Settled In

Spirited Away is a Studio Ghibli anime movie that takes place in a Japanese city.  It was later brought to the United States and adopted by Disney.  I've always really enjoyed the movie and it's still one of my favorites.  The main character, named Chichiro, is a child. Throughout the entire movie, due to a few downfalls in the first 15 minutes, she is forced to deal with everything that she's faced with in a different and more mature way than she ever had before. During my time abroad, I suspect that I'll be doing the same.  I figure that this is a deep enough meaning for a blog title and if not, oh well.

So, here I'll begin:
The past few days have been crazy.  It's been interesting getting used to the fact that everything I encounter here is something new.   The journey to Nagasaki luckily brought me no hardships.  It took a total of 1 bus and 3 plane rides and by the end of the third, I felt like a zombie.  I was, surprisingly, not incredibly nervous about finding my way through the three Japanese airports. 
My first plane into Japan landed in Tokyo where I took a bus to another airport on the other side of the city.  During the time I spent here it crossed my mind that it was probably the first, or maybe only, time that I had been surrounded by people and things that I had absolutely no prior connection to.  No one was waiting for me to arrive and I wasn't being expected by anyone until I reached Nagasaki.

As I mentioned before, I felt like a zombie while flying from Tokyo to Nagasaki.  I was exhausted and I could barely stay awake on the plane.  I didn't want to sleep because it was a relatively short flight. Anyway, I was not looking forward to having to try and converse with strangers and then settle into a new home.
I got a second wind on the way to baggage claim.   After waiting for my luggage I started to walk out into the exit lobby where I knew my family and maybe others would be waiting.  When I got out, I heard a man say, "Logan," and when I turned he was taking rapid fire pictures of me on his phone.  I haven't seen the photos yet but I'd guess that they aren't very flattering.  I greeted him and then looked around to see a couple of other Rotary members and, to my surprise, Taichi Mizuno who had been hosted by St. Paul this past exchange year.  I was really happy to see a familiar face. 
                                      
Taichi is the one on my right and next to him are the Nagasaki Rotary members.  Taichi's mom took the picture.  Shigetoshi Nakamura (Shige) is the man to my left and would be hosting me until the Mizuno family had a room ready for me to stay in.

On the way to Shige's house, he told me that he lived alone with a dog.  "It will be man's world," he said.   His house was located on the 14th and top floor of a building that doubles as a parking ramp.  When we arrived at his house, he showed me where everything was.  He knew I was tired so I went to bed shortly after getting to know my way around the house.   The room I'm staying in has a great view of the city:
                                    

This is Nana

Over the next few days I experienced many new and strange things.  Shige took me around the city several times and I really like it here.  Nagasaki is big and everything is very compact.  It seems that they make use of just about all the space available in some way.  I haven't seen any open grass areas any where. 
Out of all of the unusual things that I've come across, the "country bar" that Shige took me to easily takes the number one spot.  Welcome to Jimmy's Graceland.  A bar right inside of Nagasaki where one can go and listen to American country music and have a drink.  The walls are adorned with country music merchandise and a few random Texas state flags.  They like Elvis too as you can probably tell by the bar's name.  I had no idea that this type of place existed in Japan.  I had never even seen one in the U.S.  This wasn't a place where Americans visiting Japan would come to feel more at home either.  Everyone in attendance was Japanese and some were even sporting cowboy hats. It must have been live performance night because the owner, Jimmy, started playing guitar and singing about half an hour after we had arrived.   Later, after talking to Shige's daughter and Taichi, I found out that I wasn't the only one who thought that this place was a bit odd. 

                                       

I got to meet some of Shige's family a couple days after arriving.  Him and I went to his mothers house around dinner time to eat.  She lives higher up in the city than Shige does so it was cool to see that side of Nagasaki.  Here is the view from outside of her house at sunset: 
                                       
His mother (Hisako) had dinner ready when we arrived.  It was some sort of hot Udon noodle salad with octopus, squid, fish cakes, sea weed and some sort of clear sauce.  I never eat things like this but it was really good.  A little while after we finished eating, Shige's daughter (Shouko) came over with her two daughters (Miharu and Chihiro).  It was nice getting to know them a little bit.  They know very minimal English so it was interesting communicating with them.  We took this picture before leaving:
                                       

Shige is on my right and on my left is his mother and granddaughters.

Shouko tried explained to me that her daughters wanted to try and speak to me in English when they got there but they were too shy.  They ended up just handing me the iPhone that they had been huddled over for awhile:
                                       



 Shoronagashi Festival:

The Obon (Shoro Nagashi) festival was something that I was luckily able to participate in.  The festival is a way for people in Japan to remember those who have passed away in the past year.  Family members and friends build these big intricate ships out of bamboo and other materials.  Lanterns are hung all over and a picture of their loved one is placed somewhere on the ship.  The ships are the paraded around the city by family and friends who are all dressed in an outfit called a Happi.  Firecrackers are lit and thrown all over in huge quantities all throughout the festival and hundreds of people line the streets to watch.  We started around 6 and were done walking at around 11:00.  To my surprise, At the end of the route, big excavating machines are waiting to tear the ships apart.  1,300 ships were built this year in Nagasaki, all varying in size.  This has been going on for almost 1,400 years.   Everyone was very cheerful and had a great time.  It seemed like a pretty positive way to remember a deceased family member to me. 
                                         
                                     

Some people would pile up hundreds of firecrackers and light them all at once.

Edibles: The food here is amazing.  I feel like I'm eating a lot healthier too.  I even have breakfast regularly now!  Here are a few food items that I've had so far:
          

Fried pork cutlets

Udon and Shrimp soup

 

Gyoza

We ate a pizza a place owned by a guy from St. Paul who come to Nagasaki on exchange when he was in high school.

My first bowl of real Japanese Ramen.

Shige, Shouko and I went to a sushi restaurant one night and I had more raw meat in that hour than I had in my entire life.  Initially I was served four pieces and I thought this was the whole meal which I would have been fine with.  They ended up giving me about six more pieces.  By the end of the night I had consumed raw beef, horse, sea urchin, squid, and shrimp.  I ate eel too but it was cooked.  I liked the taste of most of these things but it was hard getting used to the texture and how much I had to chew.

This was the first round of sushi served

One day I was lucky enough to be able to meet with Nagasaki's mayor along with Taichi and Shige.  He asked Taichi and I questions about youth exchange and Shige translated for me.  He talked to Taichi more since my exchange had just started a couple days prior.  It was a cool experience and our picture made the paper the next day!
                                      
                                        

As for some other recent things I've been up to:
I had told Shige before I arrived here that I played golf so one day he took me to play.  It was hot and humid but I had a lot of fun.
                                          

I've been getting ready for school which starts on the 23rd.  I have to wear a uniform and different shoes for: going to school, at school, gym, and one other pair that I haven't figured out the purpose for yet.  I'll be placed in the Japanese equivalent of an American high school sophomore grade level.  As for a sport or after school activity, I'm not really sure what's in store.  Shige kind of made it sound like Id be able to do whatever I wanted from day to day.  I don't mind this but I think I'd like to join a team of some sort.  Preferably running related.  My only hesitation about that though is the weather.  It's not even very comfortable to stand outside for too long here.  Fortunately, I've been told that fall and winter are much nicer.

Lastly, I just moved in (Sunday the 18th) with Taichi and his family.  Things are going well but it will be much more challenging for me.  Taichi is extremely busy studying for college entrance exams and when he's not doing that, he's at school.  Somtimes seven days a week he told me.  His parents don't speak English so I hope to start really learning Japanese now.   I can understand more than when I first arrived but that's about it.   

Thanks for reading!