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Tuesday, August 24, 2010

A Culture to Call Your Own?

So back in America and experiencing some major culture shock with my Korean relatives in CA versus Japan; I’m really starting to think they are just the opposite. First call in America was from my dad yelling about how I should have contacted him right away after I landed in LAX – to think that I actually missed this when I was with my Japanese host family who never even rose their voices to each other. And then I was thrust into a church camping trip with my uncle’s Korean-American church to Yosemite, where I once again experienced the constant quarrels in the car and the thirty-minute arguments about the rules of Mafia before ever actually starting the game. At which point I asked my cousin, “Why?” and she simply shrugged and said, “Because we’re Korean.” Apparently, too Korean for me. I don’t know how much different Korean-American culture is from Korean culture, but according to my other cousin who studied abroad in Korea last semester, the Korean-American culture in California is pretty similar because of the steady flow of immigrants from South Korea. If that’s true, then I don’t think I fit in either Korean or Japanese culture but somewhere in between. Is this what makes me American?

And when I look at the bigger picture, I don’t know whether to laugh or cry because everything is just so IRONIC:

1. In my first post, I admitted I was hesitant to travel to Japan because it meant I would be seeing it before I ever saw Korea – I assumed that the more I delved into Japan’s culture, the farther I would distance myself from Korea. In some ways, that may have been true, but in other ways, Japan has pushed me think about Korea in a way that living in America never could. America is all about the melting pot and being whatever culture you want to be, but being in Japan for two months has made me appreciate certain things about Korean culture. Little things like Korean BBQ (I almost cried when my relatives took me to a Korean BBQ place in LA and I ate like TEN different types of Korean meat) to larger cultural aspects like the politeness factor (“See, see! I TOLD you Koreans were more sincere!” my Korean-American friend told me when I complained about this – but maybe Koreans could afford to be a little less prideful? Ha).

2. And now I can speak more with my grandpa in Japanese than Korean. Again the irony – no one told me my grandpa could speak Japanese until he was like, “Let’s practice,” one day on the phone. And he’s much better than me because he uses all these colloquialisms and speaks with the right inflections. But of course, the only reason he knows Japanese is because of the annexation. My grandpa has always been the good-natured one, and he’s been complimenting on how “well” I can speak Japanese, but sometimes I wonder what he really thinks. I was so taken aback by his Japanese at first that I kept replying in Korean on the phone because I wasn't sure where he was going with this. I mean, wouldn’t he rather speak in Korean to me? But I even wrote in the first post that my Japanese would surpass my Korean this summer – I’m still getting used to the concept even though I’ve told myself a million times that this would happen – the same thing happened for Spanish, so why is it so much harder this time?

3. BUT I’m almost positive that I’m not going to take Korean as a class next fall because I realized how much I hated textbook learning this summer, even for Japanese. I know for Japanese, some textbook learning is necessary because I can’t just pick up grammar points and kanji naturally, but I wonder if I can at least attempt to “naturalize” my Korean. I’ve said before that I used to think I would never be able to become a native speaker in Korean again, but there are some instances that make me think otherwise. My Korean listening, for one. My friend in Tokyo took me to a Japanese-Korean church where I heard the message in Korean and Japanese sentence-by-sentence. For Japanese, I still go through a translation process to English, but for Korean, having Korean parents has at least ingrained something of a natural listening skill. I don’t think to myself, “Oh, he’s using that grammar pattern and that particle and that tense…” And I want to believe that my speaking last summer was on the verge of becoming something like that. Of course, if I really want to be FLUENT in Korean, I know I’ll have to take some kind of standard approach to learning grammar - actually, I've been thinking it would be much better to learn Korean from a Japanese perspective if my Japanese is ever that good, since they're so similar - the irony continues, right? But for now, I think I want to try the “coffeeshop” approach and learn as much Korean as I can before I’m ready for that point.

Thank you, Richard Light, for helping me realize things about language and culture – and defining what I want to call my own – that I couldn’t have figured out in America. Actually, I still don't know if I even have a "culture" that I can claim as my own, but I'm starting to think more and more that it's okay - maybe this is what being American means. Not the epitome of American culture, but just an example of what it can be. And I’m not exactly sure if this blog is what the Light Fellowship expected when they gave me the funds to travel to Japan, since it doesn’t seem to talk much about the language program. Rather, these are simply my own experiences, and I hope you’ve enjoyed reading them.
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All Around Japan

Two weeks of travel post-program (even though my bank account is not looking so hot right now) was one of the BEST decisions of my life. Because honestly, I was getting quite tired of Japan as HIF was winding down – tired of learning Japanese from a textbook (and continuing to suck at kanji), tired of the politeness factor, and tired of little Hakodate. (No hard feelings for Hakodate though – I’ve definitely had some good moments in this quaint Japanese town, but I’m starting to realize how much of a big-city person I am.) But after 12 days of jumping around Tokyo, Fukuoka, Hiroshima/Miyajima, Himeji, Kyoto, Nara, and Osaka, Japan is really starting to grow on me. Honestly, if I had limited myself to Hakodate, I might never have thought about coming back for something other than studying Japanese. But now I could definitely see myself working here after Yale, at least for a couple years. Once again, many thanks to the Light Fellowship for helping me learn things I couldn’t have learned, even at a school like Yale.

