Yeah its true . . . well at least here in Japan it does not exist. But, we will have to wait and see next week. So this morning I found the building no problem and then I went to church. I met with a member of the Stake presidency, Brother Stevenson, who is in this ward and he told me about my options. I felt like he was a little encouraging to stay in this ward as the English ward is far away and there are some in this ward who speak English. Two brethren I met just got back from BYU where they complete an MBA. Also one of the area authorities is in our ward, not sure who. I guess this is the stake center and one of the first wards in Tokyo.
Anyways I had a hard time trying to follow along, as a lot of stuff was a whole new vocabulary of things you do not learn in a classroom setting. I got kind of confused but I tried my best. There is supposed to be another American here who is in the ward and not to great at Japanese either. I did not meet him today because there was a special YSA sacrament meeting that he went to later on today.
I guess what really kind of struck me was even though I could not understand what was being said I could understand the basic meaning and that it came from the heart.
The other awesome thing was that they asked me to help pass the sacrament, which was little confusing, but there was a little meeting while the opening hymn was sung and they had a prayer basically asking for them to help pass the sacrament in a reverent manner. It was very eye opening seeing how much respect they had for that aspect of the service and serious they felt their job was.
I think there are about 100 people or so in the ward but I will be able to tell you more next week when I think so of the YSA people will be in the ward.
I made a video today showing all the vending machines in the area but it was to big for youtube so I will try again tomorrow.
Sunday, September 23, 2007
Saturday, September 22, 2007
Where is the Church at?
Yeah . . . that is a question that took me three hours to answer. First off all of the Internet map sites are very crappy for Japan. You can find cities and areas, but with addresses you are pretty much hopeless. I had a Japanese-American who is a regular student here help me find it and all we could do to narrow it down was locate the general area where the postal code was, which if you can only guess was wrong.
The area I was supposed to go to was between stations and about a one km walk (its funny I am slowly converting to meters since no one knows what a mile of foot is). So I was navigating my way through the streets and I only got lost once. Okay that’s a lie I got lost like 4 times. Then I finally got to the area where the church was supposed to be and surprise surprise no church! So I saw an old man and asked him and I showed him that address and he told me in broken English I was not even close that I was in the wrong area, which I started to figure out since I could see the addresses. I went home with him and we looked at a map and he showed me where it was and there it was labeled “Mormon Church.” So he drew me a little map and I was on my way.
After walking another 40 minutes I finally made it there. There are two Japanese wards (congregation) that meet in the building. There was a ward that I did fine south of me and I choose this one since it was on the JR line that I take. I got lucky and picked the right one I guess.
I talk to some of the members, one who spoke English, and she told me that the closest English ward is pretty far away from me. I estimate it is about a 45 minute to hour ride. Her husband is American and I am going to meet him before church to find out my possibilities as to which ward I should go to. However, I am for sure going there Sunday. I did not have the energy to try and find the English ward building by tomorrow morning.
The ward building is only about three stations from me and about a 10 to 15 minute walk from the station. There is apart of me that wants to just go there but my Japanese will not hack it and I will have no clue what is going on. I am afraid that I might have to go to the English ward, which sucks cause I have to transfer at least twice, and the other lines are not valid with my commuter pass.
The one thing that is crazy about Japan is there are vending machines everywhere. Today I am so grateful for those machines. I was so hot and it was humid. There was one point in trip I almost though of taking the pens in my bag and start breaking them up and leaving a trail to find my way back.
So next Saturday should be the real adventure when I might go try and find the English ward.
Check back tomorrow, well for me tomorrow, or late tonight for you and I will post soem pics of teh vending machines . . . its to dark outside right now and you can not see them that good.
The area I was supposed to go to was between stations and about a one km walk (its funny I am slowly converting to meters since no one knows what a mile of foot is). So I was navigating my way through the streets and I only got lost once. Okay that’s a lie I got lost like 4 times. Then I finally got to the area where the church was supposed to be and surprise surprise no church! So I saw an old man and asked him and I showed him that address and he told me in broken English I was not even close that I was in the wrong area, which I started to figure out since I could see the addresses. I went home with him and we looked at a map and he showed me where it was and there it was labeled “Mormon Church.” So he drew me a little map and I was on my way.
After walking another 40 minutes I finally made it there. There are two Japanese wards (congregation) that meet in the building. There was a ward that I did fine south of me and I choose this one since it was on the JR line that I take. I got lucky and picked the right one I guess.
I talk to some of the members, one who spoke English, and she told me that the closest English ward is pretty far away from me. I estimate it is about a 45 minute to hour ride. Her husband is American and I am going to meet him before church to find out my possibilities as to which ward I should go to. However, I am for sure going there Sunday. I did not have the energy to try and find the English ward building by tomorrow morning.
