Here, have an address:
Sarah Lopez
Japan Center for Michigan Universitites
1435-86 Matsubara-cho
Hikone-shi, Shiga-ken 522-0002
Japan
1435-86 Matsubara-cho
Hikone-shi, Shiga-ken 522-0002
Japan
Friday, September 25, 2009
This would figure, wouldn't it?
That right after I get back from the most physically and mentally exhausting week ever, I wind up sick with some kind of coughy-thing. My nose isn't acting up in the least, so I know it's not anything flu-related (thank heaven), but it's still really unpleasant not to have a voice.
I'll post my Kyoto pictures after class sometime this weekend.
Saturday, September 19, 2009
Culture, meet shock
So the general perception about Japanese education in America is that the students go through murderous curriculum and therefore are somehow better than us at some stuff, but at the same time, the pressure is so great that...well, I'm sure you know what I'm talking about.
My new roommate (my roommate from JCMU went to a homestay) is from Notogawa (very close). She looked at my friend Lynsey's test score of 79 and said, "That's really good!"
My friend Lauren's teacher later told her that her score of a 70-something was also "really good" because the class average was a 78. Both of these things were said in the same tone of voice you hear most people describe 80-to-90 scores.
Lauren, Lynsey and I come from the "anything-below-85-is-a-failing-grade" school of thought, and completely freaked out my roommate Akiyo when we told her that a 70-range score is, in fact, "really, really bad". I mean, I know the curriculum is different, but if you've been prepared for that kind of thing, you should be able to make in the higher range of scores, ne? If that's the kind of curriculum you've been raised with, it makes sense that you should be able to learn it well enough to score in the higher range of tests.
I don't know how Japanese GPAs work, but apparently the parents run on the same system of belief (at least Akiyo's do).
Yeah. It's different here.
My new roommate (my roommate from JCMU went to a homestay) is from Notogawa (very close). She looked at my friend Lynsey's test score of 79 and said, "That's really good!"
My friend Lauren's teacher later told her that her score of a 70-something was also "really good" because the class average was a 78. Both of these things were said in the same tone of voice you hear most people describe 80-to-90 scores.
Lauren, Lynsey and I come from the "anything-below-85-is-a-failing-grade" school of thought, and completely freaked out my roommate Akiyo when we told her that a 70-range score is, in fact, "really, really bad". I mean, I know the curriculum is different, but if you've been prepared for that kind of thing, you should be able to make in the higher range of scores, ne? If that's the kind of curriculum you've been raised with, it makes sense that you should be able to learn it well enough to score in the higher range of tests.
I don't know how Japanese GPAs work, but apparently the parents run on the same system of belief (at least Akiyo's do).
Yeah. It's different here.
Wednesday, September 9, 2009
So, here's the thing about Japan:
It makes you feel extremely self-conscious, and at the same time glad to be different.
Seriously, got on the train just as all the schools let out. Everyone was wearing the same outfit: white shirt, black skirt/pants.
On the upside, though, we've made plans to go out of town in October! We're meeting up with friends of Lauren and Lynsey's. Great fun.
That's all I got right now, other than the fact that Nishikawa-sensei is the coolest teacher EVER, and Mellvile-sensei ranks a ridiculously close second.
Saturday, September 5, 2009
Yeah, I know. Took me long enough. Anyway, here be some pictures.
My room, as viewed from my desk chair. Complete with all the JUNK I brought strewn all over my bed!
My desk wen I first got everything out. From right to left: My DS, my bike helmet, my laptop, and the remains of what I had for dinner the first night. Tuna sushi, strawberry milk, the powdery crumbs that used to be Milano cookies before they got squished on a plane, and Koala's march cookies. And this weird sports drink called Aquarius that I swore was water when I bought it.
WE HAVE A RICE COOKER! YES! The kitchen only looks dark here because we never turn the lights on. The windows are big enough.