One thing that surprised me about my travels was how DIFFERENT each city was. I mean, I guess you wouldn’t say that LA and New York are that similar either, but it was so much easier to sense the atmosphere of each city in Japan. For example, if Tokyo was the New York of the U.S., then Fukuoka would be somewhere in California. Palm trees, people in T-shirts and shorts, and a really pretty seaside park. I originally didn’t have Fukuoka in my plans, but with the two-week JR pass, why not, even only for a day?

Fukuoka at night -- isn't it beautiful?

Next stop was Hiroshima, where I rendezvoused with my lovely sensei from Yale, Mammoto-sensei. We had Hiroshima’s famous okonomiyake before she walked me to the Peace Memorial Park and the A-Dome. Pretty moving, especially the Japanese children ringing the bell at the children’s memorial.

With Mammoto-sensei at Hiroshima

Ringing the bell at the children's memorial at Peace Memorial Park

After the park, I headed to nearby Miyajimaguchi station, where I took a ferry to Miyajima to visit the famous Itsukushima Shrine, known for its “floating” torii gate that seems to be floating on the water at high tide. Although I went at low tide, it meant I could walk right up to the gate and see just how massive it was. Someday, I think I’d like to come back and see it at high tide too.

 Giant torii gate of Itsukushima Shrine


Next day, I stopped at Himeji for an afternoon before finally crashing at Kyoto. I was at an all-time high in Himeji because the JR station gives out free rental bikes! I have been itching to ride a bike in Japan ever since the first few weeks I’ve been here, not to mention the fact that EVERYONE, from high school guys to white-haired grandmas, is whizzing by on their bikes in Japan. In fact, I was so pumped about having a bike that I biked around for two hours after visiting Himeji-jo and Koko-en and got myself lost in the process. Ah, how I missed biking.

Himeji-Jo

Kyoto was an extended stay because I had planned to visit Nara and Osaka too as day trips from Kyoto. So I’d been going at a pretty rapid pace in terms of sightseeing, but I KILLED myself while I was in Kyoto. The first full day, I saw Kinkaku-ji (Golden Pavilion), Ninna-ji, and Ginkaku-ji (Silver Pavilion, even though it’s not silver) before walking the 哲学の道 (Path of Philosophy) to see Nanzen-ji. In the evening, I knocked out Higashi and Nishi Honganji by the station. I think I enjoyed these two the best that day because when it comes to temples, I prefer size and the ability to walk around inside (plus they were FREE!). Kinkaku-ji’s a little overrated – and Ginkaku-ji has such a nicer garden – but I guess the golden color is enough to make it famous.

Daibutsu at Todai-ji! Picture quality isn't that great, but there are lots of other beautiful sculptures at the temple too.

Day two at Kyoto, I decided to do Nara – the Daibutsu at Todai-ji was so worth the 45-minute walk from the JR station in the heat. I also visited some other shrines and temples following the recommended route in the Lonely Planet, but I found myself already back at the station by 1 p.m. So instead of going back to Kyoto, I decided to do Osaka in the afternoon. I was so EXHAUSTED by the end of the day, but once again, it was completely worth it. Osaka is definitely dirtier than Tokyo, and this could just be a really shallow generalization, but did the people seem more tan? (especially the guys). But I loved Osaka too, especially when I caught the Obon celebration on the river in the Dotonbori area.

Osaka's Obon celebration in the Dotonbori


For some reason, I didn’t give myself much of a break the next day either. I did another Lonely Planet route for the Higashiyama area in Kyoto to see various shrines/temples/parks, including Kiyomizudera, one of my favorite, if not my favorite, temple in Japan so far – the view from the veranda is simply breathtaking. I also walked through the more traditional areas of Kyoto nearby (Sannen-zaka and Ninnen-zaka), but the shops weren’t even open in the morning, so I promised I’d come back later. 


