Halfway

Introduction

I was golfing with my host dad about a month ago.  I had just hit my ball.  It landed. Then I saw a crow fly down next to it, pick it up in it's mouth and fly away.  No joke.  Apparently it's normal here because I was the only one surprised.

It's been a long time since my last post so I apologize.  I've been really busy but I have plenty of content to make up for it.  That bit about golf was just my attention getter.

My Japanese is improving but there are still times when I struggle.  It's a really good feeling to be able to understand what people are saying or read something in Japanese.  At the same time, its really discouraging when I don't understand a word of whats being said which sometimes still happens.

My school is really strict in a lot of ways and at times it limits how much I can study Japanese.  I wanted to get a tutor who would come in and help me a couple days a week but they wouldn't allow it.  I can't even go to the library by myself to study.  So, I sit in class and study Japanese with myself.  I still help out my English class during spelling tests and such so that's fun but the rest of the day is pretty bland.   Getting out of school on Thursdays to have lunch with the Rotary club is a nice break.  Here we are:

I didn't have a digital version of this so unfortunately this is a picture of a picture.

The New Year

My New Year was spent with my host dad visiting shrines, temples, family, and eating food.  During this time there are a lot of traditions in Japan that revolve around the idea of bringing good luck.  We visited a couple of different temples on New Year's Eve where we waited in line to ring this huge bell.  The bell ringing starts at 10:13 P.M. and then is rang once every minute to count down to midnight.  The ringing is supposed to represent getting rid of the 108 human "defilements" that have been accumulated over the past year.  We also ate long and thin soba noodles in hopes of living long and thin lives.

All of the temples were lit up on New Year's Eve.

My turn ringing the bell at one of the temples.

These are the soba noodles and the reason I'll live to be at least 100. 

On New Year's Day we visited Suwa Shrine where people can pray and buy good luck charms for their houses or work place.  Later we went to have dinner with my host dad's mother.  She cooked us a traditional Japanese meal.  She's 90 years old and still gets around just fine.  Earlier this month I saw her out with friends.

Suwa Shrine is the biggest shrine in Nagasaki and there were a lot of people trying to visit.

Here is the meal that Shige's mother made for us.

We had a family dinner the next day with Shige's mother and Shouko's family.

Huis Ten Bosch

In a city of Sasebo a little over an hour away from Nagasaki, there is a place that would be best described as a Dutch theme park.  There are Dutch style houses, hotels, windmills, shops, and restaurants.  I really didn't feel like I was in Japan at all while there.  I've never been to the Netherlands, or even Europe for that matter, but Huis Ten Bosch seemed like a pretty accurate representation to me.

They had a skating rink made of synthetic ice.  No one knew how to skate.  

I was able to teach Chihiro and Miharu to skate which was a lot of fun.

During different parts of the year they have different events and attractions.  This winter they had a huge light display that visitors could walk through.   

They also have a lot of One Piece related things which is a popular Japanese Anime series.

These were taken on a replica ship of the one that the characters in the show sail on.

Huis Ten Bosch was a lot of fun and I hope to be able to visit again before I go back to America.  In the spring they have flowers that bloom all over so it would be nice to see that.
    

Niigata Ski Trip

From January 30th until February 2nd, Shige and I went skiing in Niigata Prefecture along with some of his friends from college.  We flew into Tokyo on the 30th and stayed the night. This was my first time being inside of the city so I was bummed we didn't get to spend very much time.  I was able to see a great view from a lookout point on the top floor of our hotel.  I had never been in a city anywhere near this size.

The next morning we met with Shige's friends at the train station and we were on our way shortly after. We rode a bullet train straight to Niigata Prefecture where our hotel and skiing area were located.  As we were crossing into Niigata there was a tunnel we went through that took about 15 minutes.  Before entering there was no snow in sight but the other side opened up to deep snow everywhere.  I soon started to feel like I wasn't in the same country anymore.

We stayed in Niigata 3 days and went skiing each morning until about 2 or 3 in the afternoon.  The places that we ski'd at were the best that I've ever visited.  It was nice to be in a snowy place again after all this time in Nagasaki.

This trip was only my second time on ski's so I eventually traded the longer ones for some short ones.  They were a lot easier to use.

Me sporting some women's goggles

I'm the younger one on the right.

There is a little market in the train station that was selling foods from Niigata.

Dinner on our last night

My lil' homie Mahana

Nagasaki Lantern Festival

After we returned from skiing, Nagasaki was starting what they call the Lantern Festival to celebrate the Chinese New Year.  Nagasaki has always had a large Chinese population compared to other Japanese cities and the festival is the biggest of it's kind in Japan.    

Many of the main parts of the city are decorated with big colorful lanterns which are lit up at night.  There are performances, dances, music, parades and lots of different food stands that people can visit during the two weeks that the festival is going on.  I took a lot of pictures so here are some of the best:

This is the main performance area.  I took this on a Tuesday night so during the weekends there are even more spectators.

Dragon dance

This river walk is one of my favorite parts of the city and with all the lanterns it's even better.

I was born in a dog year. 

This is is the Chinese district in Nagasaki called チュカがい (chukagai) which means Chinatown.　

This is what a typical Japanese shopping center looks like and is called an arcade.  I often come here to look around or use it as a route to another part of town.  

There were huge dog type costumes that were manned by two people.  One acted as the front end and the other acted as the back.  At times it looked very lifelike.

Then it started eating the crowd.

The Lantern Festival is one of the coolest things that I've ever been able to see and be around.  I feel lucky that it's held in Nagasaki.

Nutrition

The food that I've eaten while in Japan has been some of the best that I've ever had and it's something that has made this year a lot easier for me.  Besides a few things, I don't find myself missing American food at all.    

Lately I've been eating a lot of ramen.  It is so much different than any that I've had at home and it tastes amazing.

This is my favorite ramen in Nagasaki so far.

To my left is a soon to be Rotary exchange student to Australia.  She also happens to go to my high school.   My hand is covering her up but to my right is the daughter of the last host family I'll be living with.  She is also going to be an exchange student starting this August in.....St. Paul!

This is okonomiyaki.  It's a lot like a pancake except it has lettuce and the buyers choice of meat and or noodles.  My favorite is shrimp.  No maple syrup is used.

This is sea cucumber.  It's served in thin slices and is incredibly hard to bite through.  It's not at all chewy but just really dense. 

Magic orbs on some small mushrooms.  Hand picked by gnomes.

This is ishiyaki bibinbap.  It's served in an extremely hot stone bowl.  The contents is stirred and pressed up against the sides of the bowl allowing the rice to get crispy before eating. 

Cow stomach 

This fish's scales were like reflectors.

McDonald's currently has an "American Vintage" menu.  I had to see what the Hot n' Groovy burger was all about.

Made just for me.

Janglish

I found a lot of good ones since my last post.

This bag is geared for a certain type of person.

So many good things.

Some kind of bread treat called Toki.

Shower Toilet!  These are everywhere in Japan.  I've been too scared to try it. 

Poetic

Extras

I spy some kind of bird.

Tsutaya is a popular book store and DVD rental shop.

A Japanese Stand By Me poster.  One of my favorite movies.

Looking Ahead

On the 12th of this month, I move in with my next host family.  I've met them once and they seem really nice.  I'll have more information in the next post after I've gotten settled in with them.

The dates for our Rotary trips have been set.  May 12th through the 16th we are going to Tokyo and Kyoto.  The 4 other students from my district plus the students from Fukuoka that I met last October are all going together and it should be a lot of fun.

I'll try to have a new post in less than a month next time.  Thanks for reading!