ZA KITCHEN. What you can't see: ALL THE STUFF IN THE CABINETS AND DRAWERS. Whoever lived here last year left us a bunch of stuff, and that's on top of what JCMU gives us. There's a whole bunch of pasta under the stovetop, and I mean like, spaghetti and penne. The good stuff. Lauren, Lynsey and I have already made plans to have dinner one night.
The dishes the room came with. Apparently people just leave stuff here for us to find, because this was a lot more dishes than the handbook said.
The bathroom is made entirely of plastic. Walls, floor, ceiling, everything but the mirror and shelves. Also, the water here is serious business. I turned the sink on halfway trying to fill up an ice tray, and it got water EVERYWHERE. And you can't see it, but the toilet actually has two flush levels: big and small. Don't let the name fool you, the small one is intense. I accidentally hit the big one my first night here and 5 minutes later wondered what on earth would necessitate that much water...
The showerhead. Also serious business, which is good, because it does what it's supposed to instead of just getting you wet.
The water heater! Basically what you do is hit the green button to turn it on, and then pick your temperature. A minute or two later you've got hot water! Same thing applies to the sink, except the water gets way hotter at the sink.
It's a microwave! And a toaster oven! And a small oven! On a fridge! With a phone on top of it! Yes, that little thing does all that. With great efficiency, I might add.
The entryway, complete with burnable and non-burnable trash cans. Seriously, anything but soft plastic goes in the one closest to the door, and soft plastics (wrappers, bottle caps, etc.) go in the one in front of it. But plastic water bottles (they call them pet bottles for some reason) and cans have to go in a separate container downstairs. And they don't let you forget anything here! There's a mesh catcher in the sink so anything bigger than a molecule of air gets caught there and thrown away, and there's a similar thing for the shower. Seriously.
That chair is the loudest thing I've ever sat in. I need to go to Cainz tomorrow and get some WD-40 or something. Also, my desk is a lot cleaner now.
The lovely view I have from my window of Hikone (pronounced hi-KO-ne...I've been doing it wrong). You can't see it, but I'm right by the road, so I get to listen to cars while I go to sleep. They're actually very relaxing...
In case you thought Japanese trash was confusing, allow me to direct your attention to the above picture. The cookie box, in the right-hand corner by the koala cookie that has its head covered by yellow. That swirly-thing with the kanji in the middle? That means you can burn it. The blue thing (which is a drink container, by the way) has that square thing by the olympic rings. That means it's soft plastic. Cans and bottles have similar things.
Now for the town outside! (I didn't get photos of the actual supermarket because my batteries were dead by then. XP I'll do it next time.)
Starting out from JCMU, if you turn right and keep following the sidewalk, this is basically what you see on your way to Cainz (Cainz is what would happen if Wal-Mart and the Home Depot joined forces Wonder Twins-style). First thing you'll see across the street is a hotel:
No, you're reading that right:
(You should see it at night. It's all blue and shiny.) The sign has a surfboard on it. We're on a lake, I guess it makes sense...somehow? Whatever. XD It's not like I'd ever stay there.
Lawson station! It's a convenience store, where I got my dinner the first night I was here. The guy who works there is really nice.
A little further down is...a car dealership. And the cars here present type 1 of Japanese cars, the PT Cruiser-shaped kind. Type 2 is Scion-shaped. BOXY. All the vaguely-SUV-resembling cars look like scions, and all the mini vans look like bubble vans. It's different here.
Lake Biwa. The sunsets here are lovely. Also, clouds. Constant clouds. I love it.
There are ravens EVERYWHERE here. Like, you hear them whenever you go by anywhere with trees. Freaked out a few people on the bike tour earlier.
The other side of the bridge I was standing on. I don't think the diamonds on the road mean the same thing they do in America.
Campaign posters, I believe. They're EVERYWHERE. The bottom one, though, I've only seen once.
See, this is what the cars look like here. And I just had to let you all see that pig on the dashboard of that car.
Apparently the noodles there are really good. Must make plans to go there sometime.
A cemetery. Right there next to the noodle shop. I really like the little shrine in the last picture, but I wouldn't get any closer because I mean, I don't even know whose it is...
It's a wedding chapel.
Just so you could see the stained-glass window.
