All this is glaring proof and yet it still hasn't really hit me that I'm leaving. Not on a day trip to visit the Yokoyamas in Tokyo or the Oohira's in Ishikawa Jou, but really leaving. My mom all ready has a reservation for me at a steak house somewhere in New York because steaks are way to expensive here for a college kid to splurge on (something about not really having enough room for cows.) and I'm still wondering if this is really real. Unfortunately, the Oohiras are going to come within the hour to pick me up to take me to the airport, which will assure me that yes, this is very much real.
The last few days went too fast and at the same time too slow. I was overcome with this feeling like I was pulling off a bandage, but instead of just ripping it off, I was pulling it off inch by agonizing inch...so part of me just wanted to get it over with and start with the 'Ow! Ow! Ow! Ow!' part, but most of me was very grateful for the time it allowed me to see most of my friends.
On Wednesday, Yasu showed up at my door in a brown coverall suit that had me stopped in my tracks because it completely reminded me of the UPS Uniform. ( In fairness, he had been working on a friend's bike...and Yasu HATES to get dirty or wet. I wouldn't be surprised if he was a cat in a former lifetime) He had stopped by one last to say goodbye before he headed home to
Hitachinaka. I gave him some of my left over American food (i.e. Taco seasoning packets) for his birthday and some No-Bake cookies for all of E.S.S. for Aruike Aruike (when they walk 27 km at night to watch the sunrise at Ooarai Beach) with some of the left over Peanut Butter I had. Saying goodbye to him ultimately was really hard and had me bursting into tears, and of course Yasu, being a Japanese boy, just kind of stared at me expressing no emotion. Yasu said it in words for me, but I was proud of myself that I've at least come to understand the Japanese way of thinking enough that I understood without him having to say it...but he told me, "I may not look like it on the outside (he was wearing his same goofy grin that he always has), but on the inside, I am like you right now." and we actually hugged...a legitimate, genuine hug. I'm going to miss him like crazy. He really has come to be one of my best friends.
After that I raced down to the station to meet Marie one last time for a late lunch and just to talk. She's loving her host family, which was great to hear, though she does say that sometimes having real friends at school is a little hard because on top of the culture and language barriers, she's also 18 and placed in the freshman class there, which means they are all 15 years old, so there is also the age and maturity gap to contend with, especially since I've heard from even a few Japanese people that Japanese high school students can very much act like middle school students over here. I guess that's why most of my friends here were juniors an seniors? They spent their freshman and sophomore years catching up to where Americans are in high school? We unfortunately didn't get to talk that long before I had to race off to the Oohiras because I was staying at their house for the next two nights, but of course we did take some obligatory Purikura and she told me that if I end up studying in Germany (I'm considering next summer) that she won't forgive me if we don't meet up. Don't worry Marie! I'll make time!
And right about here is where the record screeches to a halt -- the Oohiras came and picked me up and took me to the airport, so a few hours later, so I'm writing the second half of this blog from an internet cafe over looking the runway in Narita Airport. I kinda understand why Yasu wants to work here now...they're so...efficient. I know, you're probably saying, well of course Caitlyn, its Japan....but that's really a superficial western image. There have been days that I have seen more inefficient things/way of doing things than I have seen efficient (not to say that Japan doesn't have its efficient things compared to America). If not by Japanese standards, then definitely by American, since America is constantly all about change and making things better and Japan is very content to just let things be, which can be a blessing and a curse because this way of thinking has also preserved their culture like no other country I've ever been to. But anyway, I digress. I'm just super impressed. I walked right up to check-in, they checked my Fuji walking stick for no extra charge, and walked right up to security, didn't have to take off my shoes and basically had all that done in half an hour. I also got to skype Yasu one last time, and I'm pretty sure this is the only time I've ever had a whole conversation with him in Japanese since he normally insists on speaking to me in English. Figures he'd do this when I leave the country...
