Field Trips (or Sightseeing Part II)

I gotta say, KCJS did a great job of picking fun and interesting field trips. For the class on Japanese economics, I strongly suspect the professor didn't care much about the relevance or educational value when he planned the trips - we went to the Suntory whiskey and beer factories, a textile manufacturing center, a factory for yatsuhashi (八つ橋）, which is a famous Kyoto sweet that we got to try making ourselves, and the Shimadzu headquarters (manufacturers of lab/science equipment. The Shimadzu trip was the most relevant and educational, and not coincidentally, the most boring. Sadly, I somehow utterly failed at taking pictures at any of these trips...

For the pre-modern literature class, I got to see many of the traditional Japanese performing arts - Noh, bunraku, kyogen, and kabuki - plus some of the sites featured in the literature we had read in class. I really wish I had taken pictures of some of the performances. Honestly, it was hard to stay awake for most of these, because none of us could understand a word of what was going on, and these arts tend to have a reeeaaaally slooooooow pace. But the design and artistry of the stage, the props, and the costumes (and in bunraku's case, the puppets!) were absolutely beautiful. I can't say I would go to a performance again on my own, but I'm glad I had the experience of going at least once. Plus, the program pays for everything - the tickets (which were normally $50-$90), the entrance fees, and transportation.

I actually enjoyed the other, non-performance field trips more, because they were shorter and gave me a reason to go to places that I probably would have been to lazy to visit on my own. One example is Byodo-in, or the Phoenix Hall, which is located in Uji, about 30 minutes from Kyoto by train. ...I forgot what its exact connection to literature was, but it's on the 10-yen coin.

A shot from Uji Bridge

Another place we visited was Jakko-in, the temple known for being the place where a character of the Heike-Monogatari fled to and spent the rest of her life praying. This temple was in Kyoto, but in a pretty remote part of the city. Unfortunately, it was difficult to enjoy because it rained the whole time, and most of us were to busy worrying about catching pneumonia to really take in the scenery. And that's the one downside to field trips - sometimes, it can be pretty hard to roll out of bed and get to the trip, especially if it's far and the weather's bad. The weather did match the mood of the story though, I guess...

Pretty and interesting, but not the best field trip weather

Jakko-in

Everyday Life

It's so easy to get caught up in the spirit of excitement and adventure when thinking about study abroad, and really, my time in Japan was so full of grand new experiences that it still boggles my mind to look back. But oftentimes, it was the small, seemingly minor changes in my everyday life that affected me the most and caused me the most stress as well.

Perfect example, and one of my favorite stories to tell when people ask me about adjusting and such: I had successfully survived my first day of school (found my way to school by myself, arrived on time, survived classes, etc.), and to celebrate, I accompanied another student on a shopping excursion, hoping to explore the city a bit. After we parted ways, I realized I still didn't fully grasp the bus system, so I decided to take a taxi home - a bit expensive, yes, but it was the first day, I knew I wasn't too far from home, and it looked like it was going to rain soon. I directed the taxi to the train station that was literally five minutes from my house. I paid the fare, got out, started walking down the road...and realized I didn't know how to get home! I was walking along a main road and knew I had to turn left at some point, but I didn't know exactly where. I also had only a vague recollection of what the house looked like - I had seen it for the first time the night before, after a long, tiring, nerve-racking day, and when I left the house that morning, well... I guess I just kind of assumed I knew what my own house looked like and where it was. At this point, the rain was pouring down hard, and I was already late for dinner, with no cell phone and no way to contact anyone. I ran up and down the street, breathlessly accosting a few confused strangers and showing them the now-soggy sheet that had my address. I eventually did find my house, but not after an extremely tense and seemingly endless search (by the way, in my defense, it was a small, gray building sandwiched between other equally nondescript buildings and tucked a little way away from the road). I got to my room, cold, hungry, exhausted, and dripping wet, and I knew I had to change my clothes right away and eat dinner with my host family, where I'd have to try and pretend in an unfamiliar language that everything was absolutely fine. I'm not much of a crier, but it took every ounce of strength and a lot of deep breaths not to break down right there on my bedroom floor.

