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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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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