Matsuri, Japanese Festivals, the Basics

While I'm in Japan, I'll be mostly on campus, but I'd like to venture out and about to get a taste of the famous and fun matsuri!! For all of the stereotypes that Japanese people are strict, self-controlled, meek, and well behaved, during a festival they will live it up with city-wide parades, dancing in the street, traditional costumes and music, alcohol (of course), and big spectacles for everyone to enjoy. Some matsuri are based on religious exercises, but most have become more like all-out-block-parties (similar to the old Marti Gras celebrations in New Orleans). These festivals can be for the whole nation, a single village, or even just a little shrine. Rumor has it that at any given moment there is a matsuri going on in Japan. I've studied about matsuri for two years now, and I'm dying to get a chance to see what Mitaka and Tokyo can do!

As it so happens, one of the reasons I booked my ticket for the end of this month is so that I would purposefully avoid a festival called Oban. As a Japanese travel site explains:

Obon is an annual Buddhist event for commemorating one's ancestors. It is believed that each year during obon, the ancestors' spirits return to this world in order to visit their relatives.

Traditionally, lanterns are hung in front of houses to guide the ancestors' spirits, obon dances (bon odori) are performed, graves are visited and food offerings are made at house altars and temples.

At the end of Obon, floating lanterns are put into rivers, lakes and seas in order to guide the spirits back into their world. The customs followed vary strongly from region to region.

Obon is celebrated from the 13th to the 15th day of the 7th month of the year, which is July according to the solar calender. However, since the 7th month of the year roughly coincides with August rather than July according to the formerly used lunar calender, Obon is still celebrated in mid August in many regions of Japan, while it is celebrated in mid July in other regions.

The Obon week in mid August is one of Japan's three major holiday seasons, accompanied by intensive domestic and international travel activities and increased accommodation rates.

I'm not sure what the next matsuri in my area will be, but hopefully I'll be able to go and not be overloaded with homework! By the way, this is the post is the start of my 1 week countdown!!

Studying Online, the Basics

Since Strongsville and Springfield, Ohio are not known for a large Asian population, I have had to find other ways of practicing Japanese. Luckily, many sempai (older students) have been able to give me great tips for studying at home, with friends, and online.

Here are a few of my favorite tools for languages:

Rosetta Stone - bright pictures, voice recognition, and repetitive study, Rosetta Stone lives up to its reputation as a language learning software. Instant feedback on pronunciation and slow progression through vocab, grammar, listening, speaking, and reading activities is a great way to practice old information or learn new phrases.

Smart.fm - This is a great way to gain vocab knowledge FAST!! An online flashcard site, smart.fm offers lists of words in various subjects and langues. Making an account is free (most of my study tips are free or low-budget), and not only can you use existing lists, but you can make your own. The one problem: because this is a community site, some people don't know their kanji or spelling as well as they ought, so you might find someone who doesn't know the difference between homophones like 上げる and 挙げる.

LiveMocha.com - My sister and her friend just showed this to me. It is another community made site where people who are interested in langues help each other learn. There are activities to learn how to read, write, and speak in a host of other languages, but be kind and help review the work of other people that are trying to learn your native tongue.

WordReference.com - This is a great place to get a quick answer to a language problem or to join in a world-wide forum about languages. This site part dictionary and part forum where people can help you with any question you have in almost any language. Just make an account and start a thread. Very helpful for late night conjugation tables, too (especially a romance language).

Of course there are a host of helpful sites out there. Language learning software is abundant, too. Just search around and find something that interests you; a program that tracks your progress is a bonus. And if you find something really helpful out there, please let me know too!!

Omiyage (お土産), the Basics

When someone does something nice for you, you normally want to do something nice back, right? You could go out and buy something, but consumer prices in Japan are usually wicked expensive. Besides, since I'll be coming from far-off America, wouldn't it be cool to give them a souvenir they couldn't normally get themselves? The Japanese call a souvenir an "omiyage." A funny word, maybe, but easy to say and remember (for those of us who saw the original Karate Kid, think of Mr. Miyagi and change it just a tad). Omiyage can range be anything from food, a small toy, a little box, or stamps. A little token of your appreciation for help or friendship.

"Gez, Alexandra, thanks for the vocab lesson and all, but why should we care?" I'm so glad you asked!