Kiyomizudera - much more impressive than Kinkakuji (the Golden Pavilion)

I finished all this and Nijo-jo (which was just as impressive as Himeji-jo I thought, but perhaps this is only because of the renovations that are blocking off the main parts of Himeji-jo) by noon, so I headed on the train for Fushimi Inari Taisha, the shrine that’s famous for its pathways of never-ending torii gates. This was one of my most anticipated sights in Japan, and it didn’t disappoint at all. One of my favorite shrines right alongside the one at Miyajima. The entire walk is around two hours – I didn’t plan on going the whole way, but then I found myself asking, why not? Even with the heat and the uphill climb, once I reached the top, I had such a rush of adrenaline that it was no problem going down. The top isn’t really much of a view, just a shrine like all the other spots on the way up, but just being able to say I did the entire pilgrimage of torii gates counts for something, right?


The journey is worth so much more than the destination...

In the evening, I went to Hanakomichi to catch a glimpse of a few geisha heading for their evening appointments. I felt kind of bad for them, since the tourist swarmed around like flies every time they stepped out to get into a cab. But my, they were pretty! 

Geisha!

Finally, finally, I slept in (well, not really sleeping in for most people, but still more than usual) on my last day in Kyoto. I went to Nishiki Market to take in all the wafting smells of Kyoto cuisine before revisiting Ninnen-zaka and Sannen-zaka when the omiyage and teashops were actually open. Last thing was visiting the Kyoto Imperial gardens in the afternoon (although the Tokyo Imperial East Gardens were much prettier). Honestly, I loved every city that I went to, and I can’t even choose a favorite because I had so many amazing experiences in each one.

In the end though, I think if I had to choose a place to live, it would be Tokyo – cleanliness, the immense size, and the transportation system that connects it all (so much better than Kyoto’s slow, crowded buses!). Although I liked the easygoing feel of Fukuoka and Osaka, I feel like there is so many possibilities in Tokyo – for whom, I don’t know, but maybe we’ll see in a couple years? I realize now I haven't posted any pictures of Tokyo, but I really couldn't choose one that captures this city - just come and see for yourself ;) 

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Monday, August 2, 2010

The Thing I Miss About Home the Most

(Might be the hardest post I’ve had to write.)

Yesterday was a roller coaster of emotions. I’ve told countless people that I never get homesick, which has pretty much stayed true until this point – on the bright side, I don’t miss too much if I'm away from home, but on the other hand, I feel guilty for not being able to say, “I miss you” to my parents with some sincerity. But yesterday, when I went to my last church service in Hakodate, it became clear to me that there was definitely one thing I truly missed about home.

It was the day when a middle-aged woman named Iriguchi-san gave her testimony before she was to be baptized. The first time I met Iriguchi-san, I was a little confused because she kept dropping her consonants and cracking her voice, which made her Japanese really hard to understand. Then she unraveled a whiteboard she had been carrying in a handkerchief and motioned for me to write on it. Turns out she was deaf, so everyone communicated with her through this whiteboard. (She also knew Japanese sign language, but that was definitely out of my reach.) When I wrote that I was from Kentucky, her eyes lit up, and she asked about the Amish living in Kentucky because she was really interested in Amish crafts. Every time I went to church, she had been all smiles and was always motioning people to write on her whiteboard.

But yesterday, when she talked about losing her hearing as a child and divorcing her husband at the podium, when I saw her shed tears and noticed that it was the first time I was seeing someone in Japan release enough emotion to cry in front of other people, I realized that the very thing I missed most about home was the feeling of being REAL with someone else. Of course, it’s not just limited to Japan – in any situation when you’re away from home or college – when you’re away from the people you’re most closest to – that kind of authenticity is hard to come by. And of course, you shouldn’t expect it if you’ve only met people for a couple days, or even weeks. Nevertheless, it felt so GOOD to walk up to the front and hold Iriguchi-san’s hand at the end of the service to congratulate her, tears still streaming from her face, but this time, not tears of sadness but tears of inexpressible joy.

Iriguchi-san's baptism

 I’ve talked about my unsettlement at Japan’s reputation for politeness, and now I think that while part of that phenomenon may be true, I feel like it might have intensified by being away from the people who I’ve always been able to approach about anything. But nonetheless, when I go to this church in Hakodate, I feel such a warmth from these people that I know comes straight from their hearts, even if I can only say so much in my broken Japanese. When Jade and me were saying our “さようなら”s (which is not just “Good-bye”, but literally “Farewell (I won’t be seeing you for a while)”), they all shouted “また来てね!” (“Come again!”). And maybe I can.

Me and Jade with Pastor 本多

One of HIF's directors, Fukuhisa-san. She introduced Jade and me to this church!