Things that everyone normally takes for granted - having a cell phone, being familiar with the transportation system, knowing where your freakin' house is - that all gets thrown out the window when you move to a foreign country. It's easy to forget or be unaware, but it's jarring how much of an impact these things can have. All the other differences and changes pile on too. The weather was a big thing for me - the temperatures were pretty bad but nothing unbearable, but what really got me was the whole restriction on fan/heater usage. In the beginning of the semester, when the summer heat was still lingering, I'd take a shower at night, cool off with the fan for a bit, then turn off the fan and fall asleep comfortably. But without the fan on, I'd wake up feeling soaked in sweat and feeling disgusting already (great way to start the morning!). I tried leaving the windows open for a few nights, but that barely helped and I'd inevitably be woken up several times throughout the night from the sounds of traffic (oh god how I hated motorcyclists and garbage men). Leaving the window open also invited a host of mosquitoes into my room, so I spent my first weeks of the program feeling perpetually dirty and itchy. This, of course, didn't exactly help with my initial adjustment!

This is turning out to be a pretty negative post, but I think it's really important for people to fully realize how difficult study abroad can be. I'm sure schools generally do a good job of preparing the students, like with Wash U's mandatory study abroad classes and info sessions. I certainly wasn't expecting a relaxing vacation either, but I still found myself caught off guard somewhat at first. On the plus side, as difficult as things can be, I genuinely believe that any student with sufficient drive and interest can manage and learn to deal eventually. For my part, while I do remember the hard times pretty distinctly, those times are easily overshadowed by all of my positive experiences. Whenever someone asks me how my semester abroad went, the first thing I think about is never the mosquitoes or getting lost - I think about my friends, my host family, the field trips, the plays, the Daft Punk concert, hanging out by the Kamo river, chilling at bars... the list goes on.

Sightseeing!

I thought I'd follow up the post on money with something a little more fun - sightseeing! Kyoto is an incredibly rich city, culturally and historically. There's that well-known Japanese saying - Tokyo is the brain of Japan, Osaka the stomach, and Kyoto the heart. It's funny, but also very true, I thought. One thing I don't regret about my time in Japan is that I think I explored Kyoto pretty thoroughly, by which I mean that I visited all of the most famous and popular tourist-y sightseeing spots.

It was especially interesting to visit places I'd read about or seen or studied before I went to Japan. Not to be excessively corny, but in some ways this was a dream come true. I've been interested in Japanese history and culture since I was young - it just grabbed me, for some reason - and I clearly remember reading about the rock garden at Ryoan-ji in one of my middle school social studies textbooks. The photograph left quite an impression on my young mind. So of course it was hugely exciting to get to finally visit Ryoan-ji, so many years later...


...but, I'm not going to lie, my first impression was that it was rather smaller than I had expected. It wasn't a disappointment, not at all, but it just goes to show how powerful one's imagination and expectations can be. By the way, rock garden aside, I'd highly recommend a trip to Ryoan-ji for the grounds, which were easily among my favorite in Kyoto.

Another interesting site was Kinkaku-ji. I had long been fascinated by the temple because of famous the Yukio Mishima novel by the same name, based on the true story of a monk whose obsession with the temple's beauty leads him to burn it down. Naturally, I couldn't wait to see the edifice that had captured this monk so much.

omg my eyes

I found myself surprised again, but for a different reason - Kinkaku-ji was even *brighter* than I had expected. The name translates to "Golden Pavilion Temple," and the temple had to be rebuilt not too long ago because of the burning, but somehow I had expected the exterior to be more aged, and not quite so...shiningly polished. The sheen really can hurt one's eyes, especially because I had gone during sunset.