The ward building is only about three stations from me and about a 10 to 15 minute walk from the station. There is apart of me that wants to just go there but my Japanese will not hack it and I will have no clue what is going on. I am afraid that I might have to go to the English ward, which sucks cause I have to transfer at least twice, and the other lines are not valid with my commuter pass.
The one thing that is crazy about Japan is there are vending machines everywhere. Today I am so grateful for those machines. I was so hot and it was humid. There was one point in trip I almost though of taking the pens in my bag and start breaking them up and leaving a trail to find my way back.
So next Saturday should be the real adventure when I might go try and find the English ward.
Check back tomorrow, well for me tomorrow, or late tonight for you and I will post soem pics of teh vending machines . . . its to dark outside right now and you can not see them that good.
Friday, September 21, 2007
Shinjuku
Well today I went to Shinjuku with some friends and it was pretty interesting. There are a lot of shops and department stores. I saw a Chanel dress in the window of a store for 435,000 yen or about $4,000. Yeah . . . .
The part I found interesting is that we just kind or were walking and next thing we knew were in the red light district. Okay I know what you are thinking . . . but in all honesty none of us realized where we were I mean these brothels are right between a McDonalds and a video arcade. Also there were cops around as well as kids with their parents. I have to say this is the first time I have seen a quote “red light area” and it was nothing like I expected. It was not like the dark and dreary places I thought of. I think a lot of it has to do with the Japanese mentality and they are used to it. I guess I was just kind of shocked about how open it was in this one area. FYI the shops generally have a design that sayes no one under 18 allowed and the name of the places are kind of a give away about what they are. I learned later on after I got back that this area is called Kabuki-cho.
The one thing that was kind of funny is one guy did get the nerve to walk into one and he said they told him to leave since he was gaijin.
Okay enough about that. I honestly can say I have never seen so many people in such a small confined place in all my life. The pictures can barely do it justice.
Me in Shinjuku
People crossing the street in Shinjuku
Buildings in Shinjuku
Yeah there are a lot of buildings here
The part I found interesting is that we just kind or were walking and next thing we knew were in the red light district. Okay I know what you are thinking . . . but in all honesty none of us realized where we were I mean these brothels are right between a McDonalds and a video arcade. Also there were cops around as well as kids with their parents. I have to say this is the first time I have seen a quote “red light area” and it was nothing like I expected. It was not like the dark and dreary places I thought of. I think a lot of it has to do with the Japanese mentality and they are used to it. I guess I was just kind of shocked about how open it was in this one area. FYI the shops generally have a design that sayes no one under 18 allowed and the name of the places are kind of a give away about what they are. I learned later on after I got back that this area is called Kabuki-cho.
The one thing that was kind of funny is one guy did get the nerve to walk into one and he said they told him to leave since he was gaijin.
Okay enough about that. I honestly can say I have never seen so many people in such a small confined place in all my life. The pictures can barely do it justice.
Me in Shinjuku
People crossing the street in Shinjuku
Buildings in Shinjuku
Yeah there are a lot of buildings here
Thursday, September 20, 2007
Moss Burger
Okay so the post I wrote this morning was really depressing and I do not want that to be the first entry on my blog when people read it. I though about editing some parts out because it was rather sad but I choose to leave it out because I think it maybe gives insight. I don’t know.
There was an interesting fast food place I went to the other day with the rest of my gaijin cohort after we took care of our alien residence stuff and signed up for national health insurance. Its called Moss Burger. The hamburger was pretty good. I’m not sure what the brown sauce was they put on it but its good. They also cover it in onions, but the onions do not have that onion taste . . . which makes it taste good. Also the weird thing I notice is they put lettuce and tomato on the hotdogs they sell. Nonetheless it was really good.
Well I have been exploring Koganei and have found some book stores that actually have some books on my topic or similar. There was one that was actually about the size on my bathroom that was pretty disgusting. But, they had two books that are on my topic.
Part of this year here is collecting material. I am buying some books on my topic if it is not too much. Books on the average are really cheap here. I think the most I may have paid was 1,000 yen for a hardback. I have kind of scoped out the Sophia Library and plan on making a lot of photocopies of books that might be there as well. I tried to get some help from the reference desk about what might be in the collection, but the librarian recommend going to google and looking there. I asked if they a librarian who just specialized in just Japanese history there, but apparently they do not do that have librarians that have specializations in certain areas. I am thinking I may go Monday and start finding stuff there. I also know where the copy machine is.
I guess if Erin does come to Japan she won't starve.
There was an interesting fast food place I went to the other day with the rest of my gaijin cohort after we took care of our alien residence stuff and signed up for national health insurance. Its called Moss Burger. The hamburger was pretty good. I’m not sure what the brown sauce was they put on it but its good. They also cover it in onions, but the onions do not have that onion taste . . . which makes it taste good. Also the weird thing I notice is they put lettuce and tomato on the hotdogs they sell. Nonetheless it was really good.
