Relevant Japanese is Relevant

Today's class reading was an explanation of Deveraux's experimenting on Monkey's to determine the quality of their eyesight in regards to human's eyesight. This involved some minor Pavlovian conditioning in order to get the monkey's to learn what was needed for the experiment.

There are four screens, four peepholes, and four switches.

Of these four screens, there are three that have a plan gray pattern, and the last one was striped. In order to get juice, the thirsty monkey (as he had been deprived water prior to the experiment), the monkey had to hit the switch for the striped screen (Hello, Pavlov). The faster they did it, the better. However, as the experiment goes on, the striped pattern becomes more and more difficult to discern from the all-gray pattern. Once a monkey got to the point where they were no longer answering correctly, the experiment ended.

As a result, Deveraux was able to determine that monkey's and human's have like eyesight capabilities.

The end.

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I rather like how we are learning "real world" Japanese and not just reading contrived scenarios. It makes things interesting to say the least.

It's On A Boat!

Shipped out my first box of stuff to go back home. All clothes. It cost me $75 to do so, but at least it's sent. It might not get back before I arrive, but eh. It's just clothes. It's all gravy after that.

Here Comes The Rain Again

...and 'lo, Tsuyu has begun.

The next 10 days are filled with 7 days of rain. If that gives you any idea, that is how the last month is going to go. Suck.

The Forgotten Shrine

I've spent most of the day studying. Decided I had to get away from the computer (so it wouldn't distract me) and went to Gasto for dinner and the drink bar (free refills!). Between bites of Meat Doria, I reviewed mostly reading sections and grammar points, writing in the words I didn't immediately know the translation of as well as doing the reading Q&A's in the book to make sure I understood what was going on (as far as I know, I'm doing okay.)

After I had my fill of Coke and mountain grape soda, I packed up and headed home, but not before I stopped at a small shrine that I pass every now and then. Given how late it was, there wasn't much light to speak of. One of the entry lanterns was burnt out (later discovered there is no bulb in there. I think I might buy one from Kyu-Kyu and replace it myself. I don't think anyone would mind, really...), but nevertheless, I headed in.

As far as I could tell in the dark, the shrine is in disrepair. The grounds are rather barren and lifeless, the o-fuda are shredded to hell and back, and the bell-tassel could probably do with a replacement. What really stood out was that there was a group of guys who were just sitting on the shrine steps, smoking and joking away like it wasn't even a sacred place.

It kind of makes you realize just how much even the influence and reverence for Shinto is fading in the modernizing world of Tokyo. No one notices these small shrines. Even the purification font wasn't working. Regardless of this, when I approached the shrine proper, the men scattered (literally jumping over the stone wall that surrounds the shrine) and I went through the motions -- tomorrow is a big exam and I want to do great, and a little help from the local kami wouldn't hurt too much, in my opinion.

I stood there for sometime, thinking about how sad and lonely the kami of the shrine must be, and how neglected. I wish I could learn more. I think I might take some photos on a day off to see if I can't find anything that would give me an idea about this shrine and it's history (and why it's in ill repute now...)

Edit: As far as I can make out, it is a shrine to Hachiman, like a lot of the shrine's in the Musashino area are.

Kurokawa-Juice!

Today has been brought to you by:

Severe knee pain!
Severe back pain!
Speaking test anxiety!
Total spaz-fest in 食堂!
and Professor Mikiko Kurokawa <3

The past few days have been nothing short of a pain-induced haze that has made it difficult to study and do anything but lay about and silently wishing for death because knowing that this week is an apocalypse waiting to happen and it just so happens to be C-Week here at ICU, where the C stands for Christianity -- so it's fitting, really, that the whole world ends during this particular week when the schedules for classes are fucked five ways to Thursday.

Today's class was thankfully uneventful, other than everyone getting the last grammar quiz back and we all were aboard the Fail-Boat for that one (what sort of universe do we live in that when between Me, Josh, Stewart, and Rhiannon, Josh gets the higher score?! MADNESS!) We had a vocab quiz that I crammed for, and likely got an 8/10 on considering I know I fudged one, and outright forgot the other.

After that, it was to 食堂 for some lunchings. Me, Josh, Stewart, Rhiannon, Anjelique, Laurent, and Marc were all eating (and I was studying/spazzing over my speaking test and grumbling about pain) when Marc thought it'd be a good idea to start harping on me to go see a doctor, get more drugs, etc etc.

The fact of the matter as to why I haven't is A.) Money B.) Time C.) 私の日本語はSHITです。 I can survive going out, buying things, getting my bike fixed and all of that, but understanding Japanese medical lingo and bureaucracy? Not so much. Marc continues to harp on me about it, saying, "Well, you have insurance back home, right?"

