First week of school!
Sorry again about the lack of updates, school just smacked me in the face and I'm nonstop busy now.
After a lot of confusion last week about classes, I eventually got my schedule ironed out.
Classes I'm taking:
Japanese M3
Anime and Globalization
Management in Japan
International Trade
My favorite class so far is Japanese -- we have 2 professors and both are really nice. Its by far my most work intensive class, but I can feel myself getting a lot better at Japanese already. The first Test is tomorrow! Wish me luck
Management in Japan seems like a pretty cool class, but the professor has been sick the last 2 weeks and we've essentially only had one full class session so far. I'm not sure what the class is going to be like, but so far we've discussed business classifications of societies (collectivist v individualist societies) and how the anthropological view of cultures. So, its been pretty interesting so far, I hope the professor comes back to teach some more....
International Trade is basically just another Econ class that deals with trade, the professor is a really nice Japanese guy who is kind of hard to understand.
Now for a story about Anime and Globalization. When my friends and I signed up for classes, most of us signed up for this thinking it would be a large lecture hall where we'd watch anime and then discuss the effects of it worldwide. Turns out every other international kid thought the same. The class ended up with 140 people signed up, but the classroom hat it was hosted in is more of a seminar/discussion room. So the first day was essentially the professor trying to coerce people to leave the class. I really don't know how Sophia didn't anticipate this at all... It gave me a bad impression of the administration and organizational skills at Sophia. But hey, there are only around 40 people in the class now. This class is pretty interesting so far, we started from pre-World War II and have discussed the impact of Japanese militarization and the animation industry. I'm learning about a lot of Japanese cultural aspects that I wouldn't have otherwise thought of.
Now back to studying!
I think I'll make my next post about food here... I've been having a lot of great meals
Wednesday, April 22, 2015
Wednesday, April 8, 2015
Sorry about the lack of updates! I've had a very busy past few days
Since my last post I've done a ton and I'll post all that I can remember! I'm not really sure how to post pictures on here, but as soon as I'll figure it out I'll add some. Don't worry everyone, I have been taking pictures! Once I figure out how to post pictures here I'll probably edit my posts to include them! Thanks for reading :)
4/4/2015
So I did end up going to Harajuku and buying a lot of clothes. Too many clothes I think. The Japanese clothes kind of fit weird, but they're all really high quality and very nice. I bought a Stussy shirt from some Hip Hop fashion store, and then I bought a shirt from this punk store called Secret Base. It was really cool because I had a pretty big talk about Kirk Hammet's San Jose Fear Fest with the store attendant! Buying clothes is a very good way to practice your Japanese here. The shirt was designed by Pushead (the artist who did Metallica album covers and a few Misfits albums if I'm not mistaken). My last purchase from Harajuku was from the Bathing Ape store (AT LONG LAST!!!). That store was one of the coolest things I've ever seen. The shirt was the only thing there in my price range, but I'm glad I bought it! Harajuku is a very cool place and everyone is very fashionable. It might be my favorite area of Japan so far, but like everything its super crowded. We also stopped by this Toy store called Kiddyland which was basically heaven for a little boy or girl! I definitely will go back there and pick up some souvenirs before I leave. Later that night we went out with Teppei (one of the students from DK House) because it was his last night before leaving to Nagoya to start work. He took us to a cheap international bar where we met a bunch of other clueless foreigners trying to talk with Japanese people. Good vibes all around.