A dress and suit shop. I wish I could have gotten a better shot of the posters on the sides. The things on the fence are LED string lights that go all blue at night. Actually really pretty. Reminds me vaguely of Christmas.
I don't know what he's saying, but he looks very serious about it.
Apparently it's a really expensive French restaurant.
I'm not sure how it works.
Apparently the Uncanny Valley is 8km from Hikone...
This one kept staring at me when I walked by. Like, AT me. I almost told it I wasn't in the mood to contract my soul today. Almost.
So, what do people do in Hikone? Well...a lot of them grow things.
^Those little covers are the cutest thing I've ever seen that you could plant something under.^
A bamboo forest. Lovely sight. The breeze feels great when it comes from that direction.
This intersection is apparently a deathtrap to students who aren't paying attention. I haven't had problems with it because I wait for the signal like I'm supposed to...
I can only figure that this is telling me not to walk outside alone at night, but I mean really...
That's an honestly terrifying image. Look at that knife! Jeez! This is enough to keep me inside past 8 PM nightly...
Do not let anyone try to convince you that all the buildings in Japan are shiny and beautiful. These people have a serious appreciation for decay, and I'm not being sarcastic about that.
These markings on the ground are for blind people so they can get around. They're all over the place on the entryways to buildings, too. TAKE NOTES, AMERICA.
Boats! (Is it bad that I thought of Ponyo when I saw these?)
Really now.
These kids are there to remind you not to hit kids that are running into the street. Sorry for the blur.
The sign outside the drugstore. I thought you all would get a kick out of that.
Yeah, that's it for now. Oh, and leave some comments! I keep hearing people are reading this but I don't know who!
My room, as viewed from my desk chair. Complete with all the JUNK I brought strewn all over my bed!
My desk wen I first got everything out. From right to left: My DS, my bike helmet, my laptop, and the remains of what I had for dinner the first night. Tuna sushi, strawberry milk, the powdery crumbs that used to be Milano cookies before they got squished on a plane, and Koala's march cookies. And this weird sports drink called Aquarius that I swore was water when I bought it.
WE HAVE A RICE COOKER! YES! The kitchen only looks dark here because we never turn the lights on. The windows are big enough.
ZA KITCHEN. What you can't see: ALL THE STUFF IN THE CABINETS AND DRAWERS. Whoever lived here last year left us a bunch of stuff, and that's on top of what JCMU gives us. There's a whole bunch of pasta under the stovetop, and I mean like, spaghetti and penne. The good stuff. Lauren, Lynsey and I have already made plans to have dinner one night.
The dishes the room came with. Apparently people just leave stuff here for us to find, because this was a lot more dishes than the handbook said.
The bathroom is made entirely of plastic. Walls, floor, ceiling, everything but the mirror and shelves. Also, the water here is serious business. I turned the sink on halfway trying to fill up an ice tray, and it got water EVERYWHERE. And you can't see it, but the toilet actually has two flush levels: big and small. Don't let the name fool you, the small one is intense. I accidentally hit the big one my first night here and 5 minutes later wondered what on earth would necessitate that much water...
The showerhead. Also serious business, which is good, because it does what it's supposed to instead of just getting you wet.
The water heater! Basically what you do is hit the green button to turn it on, and then pick your temperature. A minute or two later you've got hot water! Same thing applies to the sink, except the water gets way hotter at the sink.
It's a microwave! And a toaster oven! And a small oven! On a fridge! With a phone on top of it! Yes, that little thing does all that. With great efficiency, I might add.
The entryway, complete with burnable and non-burnable trash cans. Seriously, anything but soft plastic goes in the one closest to the door, and soft plastics (wrappers, bottle caps, etc.) go in the one in front of it. But plastic water bottles (they call them pet bottles for some reason) and cans have to go in a separate container downstairs. And they don't let you forget anything here! There's a mesh catcher in the sink so anything bigger than a molecule of air gets caught there and thrown away, and there's a similar thing for the shower. Seriously.
