Looking up!

Well, I am on the mend, at least in spirit I am...
This morning I missed class to go to the hospital. Brooks (who works at the International Office at the University) went with me by taxi. The doctor gave me different medication that I will start taking tomorrow, so let's hope that this stuff works!
Then the Suzukis came to visit me this afternoon and brought these lovely flowers and a care package full of fruit, candies, cake and miso soup. I feel so loved and cared for. They are the greatest family-away-from-home ever. Their kindness and generosity have given me new hope/ courage to get over this.
I've put the flowers out on the kitchen tables so that everyone can enjoy them. As I look at them, it reminds me that I forgot to mention the flowers that were at their house when we went there the other day. They have a beautiful big bush with white flowers... no, wait... light pink or... could it be that they are turning pink?? Yep! As the day progresses, the flowers gradually change from white to dark pink - incredible!

The Ups and Downs

First the good stuff - I got into the kanji class that I wanted to! This week we started language classes and I like the style, challenging, but not boring or overwhelming. We also had a meeting for language lounges today and I can work as a tutor in the French and Spanish lounges like I did last semester.
Now for the not so good news... even though I'm trying to stay positive, having had bronchitis for a the past 3 weeks, it's getting me down. It's no fun to be woken up 5 or 6 times a night by intense coughing fits that leave me gasping for breath. It's frustrating and exhausting. I'm keeping on top of homework and other duties, but I haven't been able to do any extra studying so I won't be writing the Japanese Language Proficiency Test in December. It'll just have to wait for another year.
I spent the whole weekend trying to relax and get better. I watched 7 or 8 episodes of Gilmore Girls! It just feels like such a waste of my time, I want to be productive! I want to achieve things... arg!
Maybe my brain is getting the best of me, maybe it thinks too much and my body is trying to tell it to slow down. This is the 3rd time I've been sick this year, not to mention my back and digestive problems worsening. I figure that no one can have everything so while I am good with languages, I am unlucky when it comes to health even if I eat well, etc. So I guess the moral of the story is that everyone has their ups and downs and we should each be thankful for what we do have. I am still so happy to be in Japan and have such a fabulous opportunity to study the language and experience the culture. I hope I get better soon so I can make the most out of it!

First Days of Language Classes

Well my long weekend consisted of being sick (I've got bronchitis apparently) and trying to study as much kanji as possible in between visiting with friends (the picture is of Ikue-san playing the Japanese harp).
Classes started on Thursday with orientation and conversation class. Then today we had a kanji placement test - the results will be up on Monday morning. In general I feel that I am more comfortable than my classmates when it comes to speaking in Japanese, but their grammar is more advanced. My 7 classmates are:
Cameron, 21, from Seattle
Jericho, 21, from Iowa
Kyle, 27, from Iowa
Catherine, 19, from Tazmania
Coralie, 19, from France
Emmanuelle, 23, From France
Celine, 23, from France
We cannot speak anything but Japanese in the classes, even if we want to explain something. It should be a good challenge for all of us!

Long Weekend

Just as classes start, we get a 5-day weekend... sweet! But I have to study kanji like mad because we have our kanji placement test on Friday. Unfortunately I am also getting over what we think in bronchitis, but that didn't stop me from enjoying some relaxing time...
On Sunday, I visited Mayu at her home town just outside of Nagoya. We had a chat with her 87-year-old grandma (it happened to be respect for the aged day here) and I showed Mayu my pictures from this summer. Then we made lots of waffles, followed by a short bike ride.
Today Melanie a I met up with Mendiate in Nagoya. He's a guy from Mozambique who I met last semester and who studies at Nagoya University. We wandered around the monthly market at Kakuozan and met up with Katsutoshi. We prayed at the temple there and bought a few snacks at the market.
Then Melanie and I went with Katsutoshi to their home in Kasugai where I had been once before. Hiromi was waiting for us in a yukata to teach us tea ceremony! I had bought myself a whisk and scoop from the green tea farm in Korea so I was excited to learn how to use them.
She began by serving us two servings of matcha, preceded by sweets (sweet potato and chestnut paste). Green tea is so warming. Then Melanie and I each took a turn at making the tea, learning all the delicate hand movements that go along with the service. After the tea ceremony, we ate a variety of bean paste rice cakes and candy boiled chestnuts which are traditional foods during the Buddhist Higan Festival to celebrate the fall equinox.
We went home bellies full of yummy sweets and soothing tea, heads full of tea ceremony knowledge, hands full of goodies and our own tea sets!!! and faces full of smiles.