4/5/2015
Today we hung out in Ikebukuro and went to see the Pokemon Center and the Studio Ghbili store! WOW! The Pokemon Center was literally my 11 year old dreamland. They had almost everything I could ever want. It was really geared for Japanese kids, so most of the Pokemon were more recent than the ones I grew up with. I think it was a bit overpriced, and I couldn't find Sharpedo toys there for my nephew, Austin. The Studio Ghibli store was very awesome! They had merchandise for most the Hayao Miyazaki movies (Spirited Away, My Neighbor Totoro, Howl's Moving Castle ect.). I really wanted to buy something in there, but I said I'd withhold on buying anything Ghibli related until we go to the museum in Tokyo. That's right. There is a museum dedicated to Studio Ghibli somewhere in Japan. All my other exchange student friends can't wait to go, but apparently you have to reserve tickets a month or so in advance. After shopping around Ikebukuro, one of the Japanese students from our dorm took us out for cheap dinner. We had Yakitori, Okonomiyaki, Takoyaki and a bunch of various other amazing foods. The food here is relatively cheap, but I haven't had a bad meal yet. For Desert our Japanese friend ordered us these things called "Oppai Ice". "Oppai" in Japanese is slang for a large women's breasts, so I was kind of weirded out when he ordered it. Even more weirded out when the things came to the table. Basically they took a balloon and filled it up with with Vanilla Ice cream and there was a little hole on the end to suck the Ice Cream out of. I guess like breastfeeding..... yea. So we passed those around the table and many laughs were had just because the ridiculousness of the whole thing. The ice cream was actually very tasty!! After Dinner we went to this huge Japanese Department store called Don Quixote in Ikebukuro. It has 7 stories of pretty much everything you can imagine. I ended up buying a pair of socks that said Takoyaki on it. (I really love the Japanese clothes, this might be a problem ><;)
4/6/2015
HANAMI!!!! So, Shouta, my support student who picked me up from the airport, invited me to his circle's (Japanese social group/club thing) Flower Viewing party in Yoyogi park. I feel that its just an excuse for Japanese college students to day drink.. That said it was very fun and a great social experience!! I met a lot of cool Japanese people and foreigners and was able to practice a lot of my Japanese. I think I might join the circle because they practice English and Japanese everyday at lunch. Very good for learning how to converse in Japan! I didn't drink as much as some of the Japanese students, so me and my friends walked to the Meiji shrine afterwards! IT IS SO BEAUTIFUL AND SERENE. Japanese temples have a very unique ambiance to them. I can't wait to go to Kyoto and see some more! That night we had Kaitenzushi which is basically the Japanese Sushi Boat. Apparently its cheaper than other Sushi places you might go to in Japan. Either way, it was amazing and I had my fill of Unagi! Later on that night, me and a few friends ended up at a cheap bar in Shinjuku and we played Japanese drinking games with locals. It's very cool to see the different culture here. Japanese are more social drinkers than in America I believe. They don't really party too hard (but they do drink a lot), and just enjoy each others company! I am getting pretty sick of drinking so much though. I'm hoping school starts soon, so I can see some more serious aspects of the college culture here!
4/7/2015
It was so cold and rainy yesterday! The club fair at Sophia started up, so I went with a few friends to scope out some clubs I wanted to join. We only got to see two before we got rained out and had to leave. But I got to see an Aikido demonstration in the Dojo and got to try my hand at Archery (I suck at it). We walked around the Sophia University area and found the Hotel New Otani! It's literally right across the street and I didn't even know. We had lunch in Akasaka Mitsuke for pretty cheap. I had Katsu Curry Don which was pork cutlet with curry over rice. Amazing. Like I said the food here never dissapoints. Later on that day we shopped around Nakano, and went out for Monjyayaki and Oknomiyaki. I bought 2 pairs of shorts from Uniqlo because I couldn't resist. There's this Kabuki themed release they have going on and I couldn't resist buying some Japanese shorts. Anyway, I want to talk about the Monjyayaki and Okonomiyaki restaurant! It was 1500 yen for all you can eat for 2 hours!! They sat us down in a table really close to the ground and we ordered various flavors of Monjyayaki and Okonomiyaki and grilled them ourselves! For those who don't know, Okonomiyaki is sort of like a pancake with whatever various foods you can find stuffed in it. Monjyayaki is very similar to Okonomiyaki, but instead of eating it like a pancake, you chop it up into a sort of paste and eat that. It was really really fun and I got pretty good at flipping the Okonomiyaki. I'm definitely going to try to make some when I get home!
Its sunny and warm again today! I said I'd go back to the club fair and see what other clubs I could join! Tonight a bunch of exchange students wanted to go to Roppongi and check out the nightclubs. Roppongi is the infamous area in Tokyo for foreigners and nightlife, so I'll update on how that goes soon. Should be interesting! I'm looking for some good local music clubs here, as it seems that most of them just play poppy EDM and Avici (at least from what I've heard). Until next time everyone!