Until then, I want to become fluent in Japanese. Well, that part was obvious, right? I mean, I’m devoting my entire summer to studying Japanese in an intensive language program. But no, I want to become FLUENT fluent – like fluent enough to explain my favorite Bible verse and convey what it personally means to me (which I tried to do one Sunday but could only say so much). Even though I’m really eager to end classes (and get on a functional sleep schedule again :) ), I realize that a summer is just too short to really delve into a language, much less form relationships with the people around you so that you CAN start to become real with them. My transcript will say two credits of intermediate Japanese, but what is a credit, really? I have SUCH a long way to go. I strive for the day when I’m able to express personal emotions and experiences, even if they're difficult to explain in one’s native language. My church in Hakodate has shown me what can be possible, even in a country where people are expected to suppress their own emotions. When I go back to America, I think I’m able to leave Japan with not a frustration of people’s unwavering exteriors, but rather a hope of how to overcome that through trust. 

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Friday, July 30, 2010

The Japanese-Speaking Miriam

Would you like to get to know the Miriam Cho who speaks Japanese?


-       The one whose pitch is three notches higher than her English?
-       Who cries out すみません! after even the slightest accidental brush against someone’s foot?
-       Whose number one phrases are 〜てもいいですか? “Is it all right if I do this? And this? And THIS?”
-       Who uses あのう to preface every sentence …
-       And adds けど after every sentence to avoid sounding too direct?
-       A person who, when asking a favor, will take at least 3 lines to get to the point:
あのう,質問があるんですが。。 “Uh, the fact is that I have a question…”
〜についてなんですけど。。 “The fact is, that it has something to do with it…”
実はね。。。 “The truth is … (and finally the question pops out here)”
-        And if she REALLY wants to be polite, will drop phrases like 〜せていただけないでしょうか? “Could I not receive the favor of your letting me do …?”

Or do you want to know the American Miriam Cho, the one who has no qualms about complaining if she’s annoyed, who ignores the signals at every crosswalk and eats when she walks, and who’s a little irked as to why her personality changes so much in Japanese?

Which one would you rather know?

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Wednesday, July 21, 2010

How my Japanese is getting better (and every other foreign language exponentially worse)

Sapporo's famous Miso Ramen. Delicious, although Hakodate's Shio Ramen is definitely the best.

Every so often when I’m walking somewhere, I try to think in another language just for the heck of it. I’ve realized that I dabble in languages too much, and I should just really focus on mastering at least one outside of English, but I’d like to retain somewhat of a base in the other ones I’ve learned. I don’t this too often, and today was the first time in a while, so I expected it to be pretty rusty. Turns out that I couldn’t even say, “I want to go to the store to buy it” in Spanish anymore because all these Japanese particles and words kept creeping in:

1. “La tienda voy” – wait, something’s up with the sentence order…
2. “Voy la tienda para …” (oh joy for particles)
3. How did you say “I want” again in Spanish? My brain was subconsciously trying to conjugate a verb that ended in 〜たい. It took me almost twenty minutes for “quiero” to pop in my head.

Finally FINALLY I managed to spit out, “Quiero ir a la tienda para comprarlo.” Whew, a year of no Spanish is definitely taking its toll on me. Kind of regretful, but maybe it’s also a sign of progress in eventually being able to think in Japanese? I remember having random Spanish and Korean words popping into my head during Japanese class, especially for words that I hadn’t learned yet. (I never found out how to say 계속 in Japanese until I asked another student a few days ago. Would have been really useful beforehand…) But now, I guess the opposite is happening. Actually, it's overly slanted toward the other end of the spectrum. I was Skyping a friend yesterday who was craving to speak in Korean because she’s been in Russia for the past few weeks, but I’m sure she wasn’t expecting an “あのう” and “そうですねえ…” every five seconds. (Needless to say, our Korean conversation didn’t last long.)

Hello Kitty melons? Sold right outside the Sapporo Beer Factory

That’s why I really admire people who are bilingual. I sometimes tutor ESL students at an elementary school in New Haven, and it’s amazing to me how these kindergarteners transition so easily from Spanish to English. I have even more respect for people who can switch between languages that aren’t native to them. I also find it interesting that while my Spanish and Japanese occasionally mix together, my English and Korean never do. Why is that, you wonder. Well, duh, English and Korean are nothing alike. Oh, but wait, that’s the same for Spanish and Japanese… Well, then, it’s probably because the first two are my native languages*, while the other two aren’t. But wait, does that mean I’ll experience this mixing phenomenon with every foreign language I learn?

Too pretty to eat! (At Ishiwa Chocolate Factory)

Japanese is also the only language in which my speaking/listening has surpassed my reading/writing. This is because, of course, that I absolutely suck at kanji, but also because of the fact that the beginner Japanese classes I’ve taken have always emphasized speaking. And I’ve always said that I’d rather be able to speak a language than be able to read it (this is ESPECIALLY true for Korean). Yet it’s still a little embarrassing when Asaoka-sensei calls on me to read a paragraph in class, and I’m like, “Um … 何何〜” at every other word because it's some kanji I've already forgotten. Need to start picking up my game! (Or figure out a way to implant the "kanji gene", Foyer-san's newly coined term for when Chinese kids in our class already know the characters.)

