Now you know, Advice for students coming to Nara.

Now, before I do my post about my Tokyo and Nagoya trip I wanted to offer some brief important tips and points for students coming to Nara. I may add more later on but I wanted to at least give you some pointers to start off with.

Pre-rice harvest in Nara city.

Get OUT

Get out on foot, by bike, and by bus and just explore. I learned so much by just hoofing it. If I was lazy I would just take a bus, the yellow buses are the city loop line so they are really easy to learn. You just walk up to the bus at a stop (they come every 10 minutes) put 200 yen in the receptacle and go sit down- not in the special seats for elderly though. 

Shinjuku near Times Square, Tokyo.

I found so many great opportunities just by getting out and exploring, and when you feel familiar with a place you can adjust more easily.

This was actually the number one thing that helped me to find unique opportunities in Nara, just getting out of the dorms and school to explore on my own or with a friend.

Near Nara park, Nara city.

Socks

Now that I am back in Michigan I remember just how much I had to walk each day in Nara, and Japan in general. It wasn't a big deal and my legs are actually much stronger now as a result, but with walking you pay a price. Bring good socks.

You also may want to bring black socks or socks that can look nice since you have to take your shoes off in so many places and occasions so its smart to invest in nice looking and good quality socks. 

Kasuga Mountain area, Nara.

About a month and a half after the other international students arrived many of them were throwing out their threadbare socks left and right.

Volunteer time at Yamazoe middle school.

Get to know the other students AND NON students!

It's great when you finally know the other international or Japanese students since it really makes a difference in your experience, but I think its even better when you can step out of your comfort zone and meet new non-students.

Go walking, stop into random shops and I assure you the locals will welcome you back, give you free stuff and in general be super warm (in the Kansai region especially).

When I left I knew so many great locals and I miss them now but it is a really great feeling when you've had a grumpy day and you walk home, and as you pass by the plant shop on the way to the dorms and the lady welcomes you home. That's a day changer.

Workers welding new ditch covers near International Student House dorm road, Nara city.

Get Familliar

Seriously I can't tell you how useful it is to be familiar with Celsius, Centimeters, Liters, Kilometers, Kilograms, military time,  and the like.

Locals shop at the mini farmer stand outside Nara City's Information Center.

Not just for Japanese people, but virtually any other non-Americans you talk with it is going to come up in conversation. And it feels good to be able to continue the conversation and have some reference idea.

I took a Celsius to Fahrenheit chart that I colored so I could tell at a glance what was considered hot, cold, and insanely hot weather.  When I looked at the newspaper forecast I could easily tell after a while if it was going to be a nice day or not without my chart.

Maintenance or construction workers outside of NUE's library.

Sure you could do what some of the Americans did and refer to your smarty pants phones every time, but personally I would rather have that knowledge so I can easily focus on what the other people are talking about rather than waste the flow of convo while I look up something the rest of the world sans Americans knows.

Classis car near local Nara City post office/bank.

Know Yourself

Know ahead of time what things you can rely on for comfort and use for coping. For me it was different things at different times, but art (painting, viewing...), films, nature, my goldfish, plants, books in English, time with friends, visiting a cafe, and cooking new things.

Ditch used to divert water from the mountain area near NUE.

There are days that make you appreciate the good days, and when you have those junky days and you need a pick-me-up, you can look in your back pocket for a way to deal. These coping things really make a difference.

View from Kyoto station.

Takesumi

For me coming from places that usually have well water that tastes amazing and non-chlorinated, it was a real pain for me to drink the water at the dorms. 

To be honest the chlorine was so strong I would come out of a bath or shower smelling like I had been in a pool. It was bad and I love water, and I refuse to buy the bottled stuff for a few reasons.

A view from inside the trenches that run along the road Takabatake Cho Nara city.

One big reason is if you remember you have to walk a lot, so you are going to be carrying that heavy water all the way home, or biking it home, or busing it home, either way thats a pain in my but.

And another is its expensive (it adds up), its tedious, wasteful etc... So my solution? Takesumi.

Near Higashi Muki and Sarusawa Ike pond Nara city.

Take means bamboo and sumi is to clean or purify and its basically a bamboo carbon filter that the Japanese have been using for a long time.