Since my last post I've done a ton and I'll post all that I can remember! I'm not really sure how to post pictures on here, but as soon as I'll figure it out I'll add some. Don't worry everyone, I have been taking pictures! Once I figure out how to post pictures here I'll probably edit my posts to include them! Thanks for reading :)
4/4/2015
So I did end up going to Harajuku and buying a lot of clothes. Too many clothes I think. The Japanese clothes kind of fit weird, but they're all really high quality and very nice. I bought a Stussy shirt from some Hip Hop fashion store, and then I bought a shirt from this punk store called Secret Base. It was really cool because I had a pretty big talk about Kirk Hammet's San Jose Fear Fest with the store attendant! Buying clothes is a very good way to practice your Japanese here. The shirt was designed by Pushead (the artist who did Metallica album covers and a few Misfits albums if I'm not mistaken). My last purchase from Harajuku was from the Bathing Ape store (AT LONG LAST!!!). That store was one of the coolest things I've ever seen. The shirt was the only thing there in my price range, but I'm glad I bought it! Harajuku is a very cool place and everyone is very fashionable. It might be my favorite area of Japan so far, but like everything its super crowded. We also stopped by this Toy store called Kiddyland which was basically heaven for a little boy or girl! I definitely will go back there and pick up some souvenirs before I leave. Later that night we went out with Teppei (one of the students from DK House) because it was his last night before leaving to Nagoya to start work. He took us to a cheap international bar where we met a bunch of other clueless foreigners trying to talk with Japanese people. Good vibes all around.
4/5/2015
Today we hung out in Ikebukuro and went to see the Pokemon Center and the Studio Ghbili store! WOW! The Pokemon Center was literally my 11 year old dreamland. They had almost everything I could ever want. It was really geared for Japanese kids, so most of the Pokemon were more recent than the ones I grew up with. I think it was a bit overpriced, and I couldn't find Sharpedo toys there for my nephew, Austin. The Studio Ghibli store was very awesome! They had merchandise for most the Hayao Miyazaki movies (Spirited Away, My Neighbor Totoro, Howl's Moving Castle ect.). I really wanted to buy something in there, but I said I'd withhold on buying anything Ghibli related until we go to the museum in Tokyo. That's right. There is a museum dedicated to Studio Ghibli somewhere in Japan. All my other exchange student friends can't wait to go, but apparently you have to reserve tickets a month or so in advance. After shopping around Ikebukuro, one of the Japanese students from our dorm took us out for cheap dinner. We had Yakitori, Okonomiyaki, Takoyaki and a bunch of various other amazing foods. The food here is relatively cheap, but I haven't had a bad meal yet. For Desert our Japanese friend ordered us these things called "Oppai Ice". "Oppai" in Japanese is slang for a large women's breasts, so I was kind of weirded out when he ordered it. Even more weirded out when the things came to the table. Basically they took a balloon and filled it up with with Vanilla Ice cream and there was a little hole on the end to suck the Ice Cream out of. I guess like breastfeeding..... yea. So we passed those around the table and many laughs were had just because the ridiculousness of the whole thing. The ice cream was actually very tasty!! After Dinner we went to this huge Japanese Department store called Don Quixote in Ikebukuro. It has 7 stories of pretty much everything you can imagine. I ended up buying a pair of socks that said Takoyaki on it. (I really love the Japanese clothes, this might be a problem ><;)
4/6/2015
HANAMI!!!! So, Shouta, my support student who picked me up from the airport, invited me to his circle's (Japanese social group/club thing) Flower Viewing party in Yoyogi park. I feel that its just an excuse for Japanese college students to day drink.. That said it was very fun and a great social experience!! I met a lot of cool Japanese people and foreigners and was able to practice a lot of my Japanese. I think I might join the circle because they practice English and Japanese everyday at lunch. Very good for learning how to converse in Japan! I didn't drink as much as some of the Japanese students, so me and my friends walked to the Meiji shrine afterwards! IT IS SO BEAUTIFUL AND SERENE. Japanese temples have a very unique ambiance to them. I can't wait to go to Kyoto and see some more! That night we had Kaitenzushi which is basically the Japanese Sushi Boat. Apparently its cheaper than other Sushi places you might go to in Japan. Either way, it was amazing and I had my fill of Unagi! Later on that night, me and a few friends ended up at a cheap bar in Shinjuku and we played Japanese drinking games with locals. It's very cool to see the different culture here. Japanese are more social drinkers than in America I believe. They don't really party too hard (but they do drink a lot), and just enjoy each others company! I am getting pretty sick of drinking so much though. I'm hoping school starts soon, so I can see some more serious aspects of the college culture here!