By the way, I really am growing quite a fondness for natto. The containers at the hotels were all right, but homemade natto made by Okaa-san is even better. I think it's one of those foods where the more you eat it, the more you'll like it... 

*So actually, what counts as a native language? I’m always at a dilemma when they ask me to fill out this part in forms and such. In technical terms, Korean is my primary native language because I didn’t learn English until preschoolish (even then, I had a pretty bad accent until first grade). But obviously, I'm nowhere near and never was fluent in Korean. Ah, how quickly one forgets languages if they’re not in use! 

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Thursday, July 15, 2010

Low Point of the Curve

I think I tried to prepare pretty well for the low point of the study abroad curve that the Light meetings warned us about, but I didn’t expect a low point in the homestay as well. So there are endless benefits to doing a homestay, and I’ve already gushed about how much my speaking has improved. But I’ve come to realize that I’m too much of an independent person to last in a homestay for long. Overall, I truly believe homestays are a better option, but let’s face reality:

·         For someone who’s been cooking (um, I mean microwaving) her own dinners since sixth grade, I miss being able to eat whenever/whatever I wanted. Noontime lunch to 8:00 dinner is a stretch.
·         After the super groggy feeling of getting up at 5:15 a.m. every morning, I have a newfound appreciation for the 8:30 a.m. alarm I set during freshman year (it turns out my host family has breakfast at 6 on Saturday and Sunday mornings too – I feel like such a baby when I go to bed at midnight, and they sleep even less than me).
·         I’ve been craving fruits and meat like CRAZY. An-san has resorted to calling me a carnivore because I get super excited whenever the supermarket has a sale on meat, and I eat a crapload of fish and chicken for lunch to stock up on protein for the day.
·         Lately, I’ve been finding it harder and harder to get speaking practice. Otou-san just opened a new shop in Sapporo, so my host parents are pretty busy these days, and we don’t really talk much outside of dinner. I feel like my listening skills are pretty stagnant right now (especially without any use of タメ語), and even my speaking seems to have peaked.

Ah, I really do complain too much, but my excessive venting has made me decide to be proactive about it. Can’t do much about the eating/sleeping situation, but with the last three weeks of HIF, I realize I should be doing more on my part with the homestay:

·         Find a variety of topics to talk about. Read the Japanese newspapers, notice interesting things I see on my way to school, ask questions, etc. You can only talk about the weather for so long… 
·         Watch more TV with the family after dinner (yes, watching TV would be a plus in this situation).
·         Start listening to some J-Pop/K-Pop to practice more タメ語 with Riko because she’s always plugged into her Ipod.
·         Consciously try to use new vocab and grammar in conversations. Not necessarily the ones I learn in class either. I’ve actually been making use of the black notepad the Light fellowship gave us to write down new words, but sadly, my short-term memory isn’t letting me remember them when I hear them again.

Last but not least, shoutout to the Light fellowship for giving me this opportunity. I feel like I’m such an ungrateful child these days…

UPDATE: Started the music endeavors with Riko today in addition to watching Howl's Moving Castle which was showing on TV after dinner. I passed out in the middle though -- I guess I have a legit excuse to start napping in the afternoons ;)

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Wednesday, July 14, 2010

A Country's Happiness

In general, Japanese people are extremely nice. So nice, in fact, that it almost becomes uncomfortable. From the ever-enthusiastic “いらっしゃいませ!”s to the cutified animals on posters and signs, I can’t help but wonder if Japan’s affinity for “happiness” is masking something much deeper within. Surely, the store clerks at the supermarket must get somewhat annoyed with me when I take forever in the checkout line (mostly because I’m trying to get rid of all my 1-yen coins). And during the month I’ve stayed with them, I haven’t heard Otou-san or Okaa-san or Riko yell once. Actually, the most they’ve done is playfully scold each other. They might argue behind closed doors, but because of the way the house is built, I’m pretty sure I would hear them if their voices even rose a notch…

The only instance of “unhappiness” (if you can even call it that) that I’ve witnessed in Hakodate so far is by the sea. I described the elderly people walking by the ocean in the morning from a previous post, but I went another time in the afternoon and saw a larger crowd of people doing the same. A middle-aged man in his bicycle smoking on the beach. A younger woman parked alone in her car staring off into space. Of course, I’m not claiming that all of these people were depressed, but they certainly revealed a different side than the unfaltering smiles and rehearsed phrases from the tram driver.

On that same afternoon, I also crawled onto the cement barrier separating the road from the beach, but was startled to find bits of metal and trash strewn across the sand. For a country that blocks its lawnmowers with giant screens to stop stray grass from getting onto the street (see below photo), it was unsettling to find so much trash on Hakodate’s beaches. As such, it seems like the beaches aren’t much for recreation, even though almost all of Hakodate borders the ocean.