In Japan, the chain of events is usually as follows: clueless American arrives, fumbles around, attempts the language/culture, someone takes pity, really helps them figure things out, the American says thanks, and that's it. WRONG!! When someone does you a favor, you are expected to say more than just "domo" and think you've done well. Write a little card, give them a bag of sweets, or buy a key chain for their cell phone. International students need quite a bit of help in Japan, so we are expected to give quite a few omiyage.

"But that doesn't say much on what to bring. What would they like?"

Really, they won't care too much about what you bring, but here are some standards that your omiyage should meet:

1. Hard to find in Japan. Looking back, that cell phone key chain isn't a good idea since they are on every street corner and konbini (convenience store) in Japan.

2. It represents your area/state/country. Get little plush toys of your state bird, find some trifles from your school, buy post cards with pictures of your town, or get some thing that is made in your area (Malley's Chocolate, for example).

3. Add some words. Bringing anything with English on it will interest the Japanese. Don't we in America get excited if a song has some French in it (look to Lady Gaga for a clue)? The Japanese think that English words really cool, even if it makes no sense or says something very mundane.

4. Keep it small. Think of the omiyage as a knick-knack. Something that won't take up too much space in their house or your suitcase.

5. Taste appeal. A small snack that is popular in America is usually found in Japan. But since peanut butter is not widely used in Japan, something like a Reese's Peanut Butter Cup would be a fun, interesting sweet that they are not used to. Just make sure that your candy does not melt in the airplane; have someone ship a bag to you once your settled in the country.

A final thought, bring some omiyage back!! While out and about in the city, there are a lot of places that sell souvenirs and trinkets just like we do in America. Just make sure they fit in your suitcase.

Final Photos and Goodbyes

Leaving for ICU has me feeling like a college freshman all over again: I don't know much about the campus, teachers, classes, or student life save for what I've heard and found on the internet. But I figure that since I'm back to square one, I might as well act like it!

Before Witt, I made sure to see all of my friends, family, and dojo members so that I'd have some recent memories of them all to take with me to school. Sure, I'd be coming home for Christmas, but when you find an excuse to be with the people you love, you grab it, right? Being back at home has let me relax and talk with my family, Fanam, and friends from high school. I am spending a few days with my grandparents right now, and most of the family came out for the cousins' yearly picture session. It is so odd to think that we could stand in the same house that we played in as kids! I took a whole bunch of photos of my grandparents' home and garden to help cheer me up in Japan.

Yeah, that's right! I have a camera now!! It still blows my mind that camera's don't need film anymore (well, alright, some still do, but that is on purpose).

After the family photo shoot, a bunch of us went out for Starbucks. My aunt gave me a fantastic pep-talk (she studied abroad for 3 months in Brazil) and it was heartening to hear the language adventure stories from a member of the family. It is one thing when people my own age come back and say, "That was a blast! You're going to love it! I wish I could go back!" and to hear her talk about what an impact it still has on her life.

I know that few of us want to grow up. There is always a bitter-sweet feeling at graduations, good-bye parties, and before a trip. I know that this is going to change me in more ways than I can see right now, and I wanted to see the people I've grown up with to almost reassure myself that I've changed before and they still like me.

Sorry, to get so mushy, everyone. I'll promise to pep up!

一生懸命頑張ります！

Calling on My Crew

During high school, I took Honors Physics (for heaven knows what reason) and had to complete a bridge project to prove I understood stress and pressure. I hated the project except for 3 things: I could talk to my grandfather more, the craft store had a spiral red staircase to get to the balsa wood, and I took "progress photos" with one of my stuffed panda, Crew. My several snapshots made me so happy and helped me to look forward to each step of the bridge.

Part of going to Japan would be homesickness, and I wanted to bring something special with me. I had this idea driving home from Witt: why not bring Crew along? He could pose, be cute, and get some world experience! Karaoke, moving into the dorm, a 13 hr flight, taking classes, taiko training even? It will be a blast, and something silly for people to follow up on. My mother had a good name for it: Alex and her Crew.

Hopefully my Japanese friends will help me out and get excited about chilling with Crew and I'll have lots of fun pictures to share with you all!

Here are some flashbacks to my first project with Crew...

(On the right) Crew helped me build a bridge for Honors Physics class. Here he is surveying the plans before construction. Safety is key (please note the glasses) and no stuffed animals were harmed in the making of this bridge.

(On the left) Crew is now done with the construction of the bridge. Special care was taken in the transport stage; heavy-duty wrapping insured the protection of the structure. Loading up the project was a big job, but Crew deftly and safely packed the bridge away.