4/7/2015
It was so cold and rainy yesterday! The club fair at Sophia started up, so I went with a few friends to scope out some clubs I wanted to join. We only got to see two before we got rained out and had to leave. But I got to see an Aikido demonstration in the Dojo and got to try my hand at Archery (I suck at it). We walked around the Sophia University area and found the Hotel New Otani! It's literally right across the street and I didn't even know. We had lunch in Akasaka Mitsuke for pretty cheap. I had Katsu Curry Don which was pork cutlet with curry over rice. Amazing. Like I said the food here never dissapoints. Later on that day we shopped around Nakano, and went out for Monjyayaki and Oknomiyaki. I bought 2 pairs of shorts from Uniqlo because I couldn't resist. There's this Kabuki themed release they have going on and I couldn't resist buying some Japanese shorts. Anyway, I want to talk about the Monjyayaki and Okonomiyaki restaurant! It was 1500 yen for all you can eat for 2 hours!! They sat us down in a table really close to the ground and we ordered various flavors of Monjyayaki and Okonomiyaki and grilled them ourselves! For those who don't know, Okonomiyaki is sort of like a pancake with whatever various foods you can find stuffed in it. Monjyayaki is very similar to Okonomiyaki, but instead of eating it like a pancake, you chop it up into a sort of paste and eat that. It was really really fun and I got pretty good at flipping the Okonomiyaki. I'm definitely going to try to make some when I get home!
Its sunny and warm again today! I said I'd go back to the club fair and see what other clubs I could join! Tonight a bunch of exchange students wanted to go to Roppongi and check out the nightclubs. Roppongi is the infamous area in Tokyo for foreigners and nightlife, so I'll update on how that goes soon. Should be interesting! I'm looking for some good local music clubs here, as it seems that most of them just play poppy EDM and Avici (at least from what I've heard). Until next time everyone!
Friday, April 3, 2015
Orientation and Izakaya
So it's my third day in Japan now and I'm leaning more every second. Two days ago, we had orientation at Sophia University where we met other students and got the instructions on how to sign up for classes and various other administrative stuff. After that we took the Japanese Placement test which might have been the single hardest test I've ever taken in my life. Kanji is very hard to understand!
After the placement test, a few friends and I walked from Sophia to Shinjuku just to get a feel for the area. Shinjuku is pretty interesting. There's a lot of shopping and place to eat, but it seems like more of a nightlife/bar type of area (especially at night). Later that night we had a reception with the Sophia Faculty and got a bunch of free sushi and other random foods. Immediately following that, our support students at Sophia took a large group of kids out to an Izakaya in Shinjuku. Izakaya is kind of similar to a bar, but instead of paying per drinks or food, you just pay for the time period you want to stay there and food and drinks are unlimited. It was really fun with a large group of people and I got to know some Sophia students pretty well! The drinks at the Izakaya weren't that strong, but they taste amazing! All in all it was a cool cultural experience. So that was my second day in Japan.
Yesterday (on my third day), a group of other exchange students and I went to the Nerima government office to get our Residence cards properly set up. Basically think of the Japansese DMV. We had no idea what to do there, most of the signs were only in Kanji, and not many people spoke more than a few words of English there. Luckily, one of the students we were with lived in Japan during High School and was able to figure out for us what we needed to do. I don't know if I want go to the government offices again, but it was cool to see what that is like in Japan. After that, we went to Shinjuku station to get our commuter passes so that we could get to school and back for much cheaper than paying for a ticket every time. Speaking of which, the Tokyo rail/subway system is super complicated. Each train line is run by a different company and to switch back and forth between them is very expensive, so the commuter pass will definitely come in handy.
After that we spent most of the day wandering around Akihabara which is the Tech/anime/gaming portion of the city. We went into a few manga shops to look around and then played a few arcades here. The arcades there are amazing. The one I went to had 7 or so stories and different game types on each one. My favorite was the mecha game where you sat in this enclosed pod with screens all around you and piloted your giant robot to shoot at other robots.
Anyway, we got bored of playing games and it was getting late, so me and a few friends stopped by Shinjuku again to see what its like on Friday nights and to check out this cheap bar one of my Japanese friends recommended to me. We couldn't find the one we were looking for and ended up stopping at an Arabian Nights themed cocktail bar and ordered some Shachu (japanese version of Soju). Luckily we left at the right time and managed to get the last train back to Fujimidai where we stayed up a bit more talking to all the other foreign kids about their days.