Well I have been exploring Koganei and have found some book stores that actually have some books on my topic or similar. There was one that was actually about the size on my bathroom that was pretty disgusting. But, they had two books that are on my topic.
Part of this year here is collecting material. I am buying some books on my topic if it is not too much. Books on the average are really cheap here. I think the most I may have paid was 1,000 yen for a hardback. I have kind of scoped out the Sophia Library and plan on making a lot of photocopies of books that might be there as well. I tried to get some help from the reference desk about what might be in the collection, but the librarian recommend going to google and looking there. I asked if they a librarian who just specialized in just Japanese history there, but apparently they do not do that have librarians that have specializations in certain areas. I am thinking I may go Monday and start finding stuff there. I also know where the copy machine is.
I guess if Erin does come to Japan she won't starve.
Wednesday, September 19, 2007
The Devil's Tongue
Okay so I know some of you are really depressed because I did not post for couple of days and are curious about my crazy adventures here. I think its radical (yeah I am bringing that word back) that people are so interested about me in Japan.
I have been spending a lot of time preparing for the Japanese placement exam, which I took yesterday.
So how did I do? CRAPPY! The section that was for beginning level was pretty easy. I knew all the kanji and their compounds and the vocabulary. The grammar was okay but it started getting REALLY harder at the very end. The second section for intermediate level was very difficult. I knew about 80% of the Kanji their compounds and vocabulary. The grammar portion kicked my butt though. Half of the time I did not even understand what was being said or I was confused with the conjugation.
So what does this mean? This is what my problem with Japanese is. I know the kanji, I know the vocabulary, but putting it together in a sentence to illustrate a thought or action is something I cannot do. If I knew all the kanji and Japanese words but cannot use them in a sentence then how can I speak of read Japanese? I cannot. So basically I think I am going to have to start at a lower level then what I wanted to do this semester. This class does not start at the very beginning of Japanese; it’s more of a 2nd year course. Some of the books they use are used in the 3rd year course at KU, where I would be if I were back at KU. Though some of the kanji and vocabulary, probably most, will be review for me in this course I need to know the grammar structures that are probably taught in this course. The next semester I would begin the course I intended to take this semester. I figure I can spend the time that may be review for me learning more kanji and practicing reading and translating.
So how do I feel about this? I am really frustrated. It is a real damper on my self-esteem. Sometimes its gets to the point were I almost cry cause I am just so upset that I cannot get this.
So what am I going to do about it? I think the problem has been trying to find a way to study or really just having the time to focus solely on Japanese. Focusing I do not think it will be an issue. I am pretty focused on learning Japanese right now. In the 6 days I have been here I have learned a lot already just because there is no way around and you have to use your Japanese. Also I have bought some book on nanban igaku that I found and plan on trying to slowly go through it since that is really what I am interested in.
I am trying . . . but the notion of failure is so scary in my mind that I try not to think about it. Especially, when I think about how focused mine and Erin’s lives have been on getting this degree. Erin has had to do a lot of sacrificing and I do not want it to all be all for nothing. If anything I find the biggest motivation making sure Erin did not have to go through all of this for nothing.
Next week I go to find out my test results and what class I will be in. I guess we will see what happens then.
I have been spending a lot of time preparing for the Japanese placement exam, which I took yesterday.
So how did I do? CRAPPY! The section that was for beginning level was pretty easy. I knew all the kanji and their compounds and the vocabulary. The grammar was okay but it started getting REALLY harder at the very end. The second section for intermediate level was very difficult. I knew about 80% of the Kanji their compounds and vocabulary. The grammar portion kicked my butt though. Half of the time I did not even understand what was being said or I was confused with the conjugation.
So what does this mean? This is what my problem with Japanese is. I know the kanji, I know the vocabulary, but putting it together in a sentence to illustrate a thought or action is something I cannot do. If I knew all the kanji and Japanese words but cannot use them in a sentence then how can I speak of read Japanese? I cannot. So basically I think I am going to have to start at a lower level then what I wanted to do this semester. This class does not start at the very beginning of Japanese; it’s more of a 2nd year course. Some of the books they use are used in the 3rd year course at KU, where I would be if I were back at KU. Though some of the kanji and vocabulary, probably most, will be review for me in this course I need to know the grammar structures that are probably taught in this course. The next semester I would begin the course I intended to take this semester. I figure I can spend the time that may be review for me learning more kanji and practicing reading and translating.
So how do I feel about this? I am really frustrated. It is a real damper on my self-esteem. Sometimes its gets to the point were I almost cry cause I am just so upset that I cannot get this.
