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Further Exploration into the Realm of Japan

7/29/2012

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So I have been learning oral Japanese since I arrived here and I can actually put together a pretty poorly constructed couple of sentences and get my point across in basic conversations now, WOW!  Only two weeks here and I am certainly making progress, let's GO!!!  I have also begun learning a bit of written Japanese.  This is a LOT more difficult however, because there is not just one alphabet like English has, rather three!!!  Japanese consists of the Kanji, which are the characters (which originally came from Chinese), the Hiragana, which are all sorts of strokes that comprise strange shapes but have a more curvy feel to them than the Kanji do.  The Katakana, from what I understand, is more commonly used to represent words that come directly from English like "bowling".  Also, the Kanji can represent words, concepts and sounds, where as Hiragana only carries a sound.  Usually Japanese is written in a mixture of mainly Kanji, with words such as "no" and "wa" (in, mine, etc.) written in Hiragana.

The characters can be written right to left and up to down.  Therefore when you read a magazine it is not uncommon that you would read it in the reverse fashion as we would in the United States, beginning from the "back cover" and making your way to what we know to be the "front cover".  You also often find that Japanese is written in the direction in which we are used to seeing it (left to right and top to bottom).

You can hear people saying "sumimasen" (which means "excuse me" or "sorry" generally) all over the place, and particularly in the grocery stores and areas where you receive service.  It is quite comical to hear these people yelling out their oral routines in the stores when someone walks into the store; they don't have to actually be close to anyone to say "excuse me" or "sorry" so it's quite weird for me to watch.

Another interesting insight into Japanese culture is the word "samishi".  This directly translates into English as "lonely".  So, the act of telling someone you miss them would be expressed as "samishi".  Here, we see that the human connection is removed, because nobody is saying "I" or "you" or even the word "miss", rather just the word "lonely" is spoken and from one person saying "samishi" the other person is supposed to understand that this COULD be because of them.  The lack of expressing oneself in Japanese culture, perhaps due to embarrassment or shyness is quite interesting in how it manifests itself in the Japanese society and in how it shapes daily life interactions.

There is a phrase in Japanese, "ki tsukai" which means "to not hurt others' feelings".  This is a big part of Japanese culture, and the reason why people find the Japanese to be so kind.  Although you might find yourself wondering who is actually genuinely kind and who is putting on an act, I can tell you that it is certainly a pleasant place to be.  There are not really many arguments and fighting almost never occurs.  Even in a simple situation like using a restroom, you would never have to worry about someone banging on the stall door asking if you are almost done yet or telling you to hurry up.  The Japanese wait patiently outside the door until you are finished.

One other escapade is trying to get a phone in Japan.  Unless you have a visa, a Japanese address or some kind of connection, don't count on getting a Japanese phone.  I figured I could get one used or a SIM card for my crappy phone, but this proved to be a lot more complicated than I had anticipated.  It turns out that I probably should have rented one at the airport if I wanted one...however the prices just to have the phone were about $2-3 USD a day, plus no text messaging, and each call was about $1 a minute, LOCAL!  That is a bit too takai (expensive) if you ask me!  To confuse the process of securing a phone even more, the Japanese thought it'd be comical to have one of their three main phone companies, (Docomo, au, and Softbank) Softbank, (pronounced "Softa-bank" haha) have the word BANK in it!!!

