It has been almost a month since I have returned from Japan. Time has passed so quickly and memories of my time in Japan have faded almost as quickly. It seems like Japan was a dream that I had many years ago. And yet, at the same time, I am sure that I annoying my friends by mentioning things about Japan every day. I am trying to stop, but it is hard.

Having now returned to school, my connection with Japan only continues in the emails I write to friends over there, my Japanese classes, and my senior thesis research. So saying, it is time for me to stop writing on this Japan-related website. The site will continue to be on the internet as a resource for those who are thinking of studying or living in Japan. If you have any questions, feel free to contact me.

Thanks for all your support and I hope you enjoyed reading about Japan!

I was considering writing a post about how despite the fact that I have done a bit of complaining about being back in the states, it is not really that bad. However, in attempting to find examples, I realized that I have too few to make a good argument. Not that America is bad, I just can't think of anything amazingly wonderful about it right now.

So, to continue my homesickness for Japan: I was priveleged to get to have lunch today with a student from Kobe, Japan. He goes to school where my mother teaches and has only been in Indiana for 7 days. And he was desperate to speak Japanese. So we went to Wendy's and spoke Japanese for 2 hours. It was wonderful. We were both very happy to be speaking Japanese despite the stares. And he gave me some Japanese rice, some senbei (rice crackers) and some dried squid. Ureshii!!! (Happy!) Made me want to be back in Japan.

Although there were definitely things that I needed to get used to when I returned to America, I didn't feel like I really had Culture Shock when I came back to Fort Wayne. Just little things like wanting to turn into the left lane and doing little bows of apology. However, I went to Chicago this weekend and, believe it or not, that's when the Shock hit. Here I was in this big city with lots of people walking around, the majority of which were not Japanese and not speaking Japanese. I found myself constantly listening to people as I walked past, and being surprised that almost every conversation was in English. And the fact that I was surprised was surprising. Why didn't I feel this in Fort Wayne? This is a mystery that I know not how to solve.

My school sent me one of those "Reaquainting yourself with America" booklets so that I could "learn to fit in again" after having studied abroad. Two of the things it said I should keep in mind is that "no will really understand your experience" and "some people won't want to hear about it." I was thinking if these statements are really true, and in my case, they are fairly accurate. Here's a typical conversation I have when I meet someone for the first time in a year:

Them: Hey Laura! How was Japan?
Me: It was great!
Them: Are you fluent?
Me: Not quite..
Them: Did you wear a kimono?
Me: A few times. But it's not normal dress.
Them: Oh. What about the food? Did you eat raw fish all the time?
Me: The food was amazing! I loved it. And the fish, raw or cooked, was delicious.
Them: I can't believe you ate raw fish! That's so..gross.
Me: No, it's good, really.
Them: Okay, if you say so. Glad you had a good time.

That conversation covers the three points about Japan that American people think.
1. They speak Japanese. (okay, this isn't a big surprise)
2. They wear kimono all the time.
3. They eat raw fish (which Americans call "sushi") all the time.

Now, if I had the time, energy, and attention of any of the people that I talk to, I might be able to explain how some of these are misconceptions. But I don't, and most people don't really care anyway. It's really sad that some people have the opportunity to learn about life farther than their front yard and don't take it.

I'm back. After 11 months and 2 weeks in Japan, I have safely arrived in the United States of America. It took less than 3 hours for me to wish I was back in Japan. Reasons:
1. People in America are rude. I first flew into the LA airport and had to go through customs and claim my baggage before transferring to my next flight to Chicago. Those airport people were ridiculous. Yelling in condescending tones, no pleases or thank you's, having only 6 officials working when 15 flights arrived at the same time...I desperately miss the Japanese clerks who use polite language, literally run to help you, and are always smiling. Maybe I was spoiled..
2. You have to drive everywhere. Maybe this only strikes me especially since I am in Indiana, but if I wanted to go anywhere from my house, I would have to drive. There is no way that I could walk or bike somewhere. Everything is so far away! (Don't get me wrong, I love space, but I love convenience too.)
3. Food. Sitting at the airport waiting for the next plane (having missed the first one due to an insanely slow customs line) I was craving Pocari Sweat and Anpan (sweet bean filled bread). Luckily I had imported 2 bottles of my favorite beverage, but anpan is nowhere to be found. I went to an oriental grocery store and found some Japanese rice (grown in California..) and seaweed, but this is not going to be enough.
4. The constant stream of the Japanese language in the background. It is so hard to think in Japanese when I am surrounded by English! Where are the TV dramas, the j-pop, the annoying high school girls?
5. Clothing. Why must the Americans insist on showing as much of their bare body as possible. Again, could be because I am used to the "no shorts" rule for women in Japan, but American girls' shorts are just way too short. Ridiculous.