One last sightseeing reminiscence, and one of my favorite spots in Kyoto - Ginkaku-ji, or the Silver Pavilion Temple. Unlike Kinkaku-ji or Ryoan-ji, I had never heard much about this site, so I had no idea what to expect. The temple itself, which you can see in the picture, was nice but not too exciting (though apparently it looks amazing when snow falls). But the wooded grounds surrounding the temple were gorgeous, especially once the leaves began changing color. Ginkaku-ji has a great rock/sand garden too, and an amazing variety of mosses and trees. It doesn't hurt that I ended up going to Ginkaku-ji several times (with friends, for field trips, etc.). I even got to see some interesting wildlife, like a crane perched right in front of the temple, or that bright red dragonfly below.

One more piece of advice for any study abroad students out there - TAKE PICTURES. Of course I dutifully brought my camera with me most of the time, but I just didn't take very many pictures. I was usually dissatisfied with the relatively low quality of the pictures (owing both to my camera and to my lack of skills), and many times I simply forgot or was too lazy. Taking pictures does sometimes detract from an experience, especially when you're too busy trying to get that perfect shot to look around and enjoy yourself. Not to mention you'll probably have to keep up with the group, and people will get irritated if you linger too long. But!!! Now that my semester abroad is over and as I look over my scant photo collection, I really regret that I didn't take more pictures while I was in Japan. I have memories of some truly amazing experiences that I'll (hopefully) never forget, but having pictures makes it easier to remember and to share with other people. So yes, it may be annoying and tourist-y, but I really do recommend snapping photos plentifully and frequently. If you can do artistic, great, but if not, don't let that stop you! After all, it's more about saving the memories, right?

$$$$$

...i.e., the one thing I *don't* miss about Japan. In general, of course, things in Japan are just more expensive than in the United States. If I recall correctly, a can of Coke from a vending machine was both smaller and more expensive (about a dollar, I believe). There are an abundance of １００円 stores (dollar stores) and convenience stores, but the quality of the stuff sold there usually reflected the price too. Surprisingly, affordable food and clothing were pretty easy to find. The cafeteria in Kyoto University was especially amazing - a bowl of ramen for a dollar? Heck yeah! The taste was nothing to write home about, but it was certainly edible, and definitely healthier than the usual greasy grub I get at Wash U. The program gave us 800 yen, or about $8 a day for lunch, and almost every day I was able to stay under budget.

But I ended up spending money on so many other things, and often without really realizing it. For one thing, travel surprisingly ate into my budget. I was lucky enough to be able to bike to class, but on rainy days, or for longer distances, I had to take the bus or train, and the fares did add up. In contrast, I walk to class every day at Wash U, rain or shine, and when I go off-campus I get rides with friends or take the Metro (which is free for students). Then things like entrance fees, tickets to random events, phone fees, concerts, karaoke, bars, useless souvenirs, etc. add up too. And it's incredibly hard to resist shopping when everything is so novel and new. Not just souvenirs either - things like clothes, books, and video games were all so different and appealing!

Before I went to Japan I had already expected to spend lots of money, and really, to a certain extent, I think it's justifiable. It's a shame to go to a foreign country and then have to miss out on some rare experiences because of money concerns. Because I was worried about money, I generally avoided long-distance travel. Besides the trip to Tokyo Disneyland, I limited myself to Kyoto and its surrounding cities, even during the week-long fall break. And honestly, I kind of regret this decision in retrospect. I was in Japan for four months, and I didn't even get to see most of Tokyo, much less Hokkaido or Okinawa! To make up for it, I did get to explore the Kansai region pretty thoroughly, but I still do feel that I missed out on something. I think money is a really important consideration for study abroad. My advice to students considering it - just be aware that you're going to spend a lot of money, and probably more than what you may have initially expected. And while budgeting and good planning can get you pretty far, be aware that, in the end, spending money *is* really important to enjoying your experience!