But now back to your regularly programed schedule. I spent Wednesday evening, Thursday
and Friday morning with the Oohiras, which was a lot of fun and meant lots of yummy home cooking. I played a lot of Wii with Haruru, mainly Mario and Taiko no Tatsujin on Wednesday night and Thursday we spent the day out and about at a local craft shop, making little miniature cake and parfait keychains and stands that are beyond 
adorable. I got really frustrated trying to stuff the fake strawberry slices in with the beads of the parfait base so that they were just so and staid that way (did I mention these things are tiny?), so the lady eventually just did that part for me, but the final product turned out really, really cute and they're a really unique souvenir from Japan.
The Oohiras also announced that they refused to let me go to Narita alone (which was probably a very good thing with as much stuff as I brought. I felt
so bad for Papa because he insisted on doing all the heavy lifting and all I could do was wince and beg him not to throw his back out.), so they also took me to the Ibaraki Kotsu bus depot near school to get my ticket refunded (Yay more money!) And then we went out to Stamina Ramen around the corner, which was delicious, and had this huge heaping of vegetables (cabbage, Japanese pumpkin, leeks etc.) and pork and some beef on top of this big bowl of ramen in a delicious spicy broth. It was quite possible the best Ramen I've had outside of Yuuki's grandma's Ramen in Ishioka.
Thursday I had to head out early to meet Tomoko (she wrote me a "love letter", gave me a
flowery pen and cookies that spelled out ARIGATOU :D) before she headed back to Hitachinaka and to get some room cleaning done before I headed out to lunch. I met up with my adviser, Kanemoto-sensei, her daughter who had just returned from a year abroad in Germany, and Joyce, the Canadian teacher I danced with in the festival. We met at school and Kanemoto-Sensei drove us to a traditional Japanese style "Viking Restaurant" which basically translates to a buffet. It was really delicious, especially because they were well known for their organic, fresh and locally grown vegetables. Its been a while since I've had a good portion of vegetables (land is so expensive here, and so conversely, vegetables are too), that are fresh and aren't fried or covered in sauces, so it was really delicious. Plus they also had their own Kakigori (shaved ice) maker and Chocolate fountain! Kanemoto-sensei's daughter Saya was really nice and it was fun to switch back and forth in between English, Japanese and German all in one conversation. Its really surprised me how many more opportunities I've had to combine all three of my language since I've been here. More than in America, that's for sure.
I also had turned in my final report for Kanemoto-sensei's Meeting of People and Culture Class early in the week, and in it I off-handly mentioned that I wanted to celebrate Hina-Matsuri...so she gave me a little Hina-Matsuri Doll set featuring the emperor and empress! I opened the box and just gasped "Sensei!" and almost cried.
Later that night, I met up with Kazuto and he took me out for an authentic Korean dinner in Keisei department store, where we got free drinks because our waitress was Rin, Horatio's girlfriend, and we both knew her. The Korean style Kimchi Ramen and Kimchi Chijimi were delicious and we had some awesome conversations. We've only known each other for a week and a half, but we clicked in a way that I can't explain (probably because we both like to talk a lot and he spent a large portion of his life living in America...we definitely agree that there is something about living abroad that changes you and you suddenly understand something that people who haven't lived abroad have a really hard time understanding or relating to) and it was finally when I turned around and realized that there were two other people in the restaurant with us and they had shut down the escalators in the department store, that we realized that we had been there for 3 or so hours and it was time to go!
Saturday, big surprise, was busy as well. I woke up early to clean and pack some more (I wasn't very successful), before heading down to the station and Yamada Denki (I finally was able to cancel out the Yamada Denki/LABI jingle they are constantly playing...on my last day, go figure :P) to cancel my cell phone, since that's where I bought it...only to find out that I couldn't cancel it there. So to make the trip worth it (since it was so humid, the bike ride took longer than usual and felt like I was riding through water), I instead went to the eighth floor and bought the new Arashi CD, which was so expensive, but so worth it, since I can't use Japanese iTunes.
I then got Charles to take me to the Softbank store near Akatsuka to actually cancel my phone, which was a lot easier than expected, and they're just going to charge me my final
two months and some other hidden fees and I was done. We stopped by McDonalds to get to ice cream on the way back to Yakiniku with everyone, only to find that the drive thru was being manned by actual people, which, the lady taking the change explained to us, was faster somehow? It was really cute because the girl taking the orders actually took off her glasses and posed when I took her picture....Only in Japan.
