Showering, Getting Lost, Meeting Yamaguchi

  Okazaki, Chubu, Japan
Friday, October 3, 2008

Showering in Japan is definitely interesting, you are supposed to use as little water as possible, which is a good thing but makes it difficult to shower, I stumbled through it. Okay so I was a bit optimistic to think that I knew my way from my house to school...I was 20 minutes late for class, and I even left early. I learned some useful phrases though such as 食べてみたいです（I want to try eating this)、少しだけください（Please I only want to try a little)、時差ぼけ(jet lag/time difference)、お菓子(strange)、ご めん なさい、食べられません(Sorry but I can't/don't eat that)、まだ食べていません(I have not eaten it yet)。I had tempura udon for lunch and it came with naruto :D it was only 380yen (that's only $3.80!). After lunch I decided to leave early and find my way home by bicycle...4 hours later, my host mother came and picked me up at "Family Mart" and well I was only 5 minutes away, ironically enough. Luckily I was home in time for dinner, I had lots of sashimi such as ika (squid) and taco (octopus).I had a stir fry that my host mother referred to as a chinese dish, haha. In any case, dinner was delicious :P. After dinner I tried to map out my route but my house doesn't exist according to google, lol. So I went to sleep because I was exhausted from all my riding around.

The next morning I was sure I knew the way to school and figured the bicycle would be far more efficient, 3 hours later...I missed my first class and made it to school just in time for lunch. Our next class was with Nishio sensei where I learned survival phrases such as what to do when you are lost, what platform number goes to this station, does this train/bus go to Higashi-Okazaki? After class I was given a big map and Morya had to draw my house onto it. I went with Megumi (Emily's host sister), Emily and Roxy to look at cel phone companies, we went to docomo, au and softbank but even now I still don't know which provider to use. I was relieved to discover that computers are WAY MORE EXPENSIVE :P. There were some really cool phones...but I figure there's no point in getting one if I can't even use it in Canada. So I'm still looking and can't get one until I get my Alien Registration card. After that I was dropped off at school to get back home, but it was dark and it still took me an hour to get home, even with the map. I was late for dinner this time. My host mother was very understanding and there was dinner for me when I got home. I tried natto which was okay the first few bites but after that I couldn't eat anymore of it. There was this fish called tai (sea bream), it was very delicious, or maybe it was just the sauce she used. I had red miso, but prefer white for sure, I even had chinese mushrooms randomly enough. After dinner my host mother took me to the Yahagi-cho town festival.

Entering the Yahagi-Cho Festival

It was really cool, we went with Rai-chan (Raiki) and he had so much fun, I got to take some good pictures and my host mother bought me a pink icing coated banana haha.

Me about to eat the pink banana...

It was good, Rai-chan had a blue one and also got a new train toy.

Rai-chan eating a blue banana

Rai-chan and his new train toy.

I got home and pretty much went to sleep after playing with Rai-chan.

The next morning I made it to school early! Yokatta! Yamaguchi sensei gave us a list of what we would be learning which basically consists of Japanese pop culture (Miyazaki and Ghibli), Japanese manga authors(Sanpei Shirato( Marxist perspective of history), Shigeru Mizuki( deals with ghost world and mysterious creatures), Yoshiharu Tsuge (deals with Japanese subconscious), Takarazuka (all-women theater), Rakugo ( performers that tell funny tales, old and new) and Kabuki. Then the second half deals with Postwar Japan society, specifically the play "The Face of Jizo" (deals with atomic bomb survivor who feels guilty for still being alive), The docu-drama "The Theater Group Sakura Deflowered (theater group that was attacked by the bomb in 1945 while staying in Hiroshima), the movie "The Barren Island", the documentary "White Light, Black Rain: The Destruction of Hiroshima and Nagasaki' (made in 2007), Sazae-san (popular cartoon made in post war society, deals with everyday post-war life), the movie "Good Morning (Ohayo)" (deals with the friction between parents and children when electrical appliances were first becoming household items and finally the movie "Nobody Knows" (sad story dealing with a single mother with four children who leaves the children for her boyfriend and the eldest son must take care of his siblings). Sounds like a very interesting class to me!

Emily and I took an adventure on the school bus to Higashi-Okazaki station where we went to this fast food place that was like Mcdonald's but healthier and yummier, haha. Then I decided to return to school and make sure I could find my way home, and yes I did, no problem.