Things I Miss About Japan 2 - Hiking Fun!

Continuing on the theme of the last post - I was also lucky enough to have host parents who were in love with nature, and I went hiking with them twice, once just with the family and once with the other members of the program, as a field trip. Since my host parents literally went hiking every week, they picked some perfect locations. Once, while riding the train to Kameoka (a small city right outside Kyoto), I actually passed by the place where we went hiking with the program and had been impressed by the view, so it was exciting to later get the opportunity to hike through that area. Take a look:
The area where I went hiking with my family was similarly impressive. It was about 30 minutes away from the house by bus, so after climbing to the top, there was a great view of the city:

After some hiking, we arrived at a gorgeous lake in between the mountains. It was a perfect day too - nice and cool, blue skies, and just a bit of a breeze making ripples on the lake:

A picture of me and my host family, haha. That's my host parents on my sides, and at the far left is my host mother's younger brother. I absolutely love this picture of them - they're pretty goofy and amazingly energetic, and this picture captures that oh-so-perfectly! I know I already did an entry on my family, but they definitely fall under the list of things I miss...

Remember what I said about them being energetic? Here's an illustration of that. This is the lunch we had by the lake. The best thing is, they brought *so much* food! Besides what you see above, we also had chicken, rice balls, some vegetables, dried fruit, beer (!), and bread and coffee (!!!) for dessert. They refused to let me carry much, and yet I still get the impression that they were less tired at the end than I was...

Things I Miss About Japan - Nature

One of the things I miss most about Japan is the nature. It doesn't help that this past winter in St. Louis was terrible - easily the coldest and the most snowy in my three years here. But even at its best, the nature in St. Louis is somehow missing something. A large part of it, I think, is cultural - Americans, especially busy college students, simply don't do things like moon-viewing or flower-viewing, celebrations of the fairly everyday but beautiful aspects of nature. But the nature in Kyoto was genuinely awe-inspiring, and incredibly accessible - all I had to do was look around while biking to school. My daily commute took me along part of the Kamo river, with trees lining the banks, people exercising, lounging, and playing music, and of course, ducks floating by happily. After classes I often biked the length of the river before going home for dinner - it was a great way to relax!

I unfortunately missed the cherry blossoms in the spring, but autumn in Kyoto was absolutely stunning. The autumn leaves （紅葉）were a big thing - when the leaves started turning color, the city and all of the famous sites became packed with tourists coming in to see the trees. The excitement was justified too - I might be looking back with rose-colored glasses (ouch, pardon the pun...), but I still think the colors were more vivid than what I've seen in St. Louis.

See, isn't that gorgeous?

An Explanation and An Intro (Part II)

I had originally meant for this blog to serve as a way for me to share my experiences abroad, not only with my friends and family, but also with a larger community as well - particularly my home campus (Wash U) - to act as a fun, open way for other students to learn about the whole study abroad experience. Obviously, that didn't quite work out - as I explained earlier, I had no internet connection at my homestay house, and my precious internet time at school was eaten up by things like homework and email. In the end, I simply wasn't able to utilize this blog the way I wanted to, something I really regret.

But don't give up hope, dear readers (however few of you are out there)! Since this can't be an active journal anymore, I thought I'd turn it into a retrospective instead. The good thing is, it's been less than a semester since I left Japan, so my memories are still fresh. The downside is that I may not be able to convey all of the initial enthusiasm and excitement I felt when I was in the midst of my program, but on the other hand my time back in America and back at Wash U has given me time to reflect and get some perspective on everything. Hopefully the entries will be more structured and informative and less messy and stream-of-consciousness too, now that I can look back on my semester as a whole. So enjoy reading, and hope you can all learn something! And as always, pleeaaase feel free to leave some comments or questions! This blog is linked to my main email address, which I check multiple times a day and will continue to use, so you'll always be able to reach me. I'd be super excited to get an email from a future study abroad student years from now :D

出発進行！