Today was also my final day with a lot of what have come to be some of the most important people to me here in Japan (they're all important. :) ) and we met at Takarajima for some Yakiniku. We didn't get the Tabehoudai (all you an eat) since we're a little Binbo (slang for "Broke" in Japanese), right now, but it was so delicious. How I will miss you Soft Calibi...
Yuuki, Miki, Ayako, Marina, Elena and Charles all came, and after wards Jun-Ho and Aaron met us at Big Echo for my last time at the Karaoke box. It was an awesome time, and for the first three hours, most if not all of the
songs that I sang were all in Japanese. (after 3 hours I ran out of songs I knew...but Ayako aims to change that because she gave me three CDs full of songs as a going away present!) I can really tell that my Japanese skills have improved, just from Karaoke. Miki and Yuuki had to leave early unfortunately, and they gave me goodbye presents and we cried, and Miki sang me this amazing song called "Best Friend" that says thank you to a person for being their best friend, their smiling face always lifted them up and they always brought happiness to everyone around them. It was a really touching and special way to end our time together that resulted in Miki barely being able to sing the song because she kept crying. :( I love you Miki!
Those of us who survived until 8 o'clock (when the special happy hour ended) went to Stamina Ramen for dinner and then I headed home to go into panic cleaning/packing frenzy that resulted in very little sleep...hoping to catch up on that on the plane.
And so...there you have it. I spent the car trip playing I-spy, Japanese hand games and a game where you had to make a word from the last 'letter' of the word the person just said. I actually surprised myself with my depth of Japanese vocabulary with that one, since there were several times I outwitted Haruru and we played the game for 45 minutes. I've really been able to tell I've improved my Japanese skills!
Well, since I'm boarding in 45 minutes, I should probably shut down the computer and go rustle up some food with the last of my chump change I have. This really is the last post from over here....have I mentioned this still doesn't feel real?
Goodbye for now Japan, I'll be back soon. Thanks for the most amazing semester ever. Its been real. Get ready Penn State, I'm ready to take you on! (though I really wish you weren't starting in just one week...)
The last few days went too fast and at the same time too slow. I was overcome with this feeling like I was pulling off a bandage, but instead of just ripping it off, I was pulling it off inch by agonizing inch...so part of me just wanted to get it over with and start with the 'Ow! Ow! Ow! Ow!' part, but most of me was very grateful for the time it allowed me to see most of my friends.
On Wednesday, Yasu showed up at my door in a brown coverall suit that had me stopped in my tracks because it completely reminded me of the UPS Uniform. ( In fairness, he had been working on a friend's bike...and Yasu HATES to get dirty or wet. I wouldn't be surprised if he was a cat in a former lifetime) He had stopped by one last to say goodbye before he headed home to
Hitachinaka. I gave him some of my left over American food (i.e. Taco seasoning packets) for his birthday and some No-Bake cookies for all of E.S.S. for Aruike Aruike (when they walk 27 km at night to watch the sunrise at Ooarai Beach) with some of the left over Peanut Butter I had. Saying goodbye to him ultimately was really hard and had me bursting into tears, and of course Yasu, being a Japanese boy, just kind of stared at me expressing no emotion. Yasu said it in words for me, but I was proud of myself that I've at least come to understand the Japanese way of thinking enough that I understood without him having to say it...but he told me, "I may not look like it on the outside (he was wearing his same goofy grin that he always has), but on the inside, I am like you right now." and we actually hugged...a legitimate, genuine hug. I'm going to miss him like crazy. He really has come to be one of my best friends.