As for my happenings recently, I have been back and forth between Osaka and a smaller city called Kobe.  Kobe is known for its beef, which is way too expensive to even consider trying.  I visited the port and it was quite lovely!  I also checked out an observatory with a friend where I got a great view of the city at night!!  Kobe is quite an international city, and you can find lots of varieties there!  I FINALLY went to a restaurant with the sushi plates that come around on a belt (similar to when you are waiting for your luggage to come off of the plane in the aiprort)!  Naturally I was so enthralled to finally experience this that I took several videos!  There are four colors of plates, each one bringing along its own price.  The selections ranged from about $1.50 a plate to $4 or $5 and to my surprise they had several vegetarian options!  There was one with rice and sweet egg bound together with seaweed, another is wrapped in seaweed and has vegetables and mayonnaise inside...by the way the Japanese mayonnaise is AMAZING!!! It just seem to have the right ingredients in it to make it an amazing addition to and even substitution for (Kidding, well... hahaha) a meal!!  Finally, there is a type of vegetarian sushi which I have encountered that has Nato (the semi-sour flavored beans) mixed with rice, wrapped all together with seaweed.  So the word "sashimi" refers to the raw fish that is often thought of when the word "sushi" is uttered, and many types of raw fish are present in a multitude of sushi dishes.  "Sushi" generally refers to raw foods, and is usually wrapped in seaweed.

I also went on a day trip with some friends to Okayama, and elsewhere in Hyogo Prefecture (not Kobe) to see my friend's family and baby, so cute!!

Have you tried finding wifi in Osaka?  I have, and I have news, it is NOT an easy task!  When you finally find it in select McDonalds for example, you are generally required to have an account with some company and a password to use it...so that's no good, what do you do?  Go to Osaka Station and find the Hotel Granvia Osaka.  Their network is free to use and once you log on you will be asked for a password on the access page, which is conveniently written on an easily visible card at the reception desk, so surf away!!!

Also noteworthy is that I attended a festival in Osaka recently and it was quite cool!!  I had never seen so many Yukatas (light or "summer" versions of the traditional Kimono).  There was a big mix of modern, traditional and a whole bunch of fireworks!  When I asked about the meaning behind the festival however, that was unknown.

Little things about this culture intrigue me, and about how things just work.  It is hard to recall all of the stimuli that my brain processes on a daily basis, but things like how doors slide into place, the way things are made, etc. just seem quite high-tech at times and function superbly (and I have not been to Tokyo yet, where technology is notoriously working at its finest).  The Japanese make me wonder, "why don't we do it like this at home?  This makes sense..."

One other thing, they drive on the left side of the street here and the steering wheel is on the right..
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Osakas and Otakus

7/14/2012

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WOW, what a first few days in Japan!  Talk about getting a mouthful of Japanese culture...this place is WILD!  I arrived safely and went to my buddy Yoshihiro's place to spend the night.  We went out for some food and then went back and relaxed.  I have spent the past couple of days exploring the city, checking out various temples, monuments, shopping centers and eateries.

The culture here REALLY stands out from other places I have been.  Perhaps this sense of preserved and/or closed off culture is due to the fact that for nearly 200 years, Japan traded with no other countries in its somewhat recent history.

The anime (Japanese-style animated cartoons) can be found everywhere, and especially in a location called Den Den Town!  Here you can find everything from pictures, videos, action figures, costumes and much more!  These stores, often several stories high, also cater to the adults with dirty versions of anime (VERY dirty) and even sections with actual pornography (which Japan is notorious for).  I even stumbled past very young girls posing in bikinis which was quite bothersome, so I took the name of the company down to investigate it a bit more when I have some time.  On a place called Otaku street, you can even find women dressed up as maids, inviting you in for coffee.  If you choose to partake in this, you would pay an exhorbitantly large fee to have coffee with one of them while they spit out puns and strange sayings (I am told).  You can find people dressed in all sorts of costumes here.  The word "Otaku" refers to someone who is obsessed with anime and pretty much does nothing but immerse them self in that world...perhaps fantasizes about these characters without having meaningful relationships in real life.  The Japanese all claim NOT to be Otakus, although certainly some must be if the term exists in Japanese, no?  There are debates on whether women can be considered Otakus or not.. Otakus create some wildly interesting things and post much of it on youtube.  There is a female anime character that a friend told me about called Hatsune Miku but the crazy thing is that it is actually a computer program.  With this program you can use this "ghost-like" girl to sing songs and she will say whatever you program her to say.  She has pigtails and died blue har and has even been featured in some famous television commercials here in Japan!!