You can buy these bamboo charcoal like sticks, put them in your glass, or pitcher of water and in about a minute depending on how much water you can have delicious water that doesn't smell like a jug of bleach.

Nara park filled with deer nearing night.

Slippers

If you go anywhere or do any home stays chances are you will come in contact with Japanese slipper culture. Many people know it is customary to remove your shoes at the entrance of many homes, schools, and businesses in Japan, but what then?

Nara city locals gather to watch and dance at the yearly Bon odori festival at Ni Gatsu Dou  Temple.

Most often you are given these dark green looking slippers and told to wear them. Personally I had a hard time understanding why I couldn't just go in socks but I dealt with it and changed into various slippers so many times I have lost count.

View from the top of Ni Gatsu Dou Hall Temple area at sunset.

There are slippers for the house, for the rock garden area, for the toilet.....the point is get used to slippers. Now that I'm home I just want slippers to keep my feet warm in winter.     

So I think these pointers will at least give you a heads up, but just get out there learn, and have fun exploring, it's a great place to do it!

Leaving it all behind, but not really. My last day in Nara.

My last day in Nara and of course I got sick. From the stress of leaving so many people behind, and the endless list of things I was supposed to do before I left.

Just an irritating sinus infection, but enough to keep me down a little on my last day with the people I had spent so much time with, the places and scenery I had adored so much for four months and I was leaving it behind.

At Nara University of Education near the library.

For my last day in Nara I did not go to tour the Asahi Shinbun (a really prestigious newspaper), nor did I go to the theater as I had planned. I slept and tried to get better, and got a little lost in my thoughts. 

That's alright though. There's a lot I would have liked to have done in Japan, but I am leaving feeling accomplished, I set out and did what wanted to do. 

And I can remember all the interesting things I have done and experienced, and I'm not sad that I didn't get to do every little thing. But it made me more aware of just how much you can accomplish just by trying, and setting goals and then taking the first steps.

One of my favorite corridors at NUE near the Art offices.

I got to climb a mountain,  be a photojournalist abroad for a while, tour a tea factory, cut rice with Japanese farmers, go in the rural mountain areas and hunt for chestnuts, seen a corpse wheeled from a home for a funeral, go fishing on an island and catch delicious fish, ride down marshy canals in a house boat, make traditional pottery, paint a sunset, catch goldfish that were decedents of goldfish raised by local Samurai in Yamato-Koriyama- with a tissue paper net! ... and the list goes on.

Near the library at NUE during construction.

Later that night I watched Harry Potter with some close friends since the film had a weirdly familiar feel to it. A bunch of young people on a magical journey of self exploration, all leaving their families, friends and partners behind to come to a new place, live together, eat together and learn together?

It may not look like much but I love walking here at NUE and looking at the art bulletins.

Yeah, it felt like we were all at Hogwarts, a Japanese Hogwarts. And we were there with one another having formed deep bonds because nothing shows bonding like trying to explain what an enema is to your Hungarian friend.

Someone even left us all Christmas presents at our dorm doors.

So we watched and felt a little sad because we were leaving. But unlike when Hermione said "It feels strange to be going home, doesn't it?", and then Harry said "I'm not going home...not really" I actually would be going home.

View of the river in the western part of Nara city.

But it's different when you're the only one going home.

However leaving Nara wasn't the end of my journey in Japan! I still had Tokyo and Nagoya to visit. The next posting will be about my journeys in Japan after I left Nara.

Arielle in Yanaka Ginza in Tokyo. Courtesy photo from Boglarka Kiss.

Oh the places you can go

To be honest, originally I had no idea how busy I would become when it came to the month of my leaving. Basically at the month mark I just got a landslide list of to-do's from myself, friends, the Japanese government and the school (both CMU and NUE).

With everything vying for my attentions it was flattering but has also been kind of exhausting. I have definitely had to prioritize on some things.

For example playing badminton with my Hungarian friend in the dark outside our dorms was definitely a priority, but then again so was going to city hall and trying to understand that they had to adjust my insurance (in my favor), and then on the walk back home I saw a cadaver under sheets that was wheeled right in front of me on a side street that I took.