Let me pause there for a moment and explain: yes, I do have health insurance back home, but it is only because GVSU required it prior to departure. I got the bare-minimum coverage, as in, I pay $50 to say "Hey look, I have an insurance card!" It doesn't cover X-Rays, prescriptions, or anything that I would actually need.

So I told him, yes, I have insurance.

"Then I don't see what the problem is."

The problem is, that despite having 'insurance', it will not cover physiotherapy for my legs. It will not cover painkillers, nor the surgery that will be a necessity in a few more years according to the last doctor's diagnosis. That will have to come out of my pocket.

Again, "I don't see what the problem is."

...Not everyone has their parents wiring them $1400 a fucking month. Not everyone has that sort of laissez faire luxury of financial security. Thanks for reminding me that I'm poor, ghetto, white trailer-trash with no future all over again, and telling me that I don't have it so bad since I'm not gay and oh-so-persecuted.

In too much pain to deal with this and under so much damn stress, I pack up my shit and get the hell out of　食堂. The last thing I needed was someone tearing into my about how I am not doing anything about my health. The doctors won't do anything since the condition isn't bad enough yet. On top of that, I'm in so much pain, and worrying about my grades that yes, maybe I am a little sensitive, but fucking hell man, have some goddamn tact. Not everything has to be about how depressed you are because you don't have a boyfriend >:/

I get about half-way to my bike when Josh just grabs me and gives me a giant bear-hug. I am just so overwhelmed that I just slump to the ground, holding my books and crying because of everything plus just the utter agony I am in physically. No sooner had I slumped then Professor Kurokawa (of J3 love and fame) appears, frantically wondering if I was okay.

For those playing the home game, Kurokawa was my professor last term who I love and adore. She was perhaps the most understanding person and knew of my health issues and if I had to miss a day in class, she didn't hold it against me. I learned so much from her, and really, she's too good for this school in my opinion. Hell, Kurokawa, Ninomiya, and Ozawa are too good for this school. The rest of the professors are uncaring people who just want results, K, N, and O see you as actual people with lives, feelings and problems -- a rarity in Japan, or so I hear.

Josh assure Kurokawa I am fine, and she runs off to go teach her next class and eventually, I return to 食堂 to study some more. Marc leaves, Rhiannon and Stewart headed out to 吉祥寺, leaving me, Anjelique and Josh to help me study.

Then suddenly, out of the blue, Kurokawa appears and hands both me and Josh a can of Tropicana fruit juice. As soon as she appeared, she was gone!

Like nectar from heaven, I drank the juice and hoped it granted me Kurokawa's blessing. Me and Josh jokingly call it a "relic" of Kurokawa, and think it will bestow greatness upon us.

I suppose we will have to see how well it helped me come the results of the speaking test...

(Note to self: Get a small present and card for Professor Kurokawa. Her sweetness is just too good to go un-thanked.)

All You Can Eat Meat

I don't think I've eaten so much meat in my life.

Tonight, me, Mariko, Alisa and Runo all went to Kichijouji for some sweet, sweet yakiniku tabehoudai (All-you-can-eat-grill-it-yourself-meat!) and I am packed full of beefy and chicken goodness. Oh my god. Soooo tasty.

Golden Freakin' Week

Well, my Golden Week holidays finished up early this week, and I have to say, they were quite enjoyable indeed. Earlier in April, I took an opportunity that was made available to students from three Universities (ICU, Asia University, and Aoyama) to do a 3-day, 2-night homestay in Takahagi City, in Ibaraki Prefecture, and I must say I had perhaps one of the best times of my life.

We left on May 3rd and headed north of the Tokyo Metropolis and into the heart of the Japanese coastal country. What was meant to take only three hours ended up taking five as traffic was very fierce, what with everyone else heading the fuck out of dodge for their holidays as well. During the drive, we received a family biography:

The Ono Family (Yes, Ono as in Yoko Ono):

Ono Shinobu (小野　忍） - Father - Civil Servant with a love of horsemanship.
Ono Mikako （小野　美香子）- Mother - Kindergarten Teacher who has an awesome garden.
Ono Taichi （小野　太一）- Son - College student who fishes.
Ono Manabu （小野　学）- Son - High school student, loves soccer and wants to be a fashion designer.
Ono Megumi （小野　愛）- Daughter - Junior High School student, loves cooking and the manga "Kuroshitsuji"
Ono Hitomi （小野　瞳）- Daughter - Primary school student, plays the piano, very energetic.

A fairly full family, they didn't even mention Grandpa and Grandma. However, before meeting the Family Ono, me and the other 24 students who went on this trip were paraded through Takahagi city (more or less) and were able to take part in quite a few Japanese cultural arts (as well as being stuffed full of delicious, delicious Japanese food, num num)

We were taken to a cultural art center where we were treated to the lovely strains of "Sakura, Sakura" (a traditional Japanese folksong) played on a series of kotos and accompanied by a shinobue. We were then split into two groups to try out both of the arts they had to offer us.