The anime magazines are so popular, that even outside of locations geared towards those otakus and other semi-normal humanoids who enjoy reading the books, you can find these magazines, such as in local 7-11s.  You can even find Japanese businessmen before and during work checking them out!  Hey man, shouldn't you be working??

The language:  it's a lot like Spanish in terms of pronunciation, so I do alright with that...and although I am struggling to communicate, I am making progress!  The Japanese are so kind and will always try to help you if you ask.  They are just shy, and for that reason do not speak much English with you.  Some because they cannot, but others I have found just because they are shy and if you speak slowly you can have a coherent conversation...it's just breaking through that shyness barrier, which is a HUGE part of Japanese culture that you can feel in almost all aspects of daily life.  They are very respectful and helpful people, but some argue that it is a front because they will never truly tell you how they feel...I am in the process of determining my own opinion on this matter.  I can say that Japanese people do not talk about their feelings often.  I wonder if they have deep talks about life, because what I can say is that the most meaningful conversations I have had in my life are philosophical, questioning things about life and talking about feelings, so if they do not do this I wonder what kind of conversations they get enjoyment out of...is this society just a huge matrix??

The Japanese are STYLISH!  The men often have a style of wearing their hair long but layered diagonally across their face, (not all) and with the women you can find anything, everything and more!  The one common denominator is usually the makeup.  Japanese girls love it, pure and simple.  Most wear a lot, a rare few might only wear a little bit but some even look like they've used an entire store's supply in one morning's daily dose of the materials.. Noticeable features:  heavy around the eyes with LONG, black eyelash extensions, heavy on the blush - their cheeks are usually QUITE pink or red...and some crazy hair styles and extensions.  Clothes in some areas can get exotic, chaotic and flat out strange!  ...especially in the most fashionable of areas such as America Mura (American Village) and Dotonburi bridge you might only find the occasional person such as me NOT dressed up!

The main areas have people yelling out about bargains and along the Dotonburi bridge particularly, where there are many posters, interesting signage and lively folks handing out flyers and trying to get you into their shops (definitely NOT shy...Japenese COUNTERculture :) )  ...you can even get a few free items there!  I got a free takoyaki (which is octopus ball, made of course of octopus mixed with some milky sauce until it is cooked)!  Also on the topic of food, I have had otonomiyaki which is a mix of veggies and some powder to hold the mix together plus WHATEVER else you want in it, topped off with a delicious sauce reminding my taste buds most of soy sauce.  For breakfasts most mornings with Yoshihiro I have eaten rice with sticky soy sauce and beans along with miso soup. I have also tried rice with raw egg and soy sauce, along with some udon noodles (with and without soup) MMM!  We in the USA seem to think raw foods cause problems and poisoning, perhaps due to the bacteria, however the Japanese eat many raw things - eggs, fish, etc. and they seem to be doing fine...different styles, but perhaps the bacteria is different in the two places.  One nice thing is that the tap water here is drinkable...finally!  This is the first time I have been able to drink tap water in ONE WHOLE YEAR!!!  I have also tried such foods as sobu noodles and inanizushi (a three-dimensional pyramid-shaped food with a tofu-like outside with sticky rice inside).  When eating some of these dishes in certain locations you enter, pop in the amount necessary for your purchase (usually with coins) and then once you put enough into the machine, the different foods light up although mostly written in Japanese so you may have to reference the sign, ask some people and/or do a lot of pointing to get your point across (assuming that the product is in stock or can be made with the current materials).  You get a little ticket and your change back and then give it to the man behind the usually-curvy or u-shaped bar where you sit.  Some restaurants you can sit on the floor and I have heard others have food (mainly sushi) on conveyor belts from which you would select like taking your airplane baggage...apparently they are color-coded by price...a lot of Japan is organized in these strange ways..