That chair is the loudest thing I've ever sat in. I need to go to Cainz tomorrow and get some WD-40 or something. Also, my desk is a lot cleaner now.
The lovely view I have from my window of Hikone (pronounced hi-KO-ne...I've been doing it wrong). You can't see it, but I'm right by the road, so I get to listen to cars while I go to sleep. They're actually very relaxing...
In case you thought Japanese trash was confusing, allow me to direct your attention to the above picture. The cookie box, in the right-hand corner by the koala cookie that has its head covered by yellow. That swirly-thing with the kanji in the middle? That means you can burn it. The blue thing (which is a drink container, by the way) has that square thing by the olympic rings. That means it's soft plastic. Cans and bottles have similar things.
Now for the town outside! (I didn't get photos of the actual supermarket because my batteries were dead by then. XP I'll do it next time.)
Starting out from JCMU, if you turn right and keep following the sidewalk, this is basically what you see on your way to Cainz (Cainz is what would happen if Wal-Mart and the Home Depot joined forces Wonder Twins-style). First thing you'll see across the street is a hotel:
No, you're reading that right:
(You should see it at night. It's all blue and shiny.) The sign has a surfboard on it. We're on a lake, I guess it makes sense...somehow? Whatever. XD It's not like I'd ever stay there.
Lawson station! It's a convenience store, where I got my dinner the first night I was here. The guy who works there is really nice.
A little further down is...a car dealership. And the cars here present type 1 of Japanese cars, the PT Cruiser-shaped kind. Type 2 is Scion-shaped. BOXY. All the vaguely-SUV-resembling cars look like scions, and all the mini vans look like bubble vans. It's different here.
Lake Biwa. The sunsets here are lovely. Also, clouds. Constant clouds. I love it.
There are ravens EVERYWHERE here. Like, you hear them whenever you go by anywhere with trees. Freaked out a few people on the bike tour earlier.
The other side of the bridge I was standing on. I don't think the diamonds on the road mean the same thing they do in America.
Campaign posters, I believe. They're EVERYWHERE. The bottom one, though, I've only seen once.
See, this is what the cars look like here. And I just had to let you all see that pig on the dashboard of that car.
Apparently the noodles there are really good. Must make plans to go there sometime.
A cemetery. Right there next to the noodle shop. I really like the little shrine in the last picture, but I wouldn't get any closer because I mean, I don't even know whose it is...
It's a wedding chapel.
Just so you could see the stained-glass window.
A dress and suit shop. I wish I could have gotten a better shot of the posters on the sides. The things on the fence are LED string lights that go all blue at night. Actually really pretty. Reminds me vaguely of Christmas.
I don't know what he's saying, but he looks very serious about it.
Apparently it's a really expensive French restaurant.
I'm not sure how it works.
Apparently the Uncanny Valley is 8km from Hikone...
This one kept staring at me when I walked by. Like, AT me. I almost told it I wasn't in the mood to contract my soul today. Almost.
So, what do people do in Hikone? Well...a lot of them grow things.
^Those little covers are the cutest thing I've ever seen that you could plant something under.^
A bamboo forest. Lovely sight. The breeze feels great when it comes from that direction.
This intersection is apparently a deathtrap to students who aren't paying attention. I haven't had problems with it because I wait for the signal like I'm supposed to...
I can only figure that this is telling me not to walk outside alone at night, but I mean really...
That's an honestly terrifying image. Look at that knife! Jeez! This is enough to keep me inside past 8 PM nightly...
Do not let anyone try to convince you that all the buildings in Japan are shiny and beautiful. These people have a serious appreciation for decay, and I'm not being sarcastic about that.
These markings on the ground are for blind people so they can get around. They're all over the place on the entryways to buildings, too. TAKE NOTES, AMERICA.
Boats! (Is it bad that I thought of Ponyo when I saw these?)
Really now.
These kids are there to remind you not to hit kids that are running into the street. Sorry for the blur.
The sign outside the drugstore. I thought you all would get a kick out of that.
Yeah, that's it for now. Oh, and leave some comments! I keep hearing people are reading this but I don't know who!
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