I am absolutely proud of the amazing people I have met here, locals and internationals alike, and the vast variety of experiences I have had in Japan even up until this point; and I'm not even done yet.

I have one more day left in Nara and I am absolutely continuing to make goals and live ichigo ichie style (similar to yolo but it has a much longer history as a phrase in Japanese).

After my day here is up, myself and the lady Hungarian Horntail will be going to Tokyo, we may see some other international students there or we may not, but we are definitely going to have an adventure or two in Tokyo and then I fly out from Nagoya to Detroit. Then I fly from Detroit to Lansing.

Today is Christmas and personally it hit harder than I thought it would. It seems Christmas is more of a cumulative feeling you get after being around family, getting excited about things and the new year, the good food and people, and the crazy music.

We luckily saw snow last week and it helped to raise our (people used to snow at Christmas time) spirits since many of the Europeans and Americans right now don't feel like it is Christmas.

I tried to watch Home Alone, but that helped a little and then it also made me want to be home even more. In Japan it is almost the opposite with Christmas and New Years. 

They tend to celebrate Christmas more as an after thought and as a couples holiday and it isn't that big of a deal, but oh just wait until New Years-that is a very big deal and families celebrate it together.

I will be home for New Years though so maybe I can have a belated Christmas with family and friends but for the others here they are going to have to enjoy our make-shift international Christmas.

Then later on they can enjoy the Japanese style New Years which is really more like our Christmas as far as how Japanese people spend it with their families.

.............................................................................

So this may be my last post until I return home to Michigan, but I would like to post updates and photos and videos after when I have time so there will probably be more to come. 

`Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays!

Another wave in the rollercoaster, an update

It is now less than a month until I leave Japan to return to America and I really have a lot of mixed feelings, like I knew I would. I knew I would miss people from home, but some of the things on the list shocked me.

For example I didn`t think I would miss my bed so much, that one was a slap in the face the first week here- I didn`t see it coming.

Perhaps the refreshingly large bath tubs and hot spring culture here make up for my missing my bed. If not that, then possibly the abundance of delicious, affordable, filling and healthy foods here.

Thanksgiving and Halloween weren`t what I thought they would be. Originally I believed that Japanese at least knew about Thanksgiving, but it`s not common knowledge which was fine just it was a surprise. And since I organized an International food party it was a nice way to celebrate since none of us had our families.

Halloween is not taken seriously here in my opinion, it isn`t celebrated except in some corners of large cities like Osaka and Tokyo and some people who like to dress up, but it isn`t on the same scale, as far as I have seen. 

What I didn`t forsee at all was the lack of pumpkins. For some reason I thought everyone had pumpkins. I still haven`t seen an actual pumpkin- and the little green gourds (Kabocha) don`t count.

More seriously though,  I didn`t think I would get so attached to the people here. The other international students, the local shop owners who wish me a safe return home each and every day that I see them when I leave for school or when I return home and they welcome me home. 

The lunch ladies here at the university that are so warm, friendly, and love to laugh. The cleaning lady who cleans the dorms or the dorm advisor...all of them so interesting, spunky and welcoming.

I will miss the slurping of noodles in public places, the well-known Kansai people`s overt friendliness, and maybe even the heated seats of the toilets that make it feel like someone was just sitting on it. Maybe not that last one-yeah it still freaks me out a little each time.

I`m going to miss the culture of older people who just keep going, and walking and moving. Getting out of their homes for a walk all the time. I`ll miss the lack of a large population of obese and inactive peoples and think it will be a visual shock when I return home.

There are also many things that top my list of things I will not miss. One of those is the dominance of the `Kawaii` or ubiquitous cute culture here where everything from clothing to mushrooms in the grocery store are cartoonized into `cute` caricatures.

I won`t miss the hot and muggy impossible summer weather, but maybe I will miss the loud call of cicadas that accompanies it. I will not be missing the loud crows that wake me up each morning at 5, but maybe will miss the shrieks of the elk-like deer that are everywhere in our area here.

Aside from the things I will and won`t miss I have of course exams I am preparing for, an independent Journalism class that has been helping me to get off my butt and get out to talk more with various Japanese people that has been keeping me busy.