Only in Japan...

The routineness of everyday life is also unnerving me – I adore my host family, but they never fail to stray from their daily schedule of work/school, grocery shopping, making dinner, watching TV, and taking a bath. Of course, there are things like school festivals and art exhibits at the shop, but they seem to go through the motions so naturally. Dinner conversations pleasantly flow around the weather forecast and whatever else is in the newspaper, reminding me of an American 50s sitcom. Then again, I am one to hate on suburbia. And my faith leads me to believe that this life holds something greater than earning a living. But even then, I could almost appreciate an occasional complaint from Riko or even a raised eyebrow from the supermarket clerk.

I wrote one of my papers last semester on something that may be loosely related to this: the conflict between giri and ninjo, or social obligation and personal feelings, in Japanese society. Now, I really dislike generalizations and stereotypes, and I know that Japan has changed a lot from the staunch loyalty to one’s household in the feudal age. But at the same time, the spotless politeness and daily routines are somewhat unsettling. Do people really find happiness in all of this?

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Thursday, July 8, 2010

To Use or Not to Use タメ語

(First couple of pictures are from my birthday dinner, everything handmade by my wonderful host family. I also got to try my hand at the pizza and the roll cake, but of course, Okaa-san was with me every step of the way.)

One of my goals this summer was to be able to speak Japanese in a natural speed without having to think too long about what I wanted to say. Of course, I still lack the vocab for a lot of situations, but I’m amazed at how much a homestay will improve your speaking – language pledges are great and everything, but after being around actual Japanese people for almost a month, I can sometimes pass for a functioning, comprehensible human – (SOMETIMES – other times, I still sound like a three-year-old). I’m even daring to use the causative/passive tongue-twisters, “I was rained on,” “I was made by so-and-so to do this,” etc. So about a week ago, I decided to practice more タメ語, or tamego, the casual style used for friends and family members. HIF warned us not to use タメ語 with our host parents, but I still get tons of practice with Riko and other HIFers. So much, in fact, that I’m starting to carelessly use it with the 先生. Uh-oh. Sometimes, I catch myself just in time to add 〜んですけど…, which is more commonly used when you’re commenting on a mutually known assumption, but for me, it’s a cheat way to make something polite in about .3 seconds.


This pic actually makes me look like I'm successfully making a roll cake! (although this was not the case at many points in the process...)


Nowadays, I sometimes let タメ語 slip to my host parents too, but for some reason, they still use the neutral style to me, especially Okaa-san. I really wish they would just use タメ語 so I could practice listening too. (Whenever Riko starts one of her rants about school or another, I usually crash and burn.) Riko says it’s because I use the neutral style in class, but of course, we covered タメ語 in first-year Japanese at Yale – we just never USE it. The director from Wheaton College had definitely caught onto something about working in a coffee shop. Maybe I can mention something to Okaa-san about it, but once again, I’m wary of sounding too direct. Oh, the unbearable Japanese politeness.


My talented Okaa-san

Made completely by hand!

Then again, I remember mentioning in my Light application how much I appreciated the different levels of the Japanese language. It's a challenge switching back and forth between friends and strangers, especially when they're in the same room, but I think it gives the language a sense of sophistication. Same for Korean too, although I'm starting to appreciate Korean all the more for not having to figure out who's in-group and who's out-group... 

Didn't realize how much of an international crowd we had - China, France, Bulgaria...

We also had a lecture this week from a professor who taught Japanese in Germany. It was pretty dry, but one of the questions in the question-and-answer session was whether 敬語 "keigo", the super-polite form of Japanese, would ever cease to exist. As long as the Japanese found it useful for showing respect in job interviews and welcoming customers in stores, he replied, it was here to stay. Although outside of that, it seems that the younger generations are using it less and less. Riko says I probably don't need 敬語 unless I want to work for a Japanese company in the future. Also, the female and male forms are slowly blending in together -- once, I used ~to one of my Japanese friends at Yale, and she burst out in laughter. Guess they'll update the textbooks sometime or later...

Lucky Pierrot's infamous whale burger - tasted like a cross between pork and chicken, only extremely deep-deep-fried. Hakodate's quirky fast food joint only sell 20 a day because of the concern about whale hunting in Japan, and afterwards, Pankova-san made me feel extremely remorseful for my deed.


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Thursday, July 1, 2010

Temples, Shrines, and Cemeteries, Oh My!


Proof of my THIRD time eating natto (a Japanese food made from fermented beans that the Japanese are supposedly crazy about … and foreigners absolutely despise). I usually like bean-based dishes so maybe that explains my tolerance for natto, although I admit it’s not something I would consider going crazy over.