It's raining pretty heavy today, so I'm not sure if I want to go on a big adventure, but I had planned to go look at Harajuku and Shibuya and maybe stop by the Meiji Temple. I will update again in a few days about all thats happened!
After the placement test, a few friends and I walked from Sophia to Shinjuku just to get a feel for the area. Shinjuku is pretty interesting. There's a lot of shopping and place to eat, but it seems like more of a nightlife/bar type of area (especially at night). Later that night we had a reception with the Sophia Faculty and got a bunch of free sushi and other random foods. Immediately following that, our support students at Sophia took a large group of kids out to an Izakaya in Shinjuku. Izakaya is kind of similar to a bar, but instead of paying per drinks or food, you just pay for the time period you want to stay there and food and drinks are unlimited. It was really fun with a large group of people and I got to know some Sophia students pretty well! The drinks at the Izakaya weren't that strong, but they taste amazing! All in all it was a cool cultural experience. So that was my second day in Japan.
Yesterday (on my third day), a group of other exchange students and I went to the Nerima government office to get our Residence cards properly set up. Basically think of the Japansese DMV. We had no idea what to do there, most of the signs were only in Kanji, and not many people spoke more than a few words of English there. Luckily, one of the students we were with lived in Japan during High School and was able to figure out for us what we needed to do. I don't know if I want go to the government offices again, but it was cool to see what that is like in Japan. After that, we went to Shinjuku station to get our commuter passes so that we could get to school and back for much cheaper than paying for a ticket every time. Speaking of which, the Tokyo rail/subway system is super complicated. Each train line is run by a different company and to switch back and forth between them is very expensive, so the commuter pass will definitely come in handy.
After that we spent most of the day wandering around Akihabara which is the Tech/anime/gaming portion of the city. We went into a few manga shops to look around and then played a few arcades here. The arcades there are amazing. The one I went to had 7 or so stories and different game types on each one. My favorite was the mecha game where you sat in this enclosed pod with screens all around you and piloted your giant robot to shoot at other robots.
Anyway, we got bored of playing games and it was getting late, so me and a few friends stopped by Shinjuku again to see what its like on Friday nights and to check out this cheap bar one of my Japanese friends recommended to me. We couldn't find the one we were looking for and ended up stopping at an Arabian Nights themed cocktail bar and ordered some Shachu (japanese version of Soju). Luckily we left at the right time and managed to get the last train back to Fujimidai where we stayed up a bit more talking to all the other foreign kids about their days.
It's raining pretty heavy today, so I'm not sure if I want to go on a big adventure, but I had planned to go look at Harajuku and Shibuya and maybe stop by the Meiji Temple. I will update again in a few days about all thats happened!
Wednesday, April 1, 2015
Arrival
DAY 1
So, I woke up quite early today from the jet-lag and am taking this time to write up a quick blog about my travels and first experiences in Japan.
The flight wasn't too bad, I sat next to a couple who just watched anime the whole time. When I arrived, we had to go through immigration which ended up being a 3 hour process for me. First they put me in the line for the foreign passports, but then when I got up to the front they told me I needed to wait in the line with the Japanese passports because I had a Student Visa. Anyway, that added a bunch of time to my travels, but I eventually got through and got my luggage.
After getting through the customs, I met with the Sophia Student assigned to take me to my dorm. His name was Shota Hamada and he spoke about the same level of English that I know of Japanese, so it was pretty easy to communicate with him. We ended up taking some other line other than the Narita Express to Ikebukuro then took the local train to Fujimidai which is where I'm staying.
Got into my dorm and all checked in and up to speed on everything and I get to the room. The room is basically the size of a closet. There is enough room for 2 dressers, a desk, and a bed, so I'm a little cramped, but I'll manage. The Facilities at the dorm are wonderful though! The Kitchen looks amazing, they have a gym area on each floor, washers and dryers, a communal bath area, and even some instruments you can play in your free time! So all in all it seems like a pretty good place to stay. For dinner last night I ended up walking to the 7-11 and getting a skewer with some fried things I couldn't tell you what it was.
Today, I woke up and got to use the showers (before everyone else woke up and started using them also) which were actually pretty nice. The toilet that sprays instead of having toilet paper is pretty cool also. For the rest of today, I'll be attending the University Orientation and taking my Japanese placement test. I think there's a social later on in the night. I'll update when I get the chance. Hopefully with some pictures too!
Mark
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