And now I also have to deal with the tedious things like going to city hall to declare that I am leaving the country soon, paperwork, and more paperwork.

That was one thing that was so nice when I started to finally feel settled I didn`t have to keep filling out forms and going to government buildings and visiting advisors to re-submit forms I could just go on adventures by myself or with others and didn`t have as many commitments. But now I am also realizing just how little time I have to do all the things I would like to accomplish.

It was nice after the first month and a half because I knew my way around Nara, had become familiar with the processes and procedures, could find a train or bus to easily go places, and I just had a nice sense of familiarity and not a huge sense or urgency.

At first I used art, books, movies and nature to cope and then as I got better, I also could adjust with the other international students and relied less and less on the art, books, movies and nature and more and more on group activities and gatherings.

  Recently, I have finally gotten used to living in a dorm setting, with a bunch of women on one side of the street, and then if I walk across the street I can hang out easily with the guys at their South dorm, and the variety of personalities at both dorms to me is just so cool I know it will be hard to do without in the future.

I really love having midnight chats about politics, culture and our future goals. Fun and harmless gossip about the other international guys and women, and our triumphs and inadequacies in Japan. It has all helped to build strong social bonds that make living in a foreign place feel so much less foreign and much more like a place I feel at home with.

Now, just as I have become pretty well adjusted (I knew it was coming-really it`s ok), and my room is finally cozy, I have to get going and start preparing for my return home.

I`m ready, but part of me isn`t ready, just like when I came here. 

But I will fill out forms, pack, get things done ahead of time and last minute, and spend time with friends just like before only this time I know that the people I leave behind I probably will not see again except for maybe on Skype or Facebook.

Minpaku; National Museum of Ethnology in Osaka field trip

Friday I and two other CMU students went with a group of junior high school students to Minpaku, or National Museum of Ethnology in Osaka for a field trip. 

Large display in the Oceana section.

We were on our own each on a different bus and told to speak English with the students, but personally it was hard to just communicate in English with them so I cheated and spoke a mixture a lot.

After the bus ride where I was asked all sorts of questions about my favorite music, and whether I had a boyfriend or not, we made it to the museum. 

The grounds of Minpaku are gorgeous and show a great deal of detail, and was especially inviting for a museum.

Replica of early Australian rock paintings.

I went around the museum looking at the various world areas such as Oceana, Southeast Asia, Europe... as shown in the websites video.

Display of Native American foods.

After looking at and interacting with the many intricate, numerous, highly informative and interesting artifacts, displays and such we all had lunch in the park area together. 

One of my favorite displays. This one about Mexico's skull culture.

The park, just like the museum was huge. I just couldn't believe how large the museum was and how much it had packed inside.

 I would love to go back again and just spend as much time as I like wandering around and I love that they allowed photography in nearly every location inside.

Entrance to the European section.

This was from floor to the ceiling.

It was amazing to be able to have access to some of Japan's Anthropological side.

 In their record collection.

Display of Guitars near the Woodstock section.

The Woodstock area in the music area.

One of the many masks on display.

In the India Exhibit.

From the India exhibit.

In the park we played dodgeball, volleyball, soccer, jump-rope and frisbee while we walked around enjoying the beautiful fall weather and the changed colors on the trees.

In the India exhibit area.

From the India Exhibit.

In my group thethe volley ball was either lost in the river or in the top of a tree three times until a student climbed up the tree and got it out, and from the river area they had to wait for the ball to get on the other side to resume playing again.

But it was great fun and I was happy to get out and have fun doing something so free.  

Students finishing their field trip notes in the park.

I was also happy to see they had much more freedom on their school trip than the international students at my University had on our field trip in some ways (it was still fun but I wanted that freedom that the junior high school students had).

A view of the river area in the park.

A view from the top.

After we were done playing in the park we left to walk through the woods and then to a wooden tower structure where you could see for a long ways.

This one was NOT the large tower, this one is a baby in comparison.

This one was the big one.

An example of the gorgeous fall colors in Osaka.

After everyone had had a chance to climb up and get a view we returned to the bus area thanked the students and teachers for having us and then chose a bus to ride back with the students.

On the walk back to the bus area.