So what am I going to do about it? I think the problem has been trying to find a way to study or really just having the time to focus solely on Japanese. Focusing I do not think it will be an issue. I am pretty focused on learning Japanese right now. In the 6 days I have been here I have learned a lot already just because there is no way around and you have to use your Japanese. Also I have bought some book on nanban igaku that I found and plan on trying to slowly go through it since that is really what I am interested in.
I am trying . . . but the notion of failure is so scary in my mind that I try not to think about it. Especially, when I think about how focused mine and Erin’s lives have been on getting this degree. Erin has had to do a lot of sacrificing and I do not want it to all be all for nothing. If anything I find the biggest motivation making sure Erin did not have to go through all of this for nothing.
Next week I go to find out my test results and what class I will be in. I guess we will see what happens then.
Monday, September 17, 2007
The Unsuccessful Quest to Find a Pair of House Slipper
So I spent most of the day studying for an exam we have on Wednesdays. It is a placement exam, but it really does not make sense for them to give it to me as I am in the second level course and doing poorly would put me into the first course and be a complete repeat of everything I have done . . . which I do not want to do.
I did take a break this morning and went to a shoe store to see if I can find a pair of house slippers to wear inside the dorm as, I am sure you are all aware; you leave your shoes at the front door. The largest size he had was a XXL, which they label as LLL, and it was to small but they had the closest fit of all the other places I went. I went to about five other places and no luck. You can see the pic below.
Today is a holiday in Japan to celebrate the autumnal equinox and the dinning room is closed on holidays. About seven of us went down the street to a ramen shop called, Kyushu Ramen. They owner is from Kyushu and open the shop about a month ago. This guy named Mike, he is also from KU and we had the same Japanese classes, has been there 3 times since we arrived on Friday. The ramen was really good and I was so full and it only cost like 700 yen.
Okay well I got ot go play World of Warcraft . . . . I mean study.
You know what they say about people with big feet, cannot buy shoes in Japan. Or atleast that is what they should say.
I did take a break this morning and went to a shoe store to see if I can find a pair of house slippers to wear inside the dorm as, I am sure you are all aware; you leave your shoes at the front door. The largest size he had was a XXL, which they label as LLL, and it was to small but they had the closest fit of all the other places I went. I went to about five other places and no luck. You can see the pic below.
Today is a holiday in Japan to celebrate the autumnal equinox and the dinning room is closed on holidays. About seven of us went down the street to a ramen shop called, Kyushu Ramen. They owner is from Kyushu and open the shop about a month ago. This guy named Mike, he is also from KU and we had the same Japanese classes, has been there 3 times since we arrived on Friday. The ramen was really good and I was so full and it only cost like 700 yen.
Okay well I got ot go play World of Warcraft . . . . I mean study.
You know what they say about people with big feet, cannot buy shoes in Japan. Or atleast that is what they should say.
Sunday, September 16, 2007
The Area
Well, today has been rather relaxing. I think my body is finally adjusted. I spent most of the day relaxing and actually trying to familiarize myself more with the surrounding area. I am very lucky that everything is so close. The hospital, more like a clinic, is 50 ft away. There are also two department store and two grocery stores within this area with a bunch of specialty shops. One of them just sells clocks and I did not even notice it. I guess I really did not need to go to Akihabara after all. What I think is funny is I have counted about 5 seven-elevens. But there is such a high concentration of people I am sure they do very well.
I think Erin felt much better knowing that there was a “hospital” so close. What I did not tell her is that there is a pachinko parlor right around the corner. There are some more in the area as well. Actually, I do not find pachinko very interesting. Growing up my dad had a pachinko machine so I have always just known what they were. If you do not know what pachinko is here is the wikipedia article:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pachinko
There is also a KFC nearby and a Denny’s, but no McDonalds. I found that rather odd.
My Dorm, I think there are about 30 or 40 of us. Half of us are exchange students
In front of the dorm facing West
Do they do chicken right?
FYI these were shot in the morning so here are not a lot of people like there normally is. Also I am setting up a flickr account so you can see all the pictures.
I think Erin felt much better knowing that there was a “hospital” so close. What I did not tell her is that there is a pachinko parlor right around the corner. There are some more in the area as well. Actually, I do not find pachinko very interesting. Growing up my dad had a pachinko machine so I have always just known what they were. If you do not know what pachinko is here is the wikipedia article:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pachinko
There is also a KFC nearby and a Denny’s, but no McDonalds. I found that rather odd.
My Dorm, I think there are about 30 or 40 of us. Half of us are exchange students
In front of the dorm facing West
Do they do chicken right?
FYI these were shot in the morning so here are not a lot of people like there normally is. Also I am setting up a flickr account so you can see all the pictures.
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