Onuma trip last weekend was certainly memorable, as I tried out an onsen for the first time (a public hot bath notoriously famous for practicing the Japanese way of going in stark naked). The HIF students were a little clueless at first (at one point, Ning was like, “Um, do we take off all our clothes now?”), but it wasn’t as awkward as I thought it would be. I also tried Hokkaido's famous いかすみ ice cream (squid ink) at Onuma Park. Despite its inky taste and the fact that it was the same shade as cement, it was delicious!!



Stopped by a gift shop after the shrine. So 上手!

In the past couple of days, I’ve also been hopping around a lot of neat places in Hakodate. Yesterday, Ning, Jade, and I visited a nearby Shinto shrine after class and struck up a conversation with a local who was also visiting the shrine, asking him about the proper way to enter a shrine, his work in Hakodate, etc. Three weeks ago, I wouldn’t have dared to approach a Japanese person, but improved speaking skills and a desire to improve even more is certainly making a difference.


The grounds of the shrine. According to Ning, the slips of paper are fortunes that people hang up after receiving them.

Today, we also visited a Buddhist temple as part of an HIF excursion. Somehow, part of our group wandered off into the cemetery area, so we waited for them while everyone else left. It turned out be a good thing, as our guides asked us if we also wanted to visit Koryu-ji, the oldest Buddhist temple in Hakodate, which was right around the corner. Unfortunately, most of my pictures inside the temple were blurry because of the light, but even then, they wouldn’t have been able to capture the elaborate statues adorning the shrine and the soothing scent of incense that's always wafting in a temple. 

The shrine room of the first temple.

Somewhat disturbing, but I would love to be able to translate these kinds of things in the future...


The Buddhist Paradise, elaborate as always. I managed to squeak out, "This is the place people go to when they die, right?" and the priest got super excited, ranting about the role of the Amida Buddha at one's deathbed. Unfortunately, he thought I was Chinese, but props for my freshman seminar on Buddhism that I took this spring. 


Decorated statues at the temple cemetery for infants that died prematurely.

Gate to Koryu-ji

We also continued our wandering into the Foreigners’ Cemetery and through a tiny fisherman’s neighborhood that’s actually my favorite running route in Hakodate so far. 

Apparently, the newspaper seller wasn't famous enough to have his name remembered.

In addition to the Foreigners' Cemetery, Hakodate also has a Chinese cemetery and a Russian cemetery. Needless to say, the 花屋s nearby are rolling in the dough.



Props to Connolly-san for taking such an awesome picture.

Morning run today on the other side of Hakodate had also been beautiful, even on a foggy day. I passed by a lot of elderly people sitting by themselves the beach, immersed in thought to the gentle sound of waves and the bellows of fishing boats in the distance. Life seems much slower in Hakodate than in America, and I wish that I too could have as much time to ponder over the day’s events… 

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Tuesday, June 29, 2010

Language (No Pictures, I Know, but One of My More Reflective Posts)

There’s a huge difference between learning a new language and relearning a language you’re already supposed to know. With Japanese, I’m amazed at how far I’ve come, but with Korean, I only think of how far I have to go. The little Korean that I do know I mostly taught myself in middle school, after years of being sick and tired of hearing the accusations of my parents for forgetting such an integral part of my identity. Taking the textbook method, I did manage to learn how to read and write and get through some basic grammar, but speaking, the most noticeable element of a language, still remains my weakest point. I always wanted to burn all my Korean books at the end of it all because I knew it would never again be natural for me to speak Korean without thinking of each word beforehand and breaking down each sentence into their grammatical components (and for everyone who knows how convoluted Japanese grammar is, I actually think it’s pretty logical when compared to Korean grammar).

High school was pretty busy and I was tired of studying a language that seemed impossible to master, so my Korean studies stopped (unfortunately resulting in a loss of vocab as well). The summer before Yale though, I think my Korean might have peaked. Learning from my past mistakes when I only relied on the textbook, I instead watched a ton of Korean dramas and in lieu of studying individual words, I wrote down entire PHRASES that I thought would be useful. I think this is especially helpful when you’re a heritage learner, since you probably hear them in the home every now and then and can catch onto the context quickly. Since then, however, my commitment to Korean has slid with the craziness of Yale, and I tell myself I should probably take 이선생님’s class sometime soon since I don’t seem to have the discipline to study on my own. Other times, I cringe when I think about structured learning from a textbook again.

I also sometimes question if I really need Korean to be content with who I am. Obviously, learning the language will not make me any more Korean than my American friends who learn it, enjoy it, but will never be Korean themselves. Even some of my Korean-American friends, who are fairly fluent in Korean, come back after a trip to Korea and admit that they could never truly think like members of Korean society. From my parents’ lectures as a child, I used to think that mastering Korean would be the key to integrating myself into the Korean community, but I don’t quite think it works that way anymore.