I decided to participate in the tea ceremony first, and soon discovered that a person with knees like mine should never, ever, ever, ever sit in seiza for more than five minutes. Ever. My legs burned for the rest of the evening and I generally felt like crap after that. After partaking of the delicious, delicious green tea and the traditional sweets served with it, I limped outside to take some photos of the surroundings and then was off to try my hand at the koto.

For all you musicians out there, the note notation for the koto is unlike anything you have ever seen, and the same can be applied to all Japanese instruments. It's just not like what we're used to with staff bars, treble clefs and bass clef. It truly is something all its own.

After that, it was time to go to the city center, where we would again be paraded in front of a bunch of strangers, and then paired off with our families so we could get to know each other. Mother Makiko was especially interested in learning what I liked, disliked, favorite foods, hobbies, interests, etc whereas the naturally inquisitive Hitomi was bouncy and pretty much dragging me everywhere behind her, much to Megumi's chagrin. Father Shinobu didn't say much (and never really did, go Japanese masculine stoicism!), but he was a generally agreeable man with a sense of humor. Not cold, but not Mr. Happy like Z's father was.

After all was said and done (as well as a massive game of Jan-Ken-Pon, or Rock-Paper-Scissors, and us international kids having to sing something for everyone, poorly) we headed back to our hotel for a night before we were sent off with our parents for the evening.

The next day, we were all picked up by our hosts families and brought home to unwind and enjoy a quick lunch of Soba and Tempura. After which, I was taken to a museum just up the street from their house which also doubles as a crafting trade school for Tatami. I'll say this, after seeing all that can be done with tatami, I really want to have tatami floor mats. Like seriously. It's awesome.

After that, it was up the coast and to the cliffs to see a few historic sites where famous authors wrote from halls overlooking the cliffs. The rock faces were absolutely gorgeous and I didn't want to leave. I love oceans so much, and it was so stunningly beautiful...there are no words for it. Prior to arriving at the cliffs, we stopped to watch a sacred boat carrying an o-mikoshi (portable Shinto shrine which houses a kami) into the water, to bless the bay for all the fishermen in hopes of getting good catches. That was very, very cool.

Took another break back at home before the last few stops of the night. Mama Mikako knew I like shrines and temples and made it a point to bring me to Takahagi's Zen Buddhist temple, Kyudaiji. A new construct off to the side near the graveyard had went up, to honor the former head priest who had passed away recently due to cancer. The priest was Mama Mikako's father, who was very respected in the community. I was introduced to her brother, and was given quite a decent amount of literature about Za-Zen, for which I was grateful.

After that, we picked up meat and veggies to make dinner, and while Mama and Papa were cooking, me, Hitomi, Megumi, and Manabu all hung out in the tatami room playing video games on our DS (haha! Mario Kart!) and having a generally fun time. We then had Shabu-Shabu for dinner, and all I can say is "OM NOM NOM NOM".

Then it was bath time, and it Hitomi wouldn't take one without me. She clung to me the entire time I was there, and was literally my little sister in every sense of the word. The bath was nice and relaxing and then, at around 10pm, we pulled out our futons and snuggled in for sleep (because she insisted on sleeping in the same room.)

Next morning, up bright and early to get dressed and eat breakfast, we were off yet again! This time, it was to pick strawberries! However, it wasn't pick strawberries and bring them back with you, oh no. This was an all-you-can-eat strawberry fest, and considering how expensive strawberries are in Japan generally, I ate until my stomach exploded from strawberry goodness. Ugh. I'd do it again. So sweet and delicious. I need to figure out which species it is they have here because Japanese strawberries are so much more sweeter and less tangy than Michigan strawberries.

Time was running out, as we had to be back at the City Center at 2pm for the wrap up and trip back home, so we decided to head up to Mt. Akiyama for a nice, leisurely nature drive, and god...I love mountains. I love trees, I love natural waterfalls, and they had all of that there. It was unbelievably gorgeous. I can't stop thinking about it. While we were up there, we also drank some fresh mountain mineral water. Here's the thing about Japan: they actually have water spigots dotting the mountain roads where one can stop and fill up bottles of the natural spring water. You have never tasted anything so pure until you have drank from that spigot, my god.

A stop for lunch and then a return to the City Center, we had to say our goodbyes.

For having only known them for three days, I really became close to my host mom and sisters. Mom emails me everyday and I need to remember to send Himi-chan a birthday card as she's turning 12 in about two weeks. I cried a lot when I had to get on the bus to go back home. I miss them so much and want to go back!

When I returned to Tokyo, I was still saddened, but sure enough, there were emails from Mama on my phone waiting for me to cheer me up. I will definitely be staying in contact with them, and who knows, maybe someday Megumi or Hitomi will study abroad in the states and I can see them again before to long :)