After that I raced down to the station to meet Marie one last time for a late lunch and just to talk. She's loving her host family, which was great to hear, though she does say that sometimes having real friends at school is a little hard because on top of the culture and language barriers, she's also 18 and placed in the freshman class there, which means they are all 15 years old, so there is also the age and maturity gap to contend with, especially since I've heard from even a few Japanese people that Japanese high school students can very much act like middle school students over here. I guess that's why most of my friends here were juniors an seniors? They spent their freshman and sophomore years catching up to where Americans are in high school? We unfortunately didn't get to talk that long before I had to race off to the Oohiras because I was staying at their house for the next two nights, but of course we did take some obligatory Purikura and she told me that if I end up studying in Germany (I'm considering next summer) that she won't forgive me if we don't meet up. Don't worry Marie! I'll make time!And right about here is where the record screeches to a halt -- the Oohiras came and picked me up and took me to the airport, so a few hours later, so I'm writing the second half of this blog from an internet cafe over looking the runway in Narita Airport. I kinda understand why Yasu wants to work here now...they're so...efficient. I know, you're probably saying, well of course Caitlyn, its Japan....but that's really a superficial western image. There have been days that I have seen more inefficient things/way of doing things than I have seen efficient (not to say that Japan doesn't have its efficient things compared to America). If not by Japanese standards, then definitely by American, since America is constantly all about change and making things better and Japan is very content to just let things be, which can be a blessing and a curse because this way of thinking has also preserved their culture like no other country I've ever been to. But anyway, I digress. I'm just super impressed. I walked right up to check-in, they checked my Fuji walking stick for no extra charge, and walked right up to security, didn't have to take off my shoes and basically had all that done in half an hour. I also got to skype Yasu one last time, and I'm pretty sure this is the only time I've ever had a whole conversation with him in Japanese since he normally insists on speaking to me in English. Figures he'd do this when I leave the country...
But now back to your regularly programed schedule. I spent Wednesday evening, Thursday
and Friday morning with the Oohiras, which was a lot of fun and meant lots of yummy home cooking. I played a lot of Wii with Haruru, mainly Mario and Taiko no Tatsujin on Wednesday night and Thursday we spent the day out and about at a local craft shop, making little miniature cake and parfait keychains and stands that are beyond 
adorable. I got really frustrated trying to stuff the fake strawberry slices in with the beads of the parfait base so that they were just so and staid that way (did I mention these things are tiny?), so the lady eventually just did that part for me, but the final product turned out really, really cute and they're a really unique souvenir from Japan.The Oohiras also announced that they refused to let me go to Narita alone (which was probably a very good thing with as much stuff as I brought. I felt
so bad for Papa because he insisted on doing all the heavy lifting and all I could do was wince and beg him not to throw his back out.), so they also took me to the Ibaraki Kotsu bus depot near school to get my ticket refunded (Yay more money!) And then we went out to Stamina Ramen around the corner, which was delicious, and had this huge heaping of vegetables (cabbage, Japanese pumpkin, leeks etc.) and pork and some beef on top of this big bowl of ramen in a delicious spicy broth. It was quite possible the best Ramen I've had outside of Yuuki's grandma's Ramen in Ishioka.Thursday I had to head out early to meet Tomoko (she wrote me a "love letter", gave me a
flowery pen and cookies that spelled out ARIGATOU :D) before she headed back to Hitachinaka and to get some room cleaning done before I headed out to lunch. I met up with my adviser, Kanemoto-sensei, her daughter who had just returned from a year abroad in Germany, and Joyce, the Canadian teacher I danced with in the festival. We met at school and Kanemoto-Sensei drove us to a traditional Japanese style "Viking Restaurant" which basically translates to a buffet. It was really delicious, especially because they were well known for their organic, fresh and locally grown vegetables. Its been a while since I've had a good portion of vegetables (land is so expensive here, and so conversely, vegetables are too), that are fresh and aren't fried or covered in sauces, so it was really delicious. Plus they also had their own Kakigori (shaved ice) maker and Chocolate fountain! Kanemoto-sensei's daughter Saya was really nice and it was fun to switch back and forth in between English, Japanese and German all in one conversation. Its really surprised me how many more opportunities I've had to combine all three of my language since I've been here. More than in America, that's for sure.
