Why Not?

Had a little extra time so thought I'd try my hand at origami. So far, the crane is the only thing that I can do completely from memory. My friend Chigusa taught me this.

I think Marcia is going to get tired of seeing birds all over the house as I practice my new craft, so I have started to string them together.

Does the excitement ever end?

Ja mata,

Gary

Back From Okazaki

My self-enforced exile from Yokohama has ended. I have finished my 4 weeks of Japanese language study in Okazaki. My lonely solitude of tirelessly studying with no breaks, my near monastic existence has come to an end. I'll share a few photographs chronicling my sacrifices to the Japanese language.

My lonely existence.

This is the main building for students preparing for university study.

This was the building for students working on basic language skills. (Me) I was in this building from 9:00 to 5:00 Monday through Friday.

These are my 3 favorite teachers.

Here are a few pics of fellow students and examples of my lonely existence.

This is actually a good friend of mine from Tokyo who happened to be in Nagoya (a city near Okazaki).

The campus pub. Zig Zag

My going away party at a local izakaya. (Japanese pub/bar)

My going away speech to teachers and students.

Okay, if you made it through all of the pictures, you might be saying, "That doesn't look that lonely to me!" Okay, you got me. I may have exaggerated the monastic lifestyle a little bit. I did discover that although my quest to acquire the Japanese language has been difficult (I seem to be language challenged), my ability to meet and make new friends still seems to be intact.

I have not been in a campus environment for a very long time. I found the experience to be exhilarating, exhausting, demanding, and fun. For learning language skills, the time was way too short, but 4 weeks away from my life in Yokohama and Marcia was about my limit. I would, however, go back again if I had the chance.

ja mata,

Gary

Short and Dirty. Sunday Afternoon in Okazaki.

I'm talking about a short and not very well thought out blog. Not about myself!

I still haven't talked about Marcia's and my trip back to East Aurora in late July and I'm going to keep you waiting a little longer. Like I said, this blog will be short and dirty. As some of you know, after returning to Japan I had planned on taking an intensive 4 week language course in a small town about a six hour drive from Yokohama. Well.............I did it! I'm now living in a one room apartment in the student village and have been thrown into the fray of full time study.

What was I thinking?

First of all, I haven't been in a classroom situation for more years than I can count. Secondly, I've been dropped into an ongoing class, so I have some catching up to do. AND thirdly, (is that even a word?) What the hell do I think I'm doing!!!

I arrived Wednesday and got my apartment, moved in (dumped my stuff on the bed) and headed out to rent a bicycle.

This is a very typical style of bike for Japan. It has three speeds and can carry a lot of stuff in the basket. Plus it looks cool. Right?

With my new means of transportation, I went shopping at the 100 yen store. I bought 1 each of a knife, fork, spoon, plate and glass. The apartment came equipped with 1 frying pan, 1 pot, a tea kettle and a rice cooker. Luckily, being a guy, this is all I need. Less to wash, etc. I then did a little grocery shopping including a couple of beers, which I felt I had earned.

This is where I'll spend most of my time when I'm in my apartment.

The rest of the room is filled with my bed. You might say, "Well, at least he has a television." That's true, of course, all of the channels are in Japanese. I'm already desperate enough to watch Japanese game shows, which is truly pathetic.

Thursday I took a 2 1/2 hour written placement exam and then had an interview. Oh, did I mention, everything here is done in Japanese? Admissions, bike rental, placement test, interview, directions, instructions, do's and don't's, etc. By Thursday night, my head was spinning and I was freaking out about starting class on Friday and wondering at what level I would be placed.

Friday, my first day of class, was pretty intense. Luckily, it's only a half day on Friday or I think that my brain might have exploded. I must have made some really lucky guesses on the test, because I'm in a class that is really going to test my abilities.

Anyhow, I've spent most of the weekend doing homework and trying to get up to speed on material that has already been covered. Writing this blog is my break before I dive back into the books.

Okazaki, which is where I'll call home for a month, has a population of 870,000 but is considered very rural. I have to agree with the rural designation. It's quite a change from Yokohama and Tokyo.

Okay, this might be a slight exaggeration.

Back to the books.

Ja mata,

Gary

More t-shirt English

In the past I've talked about some of the interesting English translations that one sees on signs and notices and especially t-shirts and clothing. Yesterday, at one of our local stores I was able to get a picture without being too intrusive.

Ja mata,

Gary

Back in Japan

We've been back in Japan for about a week after a long (3 1/2 week) visit to the States. I'll get back to our trip in my next post, but first, I just renewed my driver's license today. It took about 6 hours from the time I left my house until I returned. The whole process is done in Japanese with many long lines. Very difficult and stressful for a struggling Japanese speaker. The fear of standing in a line for half an hour and finding out it was the wrong line was tantamount in my mind. I also had to sit through a 2 hour lecture (in Japanese) about driving safety. The seats were the old-fashioned two person wooden desk and seat combination more suited for third graders than American adults. Not comfortable! One Japanese girl made herself comfortable enough to fall asleep and was promptly admonished by the instructor. I was the only non-Japanese person in the room, so getting help from other foreigners who might be more conversant in Japanese was out of the question. There was one Japanese woman who spoke a little English and between her English and my Japanese, she was able to give me some helpful guidance. All in all, an exhausting experience.

I did stop for a quick beer and lunch on the way home so I guess the actual renewal process only took about 5 1/2 hours. The beer was definitely necessary and a small reward for my success! The funny thing is that the process went very smoothly and I'm delighted that it didn't take even more time. I guess I'm learning to adapt to Japanese bureaucracy.

Ja mata,

Gary

Haiku

As the beginning of the hot and humid summer season arrives, this haiku came into my head.

the rainfalls,

simmering pavement heats,

mushi, mushi atsui,

I sweat

(mushi atsui is Japanese for humid and hot)

Ja mata,

Gary （ギャリー）

Yeah.. So I haven't blogged in a while

I went to my blog today and saw that my blog picture said Merry Christmas. Wow! Where does the time go?

In short:

A trip to the States.

A trip to Australia.

A visit from my son.

A trip to Nagasaki.

Large amount of volunteer work in Tokyo.

Japanese study, no, I am not fluent yet.

Examining the meaning of life.

So, highlights....

Our visit to the States was wonderful as usual. Christmas celebrations, visits with friends, lots of snow, large amount of carpentry on the house, doctors' visits (No, not because of the carpentry!).

We briefly came back to Japan and then were off to Australia for vacation and a little bit of work time for Marcia. Australia was very hot, but totally awesome.

We visited Gillian a friend of mine from Tokyo, who now lives in Sydney. (picture below)

Stayed in Melbourne and visited friends formerly from Yokohama.

BREAK TIME

Then spent some time in Brisbane driving and exploring the coast.

Stephen visited in May and we explored Tokyo and Yokohama, and traveled to Nagasaki where we stayed for three days and saw many things including Peace Park and the Atomic Bomb Museum (Very moving).

This black obelisk marks the exact point above which the atomic bomb exploded.

Explored Toykyo and Yokohama incuding experiencing Sumo, and Sankeien Gardens.

Since then, I guess I've just been distracted........... or lazy!

Ja mata,

Gary