Where I am now...

Sunset in downtown Kanazawa, in front of the Kohrinbo Atrio shopping mall near Katamachi.


There's a reason why I elected to spend an entire year in Japan. I became fascinated by Japanese culture, and now that I'm actually here I feel only more excited by it. It was difficult to believe it for a very long time, but now it finally feels like the pieces are falling into place in my life, and everything really IS going to work out in the end. I went through some very difficult times, but I've come through it, and I'm doing better than ever. I love my life here.

So why did I come to Japan? To "better" myself, to approach some ideal, to figure out my life? No. A friend of mine from Australia reminded me yesterday of what I'm doing here. Simply put, I came to Japan because I knew it was a good idea. I knew it would be a good thing for me to do. That's it!

Yesterday I overheard a conversation about how giving people more control over their lives will increase happiness and life expectancy. Writing, talking, music, friends--these are my means of control, of introspection, of finding meaning in the wonder of life. The only thing that's really giving me anxiety right now is my studies--it's very important to me, but there are so many other things going on here! I'm still adjusting to life here in that way.

Pico Iyer has written a very insightful article about his impressions as a foreigner having lived in Japan for a number of years. I highly recommend it; I think that many of his ideas about the form and structure in Japanese society are very astute.


So what am I DOING in Japan??
- Jōdō - every Friday I practice "the way of the staff"
- Karatedō - every Tuesday I practice "the way of the open hand"
- Shodō - every Wednesday I practice the art of Japanese calligraphy
- Melo Melo A Cappella - every Friday I attend A Cappella Circle meetings on campus
- KUMAKUMA!! - a new band that I have formed with a Japanese friend and an Australian friend
- Japanese B - language class four times a week
- Kanji B - once per week (supplement to regular language class)
- Japanese Anthropology - every Monday
- Special Russian Independent Study course - every Monday, I meet with a grad student from Russia who speaks fluent English and Japanese as well. I read Pushkin and Dostoevsky in the original Russian for the class, and we discuss culture.
- Trip to Nagoya - next Thursday, I'm going to Nagoya with a couple of friends. I'm going to see an awesome concert, and thanks to the awesome drummer from MAE, I'm on the guest list. I'm SO STOKED for this!
- JUSCO (big nearby department store) / shopping
- Food happens all the time
- Organized cultural experiences: tea ceremony, ikebana
- Dinner, nightlife - restaurants, clubs, karaoke
- Helping Japanese friends with English
- Comparing cultures - Class meets on Tuesday, and we analyze cultural differences. I'm in a group scheduled to discuss Mythology, with an emphasis on Japanese mythology of course.

Last week, U2 broadcasted their live show from the Rose Bowl in LA, and I happened to watch it live. I'm not a huge fan of U2, but it was awesome.

Calendar of cultural events

Interesting article about Japanese names



Individually wrapped bananas!

Super cool Japanese girl!

Traditional style Japanese house.

I cooked my dad's recipe for fried chicken with country gravy, and made it with rice and corn, just the way I like it back in California. I also made a salad with 1000 Island dressing, and there were many American style drinks to go with it, including milk for dipping Oreos after dinner. I invited about eight guests, and they were all from non-English-speaking countries, as I planned, so that I could show people that American food is more than just McDonald's hamburgers. It was a delicious feast!


A photo of me was featured in this article from the Hokkoku Shimbun. The article is about how a group of us international students are participating in this program to learn about Japanese culture, and so we were learning to make soba noodles. In other words, I was in the newspaper because I was making noodles. YES!

Article from the Hokuriku Chunichi Shimbun about us, too.

The Germans!
The Finns!


There's a sushi place in Kanazawa called Matsurizushi (Festival Sushi), where you pay by the plate. In other words, you sit down at the bar, and various plates roll past you with different kinds of foods (or drinks) on them. You take what you want, stack up the plates as you eat, and pay ¥100 per plate when you're finished. Not satisfied? In front of your seat is a touch-screen monitor that displays various food options. Choose what you want, and depending on what it is, your selection will either be wheeled out on a card by a friendly waitress, or will roll up right in front of you on a Shinkansen-styled food train. Now THAT is a dining experience I can believe in.



People love holidays in Japan, and Christmas is no exception by any means. It's an excuse to decorate! To give gifts! To shop! And Christmas in Japan is known to be a couples' holiday, rather than a family holiday as it is in America, or as a more religious holiday in other parts of the world. So what is religion in Japan? There is a saying that Japanese are born Shinto, marry Christian, and die Buddhist. What does that mean? Japanese people do not categorize themselves by religion as Americans and much of the Western world so often does. Everyone knows the traditions and customs and mixes and matches them in whatever way seems to fit, so as Ayer mentioned in the above article, certain combination that seem to defy "Western sensibility" (as if there is such a thing) are common everywhere in Japanese society. As a result, because people like Christmas, Christmas is popular.


Finally, here's a clip from TV Kanazawa, featuring some familiar faces. The translation of my broken Japanese is "I like to cook myself, so this is really fun!"