I also had turned in my final report for Kanemoto-sensei's Meeting of People and Culture Class early in the week, and in it I off-handly mentioned that I wanted to celebrate Hina-Matsuri...so she gave me a little Hina-Matsuri Doll set featuring the emperor and empress! I opened the box and just gasped "Sensei!" and almost cried.
Later that night, I met up with Kazuto and he took me out for an authentic Korean dinner in Keisei department store, where we got free drinks because our waitress was Rin, Horatio's girlfriend, and we both knew her. The Korean style Kimchi Ramen and Kimchi Chijimi were delicious and we had some awesome conversations. We've only known each other for a week and a half, but we clicked in a way that I can't explain (probably because we both like to talk a lot and he spent a large portion of his life living in America...we definitely agree that there is something about living abroad that changes you and you suddenly understand something that people who haven't lived abroad have a really hard time understanding or relating to) and it was finally when I turned around and realized that there were two other people in the restaurant with us and they had shut down the escalators in the department store, that we realized that we had been there for 3 or so hours and it was time to go!
Saturday, big surprise, was busy as well. I woke up early to clean and pack some more (I wasn't very successful), before heading down to the station and Yamada Denki (I finally was able to cancel out the Yamada Denki/LABI jingle they are constantly playing...on my last day, go figure :P) to cancel my cell phone, since that's where I bought it...only to find out that I couldn't cancel it there. So to make the trip worth it (since it was so humid, the bike ride took longer than usual and felt like I was riding through water), I instead went to the eighth floor and bought the new Arashi CD, which was so expensive, but so worth it, since I can't use Japanese iTunes.I then got Charles to take me to the Softbank store near Akatsuka to actually cancel my phone, which was a lot easier than expected, and they're just going to charge me my final
two months and some other hidden fees and I was done. We stopped by McDonalds to get to ice cream on the way back to Yakiniku with everyone, only to find that the drive thru was being manned by actual people, which, the lady taking the change explained to us, was faster somehow? It was really cute because the girl taking the orders actually took off her glasses and posed when I took her picture....Only in Japan.Today was also my final day with a lot of what have come to be some of the most important people to me here in Japan (they're all important. :) ) and we met at Takarajima for some Yakiniku. We didn't get the Tabehoudai (all you an eat) since we're a little Binbo (slang for "Broke" in Japanese), right now, but it was so delicious. How I will miss you Soft Calibi...
Yuuki, Miki, Ayako, Marina, Elena and Charles all came, and after wards Jun-Ho and Aaron met us at Big Echo for my last time at the Karaoke box. It was an awesome time, and for the first three hours, most if not all of the
songs that I sang were all in Japanese. (after 3 hours I ran out of songs I knew...but Ayako aims to change that because she gave me three CDs full of songs as a going away present!) I can really tell that my Japanese skills have improved, just from Karaoke. Miki and Yuuki had to leave early unfortunately, and they gave me goodbye presents and we cried, and Miki sang me this amazing song called "Best Friend" that says thank you to a person for being their best friend, their smiling face always lifted them up and they always brought happiness to everyone around them. It was a really touching and special way to end our time together that resulted in Miki barely being able to sing the song because she kept crying. :( I love you Miki!Those of us who survived until 8 o'clock (when the special happy hour ended) went to Stamina Ramen for dinner and then I headed home to go into panic cleaning/packing frenzy that resulted in very little sleep...hoping to catch up on that on the plane.
And so...there you have it. I spent the car trip playing I-spy, Japanese hand games and a game where you had to make a word from the last 'letter' of the word the person just said. I actually surprised myself with my depth of Japanese vocabulary with that one, since there were several times I outwitted Haruru and we played the game for 45 minutes. I've really been able to tell I've improved my Japanese skills!
Well, since I'm boarding in 45 minutes, I should probably shut down the computer and go rustle up some food with the last of my chump change I have. This really is the last post from over here....have I mentioned this still doesn't feel real?
Goodbye for now Japan, I'll be back soon. Thanks for the most amazing semester ever. Its been real. Get ready Penn State, I'm ready to take you on! (though I really wish you weren't starting in just one week...)
No comments:
Post a Comment