So, basically, I want to go back to Japan. Three weeks would be a nice amount of time for visiting, but seriously, I wish I was going back to Japan after that. I think I'll begin the countdown now..1 year and counting. How fast can one year fly by? Quickly, I hope.

I have now less than 5 days in Japan. When I say it like this, it sounds like I have lots of time. But I feel rushed, like there is so much I need to do and so little time to do it. I finished up the last of the research that I will do in Japan yesterday. I stood and copied an entire book at the library (probably breaking some copywrite laws) because I don't think they would have it in the States. It's amazing to think that in a short time (hopefully) I will actually be able to read this entire book with a decent amount of ease.

I would love to go walking around Kyoto and biking to far places that I haven't been to yet. However, summer has really hit, and it is never less than 35 degrees during the day. Don't ask me what that is in Farenheight, I don't know. It's hot. Give me 30 seconds outside and I am perspiring heavily. Yesterday there was a thunderstorm. As soon as I saw the first drops of rain outside my window I put on some dark colored running clothes, my old running shoes, and took a nice long run in the pouring rain. It was wonderful! It's the closest thing I get to swimming, and the coolest I've been in a while (not including shopping in air condioned places). It's funny, but a women told me a few days ago that all the Japanese tourists avoid Kyoto in the summer because it's too hot. Too bad the foreign ones don't do the same.

It's been quite some time since I've written anything here. Over a month, it appears. It is not that the summer has been uneventful. On the contrary, I have been so busy that I have neglected almost everything that does not involve research, teaching English, or Japanese television. Okay, so the last one isn't necessary, but I have been hooked.
Things that have passed during June and July:
-I moved twice: I'm currently residing in a Mansion. No, not a 40 room, swimming pool, tennis court mansion. In Japan, a "Mansion" is any apartment that is more than one room. I am living in luxury with a tatami room, a full kitchen and bathroom, and a bedroom.
-The Gion Matsuri: Kyoto's biggest and most grandiose festival. The original purpose was to make the deities happy so they wouldn't bring epidemics. Now, it's a great time for everyone to get dressed up in their summer yukata(cotton kimono) and walk around downtown. In addition there is a great parade.
-Tokyo: I finally made it to Tokyo. I visited a friend from high school who was there on a missions trip for a month, and stayed in a friend from Ultimate Frisbee's apartment. Tokyo is big, I wouldn't want to live there. But it's a nice change to visit after being in Kyoto for so long.
-Scholarship search chaos: I'm trying to apply for a scholarship to return to Japan after I graduate. But it was a long complicated process. In Japan you can't introduce yourself. It is horribly rude. So you have to know someone who knows someone who knows someone else. Let's just say I went to lots of meetings with people and got nowhere. But I sent the application in today, so all is raku (relaxed) now.
*Realization that I have 2 weeks left in Japan. Just 2. What do I do? There is so much food to eat, so many places to go, so many things to buy!!

It is the rainy season here. Definitely rainy. It usually pours for at least 2 hours a day, then drizzles. If it's not raining it is insanely humid. I can't get my clothes to dry and the paper that I leave out on the table starts wilting. I played frisbee in the rain for 6 hours on Saturday and my shoes haven't even started to dry. The shoestrings are still dripping! Ridiculous.

The most common kind of toilet in Japan is the Japanese-style squat toilet. However, with the large number of foreign tourists coming to this country, major stores and businesses have installed Western style toilets too. The department stores have almost exclusively converted. While using one of these restrooms the other day, I noticed a button on the wall that I had failed to see before. On reading the sign I couldn't decide whether it's use was ridiculous or thoughtful: If you push the button there emits a noise which sounds like the toilet is flushing, for those moments when you might be embarressed to have other people hear your toilet usage. This is possibly an example of the supposed excess politeness of the Japanese.

