy, but I think I like some of the items for sale at UNIQLO. I would say that UNIQLO is almost like a Japanese H&M meets Target. It was fairly affordable, and worth revisiting.

     At about this point, on Sunday, I was reasonably hungry. After touring the food court level of the station, I opted to leave the station and find a cheaper noodle place. I was soon in an awesome little udon shop. I really had wanted udon to be the first thing I ate in Japan, but I hadn't been so lucky. This shop made up for it. I ordered kitsune udon (sometimes referred to as fox udon) and purchased a side of tempura squash. Absolutely delicious!

     Re-energized, I set off to officially return home. The route proved... far longer than anticipated. Truthfully, I was completely lost, in the worst way. Well, not the worst, really. I was not so lost that I was ready to panic and be forced to use my Japanese (the little I could have used to discover proper direction back), but enough to be completely unsure of exactly where I was. I mean, I knew I was in Japan still. Fairly certain I hadn't walked out of Kokubunji or Kodaira. Though, looking at a map now, I was just over-exaggerating my trip home. I walked a very large circle, walking beyond the Hitotsubashi Village about a kilometer or so. I probably returned home about 6:00 pm, after leaving that morning around 9:00 am. It was a good day, providing a great excuse to go to bed early.

     Monday was spent discovering (using the internet, not my feet) places in my neighborhood to shop for inexpensive food. I discovered, within a 10 minute walk, a very nice Lawson 100 store, where much of the items for sale are 100 yen. This doesn't always prove to be a deal, but often times it can. These item are usually items sold in smaller sizes. I am happy to know its location, and plan to return.

     After the walk to the convenience store, I rested a bit, talked with some of you back in the States, and set forth for a Hitotsubashi orientation in the village Plaza building. After the orientation, which detailed living in the village community, cell phone companies, net providers and a Japanese police representative talked with all us. Informative, too informative. I feel that I have been inundated with too much, too fast. To relax my brain, I looked up Aikido dojos in the area.

     Aikido in Japan is going to be, well, not so much as difficult, as much as expensive and trickier than expected. Hombu Dojo is in Shinjuku (a neighborhood of Japan). While not impossible to get to, it is further than I had anticipated. To travel from my university to Hombu would require multiple trains (multiple option on top of that) and a good deal of time walking. I am not opposed to walking (yet), but the commute to Hombu Dojo from my dorm would be about an hour and a half, open way. I need to look into other options, maybe closer. Hombu is still a treat to look forward to, though! More Aikido news to come, without a doubt.