Maybe this is part of the reason why I chose to take Japanese instead of Korean my freshman year. Usually, I justify my decision by reassuring myself that it was a good time to start a new language, that I had always wanted to learn Japanese, etc. etc., but maybe in the end, I was tired of feeling the need to learn Korean in order to be accepted by other Koreans. People sometimes raise their eyebrows and ask, “Oh, you’re taking Japanese? Why not Korean? Or even Chinese?” I don’t regret my decision at all, however; I sometimes tell people, “I don’t drink coffee, but who needs coffee when you have Japanese class every morning?” I haven’t settled on a major yet, but I think Japanese will remain a significant part of my experience at Yale, whether I major in something like East Asian Studies or not.

Nevertheless, definitely someday, I plan to learn Korean, but not so much as to complete my identity; rather, to be able to talk with my grandparents and expand the group of people I can communicate with. And I would love to visit Korea sometime in the near future. I talked with Panvoka-san on the bus to the Asahi elementary school visit today, and she told me that being in a foreign country makes you realize how much you’re missing out on your own. Not necessarily that I can call Korea my “own”, but I can’t help but think about the differences between Japanese and Korean culture whenever I observe something new here. So hey, Korea, I guess I’ve moved on from the days when I wanted to completely reject you as a frustrated middle schooler. Yet in the end, I still don’t know how much of my identity I'm willing to give to you. 

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Friday, June 25, 2010

Week 2 Update

(Bland title, I know, but I can't seem to think of anything else that ties together my disorganized thoughts. And I promised a post on religion before, but it is still to come!)


 The view from Hakodate-yama after a climb! And the aforementioned "砂時計/hourglass shape".

I think I’m hitting somewhat of a low in class right now because I’m struggling with the things that I had always thought were my strengths. I’ve already forgotten the new grammar patterns by the next class whereas at Yale, I was able to internalize them through the countless translations we did each night (tedious, but now I admit, effective). Instead, we practice them through workbook exercises, which of course, limit the patterns you do. And since Asaoka-sensei takes off points for mistakes, I always hesitate to experiment with the more complicated grammar patterns. Also, the format of Asaoka-sensei’s tests is a little too open for what I’m used to; there’s always a fill-in-blank section as well as a short answer section where you’re supposed to use some new grammar point, but the problem is, you don’t know WHICH one he wants. (Try figuring out what to put in ________________________________________か?I know I can’t expect the same teaching style, but it’s still frustrating nevertheless. Not to mention the kanji that kills me every time …

 Okaa-san's friends ask me, "Have you learned pottery yet?" Sadly, the most progress I've made is taking this photo.

But, as I’ve said before, I’m learning a lot outside of class. Not just extra speaking practice, but the more subtle things. Yesterday night, Okaa-saan invited some of her friends visiting from America for dinner, and I met one of their husbands who was the study abroad director at Wheaton College. Fluent in Japanese, Spanish, and a little bit of Swahili, he was quick to point out some mistakes I made in Japanese. “You should work at a coffeeshop,” he insisted. “The Japanese in the textbook is not what actual Japanese people speak.” Knowing vocabulary was more important than knowing complicated grammar because “normal people don’t talk that way.” Also, he assured me that learning how to write kanji was overhyped; just being able to recognize the most common ones would be enough to get by, since computers convert hiragana into kanji anyway (extremely pleasant news to hear). I also think my host family (especially Okaa-san) speaks a LOT slower than the average Japanese person – ah, my listening skills have a long way to go.

Kyudo Club at Iai Girls HS. Pretty intimidating, yeah?

Yesterday was also when realized I don’t really blend in as well as I thought. On my way home, I always get bombarded with soft serve ice cream coupons, to which I always nod my head and say, “Hai” before stuffing the ten-millionth coupon in my backpack. But today, after the usual “Hai”, one of the coupon ladies asked me, "日本語が分かりますか?" (Do you understand Japanese?). It was probably my shorts and flip-flops or the way I walked, but I realize that even if I have Asian looks and eventually get really good at the language, many other things still separate me from being marked as a Japanese person. This brings me back to the conformity question though – when learning a foreign language, is the ultimate goal to conform to another culture? Speaking in “indirect” Japanese when you avoid accepting something the first time, practicing the standard lines when giving gifts, even learning the meticulous way of exchanging 名刺 (name cards) – isn’t it all for the greater purpose of adapting to Japanese society?  And when does adaptation turn into conformity?

 Starting the kimono class

The obis were a little tight...

Finally, after a million knots, the yukata is complete! And this is the easiest kimono to put on... 

I’ll end with a link to the song that our class is supposed to sing on the Onuma trip today. I really like it, but it’s in that awkward key that no one’s good at singing, so I’m not sure how things will turn out tonight…


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