Mountain Villages

Today we took a school trip up to two mountain villages in Gifu and Toyama prefectures. The road through the mountain to get there is full of long tunnels through the tall lush mountains and bridges spanning the narrow valleys. At Gokayama village, we had to take an elevator down the cliff from the parking lot to get there. There were several wooden gasshou-zukuri houses with huge thatched roofs.
Shirakawa-go is a larger community which we accessed by crossing a suspension bridge over a wide river. Both villages were designated as UNESCO World Heritage Sites in 1995 because most of the few gasshou-zukuri houses left are located there. In the house that we entered, they used to raise silk worms in the attic to make silk for kimonos!
After a black sesame ice cream, Alexis and I walked around the town with the little time we had left there. It is very picturesque and would be such a peaceful place if it wasn't for the groups of tourists. The shrine was especially beautiful, very rustic, surrounded by huge cedar trees.

First two weeks of craziness!!!

Oh my!!! I'm "home" and things have been a crazy rush lately between meeting all the new students, writing intense 8-hour long placement tests, having a cough and life in general... and it's just the beginning...
I got placed into the 401 class which is crazy!!! I was the lowest student in the 101 class last semester so it's a huge jump and it's going to be a challenge. Upon discovering that I got into such a high level, I am going to attempt the Japanese Language Proficiency Exam on December 6th. I really doubt that I will pass it, especially since only a third of the people who take it pass, but it's worth the try because it's valid for life if I do and if I don't, it's just good motivation for me to study really hard!! So I'm sorry if I don't write so many posts, send as many emails or letters over the next 3 months, but I really want to try my best!
Lately I have been walking up to the hill shrine every morning, rain or shine. Sometimes Jessica (from North Carolina who was born in Honduras) comes with me. The other day we visited Osho-sama at the temple. She served us tea and gave us a bunch of gifts to take home. And told us to come any time and bring a note book so that she could help us learn Japanese.
Ah! And lastly, I am going to take a Portuguese class... in Japanese!! Mah! It's a second semester course so I have a bit of catch up to do, but I actually understand the Portuguese more then I do the Japanese, lol. It's going to be so great!! I'll learn so much of both languages.
The pics here are of Jessica with her camera (she likes to take pictures, not have them taken of her), the welcome party and when Minase and Hanano came up from Osaka to visit me, Keisuke, Yui and Jun here in Nagoya.

A brief stop in Nagahama

On the morning of the 5th Ayumi's mom dropped me off at the closest train station and I headed "home". But first! Nagahama! It might be the nicest place I've been to so far. It's a small city on the shores of Lake Biwa (the biggest lake in Japan). I ended up spending 3 hours instead of the planned hour and a half wandering around the town. I could have spent so much longer there. I walked through some neat old-style shopping streets, checked out the glass-blowing museum and traditional floats museum and discovered a really cool little weekend market where a guy took my picture through a kaleidoscope.
I went to a beautiful temple, prayed and ate some of my packed lunch by the pond in the peaceful garden out back, with not a soul around. Then I at black sesame seed ice cream and visited some other shrines and temples as I made my way back to the lake side park where there is a small castle. The lake is huge and quite clean. It reminded me a bit of Okanagan Lake, but a little less inviting.
Even the train station itself is an interesting thing to see because it is the oldest train station in Japan! As I was looking for a seat on the train, I was happily surprised when an elderly lady waved me to the seat beside her. She said she had been behind me in the line. We got chatting and she gave me her contact information in case I get the chance to go back to Nagahama! And I definitely hope to because it is a fabulous little town!