Japanese houses are quite interesting..they are generally quite small and many people sleep on the floor.  Many places (public and private) have toilets that have all sorts of gadgets from "underside washing functions", to fake flushing sounds and some even have a sink attached to the top of the toilet that begins running once you flush it and then that water is drained down into the toilet for the next use...smart AND efficient!.  You can even find a drying mode for clothes that happens via a fan in some bathrooms and "click" lights, where the button looks like the large, rectangular ones you may be used to seeing where you push in one direction to turn them on and one to turn them off, but these stay mounted in the one direction in which they are locked onto the wall and only once you push hard enough does the reaction occur; the button goes back to the same side where you found it, never switching over to the other side..

The Japanese will often cross their arms or wrists and this means "no".  I had heard of some cases where this behavior was taken as racism because this signal was given right when the person walked in the door.  I am not sure if that is the case, or if it is due to the fact that they cannot or are too embarrassed to speak English..

Also noteworthy is the bowing.  It is done by service people such as those at convenience stores or waiters and waitresses and is a sign of respect.  If you do it back to them it is very kind and respectful as it is not expected of you :)  You are supposed to bow to elders whom you do not know well, and actually the "desuka" is a polite form to use in these sort of situations as well.  As the Japanese are quite respectful, you will often hear these words being used! :)  The Japanese also makes noises (and this is how I can identify them when outside of Japan) like "ehhhhhhh" and "ohhhhhhhhh" and hold them out for extended periods of time.  This is to show that they are listening to you and interested in what you are saying.
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The Heart and Seoul of South Korea

7/8/2012

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I was lucky enough to touch down in Seoul and be greeted by a couchsurfer who would take me in for a few nights!  He cooked me a home-cooked Korean meal in the morning, of course after we had went out for a traditional Korean style pancake the night I arrived!  He even ordered what they call here "Chinese food" here, which is quite different than both Chinese foods in China and the U.S.A.  He also took me out dancing a few nights and we had a blast!  We spent a Friday night in the typical way that Koreans do, spending hours eating Barbeque and drinking beer and Soju...only to be topped off with some Karaoke!  Koreans friends seem to act like family and you had better believe that competition among peers within the Karaoke realm can get fierce!  You are considered to be "1" year old when you are born, so when a Korean tells you their age, expect it to be one year more than what we in the U.S.A. and most of Western cultures would declare.  Actually, although birthdays are celebrated on the day on which you were born, Koreans consider everyone to turn one year older on the 1st of January each year.  Although seemingly rude in many cultures, it is common that one of the first questions you will be asked is "how old are you?" here in Korea.  This is not out of sheer curiosty, but also a modest attempt to know how to address you.  As I mentioned earlier friends are like family and they refer to one another as such, "older brother", "older sister", etc.  I had such a wonderful and authentic Korean experience with Chungbo (my host)!

After spending a few days with Kyungbo and meeting up with some of my international buddy from UAlbany's friends (she made me an itinerary!!!), I was off to the Hongdae area to spend a few nights in a hostel.  This is the university area and its absolutely nuts!  FILLED with people on weekends and quite crowded on weekdays as well!  What a cool experience to try some different cafes and korean style foods in the area.  Street vendors are there too.  The area boasts some wild nightlife as well, with clubs such as Coccoon hoppin' every night!!!  Others get crowded on the weekend, and there is a bar called "Vent" where you can secure a Banana Beer for 4,000 Won, (about $3.50 USD) and a place directly above the infamous club Coccoon called "Terrace" which will dish out strong draft beers at 1,500 Won (About ($1.25 USD) while also treating you to a fantastic view of the city...what's better than that?!?!?!

Itaewon is a strange area.  It is a mix of Muslims, U.S. Military, transgender people and some wild Koreans!  The only Mosque in all of Seoul is located here and there is also a heavy U.S. presence because the U.S. military base is so close by that the G.I.s often frequent this location.  It is a wild entanglement of all sorts of cultures where (perhaps due to the US Military) you can purchase larger sized clothing!  Also, here in Itaewon another couchsurfer took me to a lovely spot for food and drinks and then up to a rooftop where we could see the whole city, cars, flashing lights, the river, etc.  I really like those type of moments when you have real conversations with someone in that environment and you can reflect on your life and the world.  Sometimes it feels like a scene out of a movie, and I also have this picturesque movie feeling when I get onto a plane to go to the next location and I hear music...I feel like it is a theme song for my ongoing travels!