A quick summary of the last half of May:
*My mom came to visit me for a week. I took her to most of the famous places in Kyoto. This involved lots of walking and biking, which she wasn't too happy about, but I think I forced enough Japanese culture on her to make at least a decent impression.
*My friend Anna came to stay and we had a lovely little party in my apartment.
*The school took a field trip to Hiroshima, the city where the US dropped an atomic bomb. We went to the Peace Museum and the A-Bomb Dome, one of the only buildings remaining after the blast. Afterwards, we went to Miyajima, an island off of the coast. There is a really beautiful torii (Shinto shrine entrance gate) in the water. We stayed at a really nice ryokan (Japanese style inn) and enjoyed the pleasures of walking around in yukata (light kimono), and eating wonderful fancy Japanese food.
*I went camping in the middle of Shikoku during a typhoon. I walked across a few vine bridges, hiked in the mountains, and camped next to a roaring river. It was nice to get out of the city for awhile.
*Anna and I spent her last night in Japan at a club in Osaka. Shou creams, dancing all night long, curry for breakfast, and sleeping on the train are just a few highlights.
*Last night we went to Takigi Noh (torchlight Noh theatre) which is outdoors at the Heian Shrine. It was 4.5 hours long, the first half being okay, the middle boring, but the last two plays were the best. One was a comedy about demon mushrooms (a comedy), and one about a demon spider. The last one was cool because the spider actually threw out webs from his fingers. By the time the play was over there were "spider webs" covering the whole cast and the entire stage.

Tuesday I took one more step towards becoming a Buddhist. (for those of you who can't tell, I'm joking)
There are certain monks who live on Mt. Hiei who take a vow to walk for 12 years. Every year they walk 100-200 days in a row, each day for anywhere from 8-22 hours. In the 12th year they come down from walking around the mountain and they walk around the city of Kyoto. They start in the morning at 10:30 and walk until 5:30. Then they perform rituals and sleep a little and get up and do it again at night. There is usually one monk per decade who does this vow. Right now the current monk is on his last year, and is consequently walking around Kyoto. I joined him for the day trip on Tuesday. My religion teacher and I went, dressed all in white. It was a long walk, but punctuated by frequent stops at shrines and temples to pray to the gods and recite the Heart Sutra. During the walk I got to talk to many lay people and monks who were accompanying the ajari. It was a good way to learn more about the special characteristics of another aspect of Japanese religion.

I now have three jobs. One of them is teaching English to small groups of kids. I thought that I knew Japanese pretty well until I tried to talk to little kids. The grammer and vocabulary is all different, and in my role as a teacher, I have to learn how to say, "Sit down. Repeat after me. I'll ask the questions, and you answer." This sounds like it should be simple, yet I can't seem to get it right. Good thing I am supposed to be talking all the time in English. However, they can't understand English, so nothing would get done if I did that. It's a bit frustrating, but for $40 an hour, I'm not complaining too much.

It is Golden Week in Japan right now. This is a period of 5 or so days out of which 3 are holidays. So, in order to keep salarymen from overworking and schoolchildren from going crazy, the other two days become unofficial holidays. Schools and companies have the whole week off, and everyone goes on vacation. If you wanted to go somewhere, you should have gotten your tickets months earlier. Today is actually Kodomo no Hi. Kid's Day. It used to be Boys Days. Celebrate today by wearing traditional armor, eating special candy and singing songs about carp.

Onigiri - my new favorite lunch. Onigiri is rice, sometimes sprinkled with wakame (a type of seaweed) or salmon, formed into triangles and covered with nori (another kind of seaweed). You can buy them at any convenience store, for they make the best lunches. However, the most delicious kind are those made at home. If you are a Japanese, you can form these little shapes in seconds. I have gotten into the habit of making some everyday to take for lunch, and my triangles are not yet perfect. My host mother could do it in three turns. There is a special way of holding your hands that molds the corners just right. I am getting there - it probably only takes me twice as long as it should now instead of 6 times..

Yesterday was Easter. Happy Easter! In Japan, the only people who celebrate Easter are the less than 1% of the population who are Christian. Unlike Christmas, which has become a highly secularized and popular holiday, no one knows about Easter. There is no Easter bunny, no Easter candy, no Easter eggs, nothing. Even my church was not very enthusiastic about it (which is surprising, but it is the number one most important holiday in the Christian faith). There were only a few Easter lilies, no special music, and no one was dressed up. Just a regular Sunday.
I guess I made up for it a bit by getting up at sunrise and climbing a nearby mountain. Too bad it was raining. Oh well.

The sun is shining, the sakura petals are falling like snow, and I have no place to be. I officially graduated from KCJS last Friday. The ceremony was simple, and nice, despite the fact that I was made to play the koto.
From now on, I am working part time, studying part time, researching part time, and watching lots of Japanese television (to improve my listening skills, of course). And so, I think that I will be updating this website less often. I think I will only post pictures and really exciting things. Yes, that's all. Enjoy the spring!