On Difficulties, updates, and some photos

Difficulties

Sometimes people forget, or just don't talk about the little things that can be really frustrating, just little difficulties while studying abroad, or in Japan.

An example of kanji on a Kaki ha Zushi package

One of the biggest frustrations for me is the inability to read the daily newspaper. Since I rarely am online, I still want to be informed and it is really difficult to understand the vast amounts of kanji in the average newspaper. Some say you have to know around 2,000-2,200 to be able to comprehend it.

 Kaki ha Zushi  a really traditional form of sushi made in Nara and was eaten in ancient times. Preserved sushi.

For many students this isn't an issue for them but the vast amount of kanji does come into play in many aspects of our lives as international students. One big example; mail.

People walk by on the campus of Nara Kyo Iku Daigaku.

We often get mail which we have no idea about. Official looking and intimidating I often simply ask other students what the mail is about and then try to figure things out from there.

One word of advice ask more than one person. Seriously. I know of students who didn't take such things seriously and they missed the deadline for health insurance bills for example. 

Autumn leaves finally have started to pile up.

Don't be afraid to ask, or too proud to ask for help with kanji.

Getting cellphones, internet service, and using your required Japanese bank account can be difficult but the same advice goes for nearly everything; ask for assistance. But in the meantime research what you can prior to coming.

"I suppose it`s all a matter of 

attitude. You could let a lot of 

things bother you if you 

wanted to-the rules, the idiots who 

think they`re hot shit, the room-mates doing radio calisthenics

 at 6.30 in the morning. But it`s pretty much the same 

anywhere you go, you can manage." 

~Haruki Murakami's Norwegian Wood.

And these words wouldn't have nearly as much meaning and 

impact for me had I read them about Japan, in Japan, and 

about similar experiences.It has a deeper impact that makes 

you sit up and take notice.

 

Traditional area in Koriyama near Nara City. (Pictured is Asahi Daily Newspaper dist. center)

Perhaps another benefit of my semester 

stay here as opposed to a year stay, is that I am more 

aware of how much time I have and how much I hope

 to get out of this experience.

At the Koriyama fall festival booth I volunteered at.

Updates
This weekend I went to Koriyama, a town near Nara city but still in Nara Prefecture on Friday. 

A girl runs by the goldfish catching booth at Koriyama festival.

There I got to visit a neat hippy avante garde styled art gallery and the Asahi Daily Newspaper distribution center for the town, and then I volunteered at the Koriyama fall festival at a booth selling fried chicken and stuffed tofu.

Temple in Koriyama where festival was held.

Koriyama is also well known for it's goldfish which Samurai used to raise as a part time job and so many people like to do the game where you catch the goldfish in tissue paper nets. 

I caught 10 this time, an improvement from my previous 8 at the moon viewing festival in Nara city.

Children sit silently in representation at the Temple.

Then on Saturday I went to a rice farm in Tawaramoto, and helped to harvest rice in a traditional and modern way. First I helped with the combine machine style, picking up bags of rice grain that the machine had harvested. 

Another example of the Engrish displays on Japanese people's clothing.

Then I cut rice with a hand scythe called a kama, and then I got to drive the combine for a little ways. The farmer said I was the first foreigner they had had on their farm ever. 

Here I try a sweet senbei cracker , earlier I tried a savory version with mayo and sauce.

At temples people write their wishes or hopes on 'Ema'  and also tie fortune slips  to racks.

Next month or early December they said I will have some of the rice we harvested, and I tried some of the foods they made with it. It was amazing, the best rice ever, it was so flavorful and the texture was perfect.

One of the farmers looks on at the field of rice.

This coming weekend I will be going on a fishing trip to Toushi Jima in Mie prefecture next to Nara on the Eastern coast. There I will also be exploring the town and staying in a Ryokan type atmosphere with hot springs. 

Here I am cutting rice by hand.