I was lucky enough to meet up with my international buddy, and spent some nights at her family's home in Donghae..WOW! The mother is a fantastic cook, the dog has its ears and tail painted green, the Grandma is hilariously random, and the father so kind and modest!  How would I know this?  I don't even speak Korean!  Well, through numerous translations I was able to get the jist of it!  I could not believe that after we climbed the Valley, her family would take us to a "condominium", which was a secret codeword to disguise a 5-star Korean Vacation resort!  I slept on the floor however, Korean style with lots of padding and mattresses, not to worry!  The parents brought along an interesting Australian couple who are looking to start a homestay for Koreans when they return!  It was really fascinating to chat with and get to know everyone better.  Due to the father's connection with a former student, we not only got hooked up with the room with perhaps the best view and a deilicious dinner consisting of the local specialty dish of that area, but free Sauna tickets as well!  Don't go to a Korean or Japanese bathhouse (in Japanese it is called an Onsen) expecting to keep your clothes on or to retain your privacy.  These are communal style ordeals, and a lot less strange than you might think once you actually check them out for yourself!  Lastly on this topic, the family was kind enough to take me out to eat so many times, get pizza and a cake for my birthday, take me to a waterfall and even taking me to an organic flower plantation with a theme of peace, prosperity and positive thinking...all the while assuring that I did not pay a dime.  Unreal hospitality, I was (and still am) amazed.

I then moved onto a city called Gyeongju where I met some nice people that I hope to connect with again in Japan!  I visited some ancient tombs, which are covered by huge grass hills in parks here..(quite strange actually) and had some walks passing by an observatory, through a forrest and along an amazingly beautiful pond at night!  I was able to finally do a workout with a benchpress and some light weights in the hostel, man that felt good!  I realized when I weighed myself in the bathhouse that I have lost about 20 pounds since my departure for Asia, wow!!!  This is due to eating less perhaps, and at stranger hours, along with not having a set workout schedule, which leads to not working out as much unfortunately as the facilities have not been available.  As I may have mentioned in other posts, it is quite hard to maintain a gym membership when you will be heading to your next location within a few days and the facilities usually want a committment of at least a few months.

My next stop was Busan, and I stayed in Haeundae Beach here..what madness!  I saw drunken Korean women trying to brawl in broad daylight!  The beach was quite nice and a stroll at night was quite great too!  There is a good deal of things to checkout, but a bit pricy by the beach area!!  I was astonished by how many coffee shops are around South Korea!!  Back to Seoul, then Osaka here I come!!

Random Facts:  1) Many Korean wear hats (often of US baseball teams). 

2) Plastic surgery is QUITE common here, and more than half of the women (at least in the bigger cities...I think maybe even all of Korea) have had work done mainly on their eyes and nose, and sometimes their face.  Even some guys who are expected to maintain a certain image (usually performers) will undergo the surgery.

3) Restaurants and even individual people tend to be a lot more meticulous recylcing and the way they go about it (as was similar case in Taiwan).  The recycling is actually generaly split into 3 minimum and as many as 6 categories!

4) Some restaurants that deliver will actually come back to collect some items given like plates and bowls.

5) When Koreans speak English, they often say things like "you had better"...instead of "you might want to", sounding a bit arrogant in nature, but I understand that it is the way they have learned the language.  Also expect the "w" and "p" sounds to be confused, once again due to concerns in the native tongue.  Expect to hear "my wipe (or 'wipuhhh') is so wonderful" when a Korean man might actually be trying to tell you about his significant other, not a restroom item which he is particularly fond of...

6) I feel a bit ashamed that I have not learned more Korean before I came.  I would have liked to but was put off by the fact that I will be spending such a short period of time here.  I learned a few phrases however, and was told by many that Korean is quite easy to learn.  The alphabet and characters don't seem to complex, and there are no tones (unlike Mandarin Chinese).
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