Osaka Castle

Phew! Placement tests are over!!
Now I have the time to finish writing about my summer trip. On the 4th, I spent one more day with Ayumi T and we met up with Yuri at Osaka Castle. As we were walking there, we got stopped by "Uncle Pudding", a local comedian!! He was wheeling his pudding cart through the park, with the whole camera crew behind him. He said "hi" to us, tried to ask me some questions in English, gave us pudding (delicious!), and talked in really fast in Japanese (yikes!) and all this is going to be on TV in Osaka tomorrow night! I've never been on TV before!
When the excitement was over, we explored the 8-story high castle from which we got a beautiful view of the city. Then we went for shaved ice and bought some groceries for dinner... I made my Gram's spaghetti for everyone, with caesar salad and garlic toast (yummy!).

Kyoto wanderings

While visiting my friends in Osaka, they took me to Kyoto! Random and fabulous!
It is definitely a beautiful city, especially the historic area with narrow shop-lined streets that wind up the hill towards the many ancient temples and shrines. Ayumi U, Ayumi T, and Miki Y showed me around and we even took a ride in a rickshaw!!!! AWESOME!!! One of the temples was dedicated
Hanano joined us later for lunch in the park - lunch boxes by Ayumi U's mom! Then we wandered along the more modern shopping streets. I discovered a fire fighter store there! Good times! Ayumi U's mom had given me a little money to buy myself a souvenir from Kyoto so I bought myself a set of chopsticks in a case that I can pack in my lunch box. Then we walked to a shop where they make miso paste... and miso ice cream!! It was... interesting... definitely refreshing on a hot day, but kind of salty!
From there we took the train back to Osaka and that night and the next I stayed at Ayumi T's house just north of Osaka. Her mom made us a beautiful dinner of sashimi!

Back to Japan!

To finish off my summer tour of Japan, I flew from Pusan to Osaka where I met up with some of the students who had studied at Selkirk and spent a few days in the area. For the first night I stayed at Ayumi U's place south of Osaka. That evening we met up with Jin in Kobe and he drove us to a mall where we hung out a chatted then went to karaoke for a bit.
Jin lived in Nelson from when he was 9 to when he was 20 and moved back here 4 years ago. It was so interesting to see him again and talk to him about Nelson and everyone back home as well as cultural differences and language difficulties. He said that when he came back to Japan he had trouble speaking Japanese even though he was born here. And he still can't read/write many Chinese characters which makes it difficult for writing receipts at work.
When we arrived at her house, Ayumi U's mom had bought me a beautiful green tea log cake with a welcome decoration on it. So sweet!

A fabulous day in beautiful Yeosu

Nikki’s parents met us at the bus station. Despite the fact that it was almost midnight when we reached their house, her mom started cooking! We ate fruit, beef stew and kimchi and her dad poured us each a drink of raspberry wine, soju (hard alcohol) and beer – intense! We got to bed quite late, but it was early up the next morning because they had lots planned for us! We spent the whole day driving around the the southern coast through scenic valleys and mountains while Nikki's mom chatted a mile a minute in Korean. Korean has such an interesting rhythm to it.
First we drove a ways to a green tea farm nestled in the cedar-covered mountains. I had no idea what green tea plants looked like before going there. It was a really beautiful, calm place. We wandered through the rows of bushes on the hillside (still hand-in-hand) and I bought myself a green tea scoop and whisk to go with my tea bowl.
Next stop was a historical village park. The houses there are just like they were hundreds of years ago and people still live in them and sell hand-made crafts. Then we went to a wetland/ estuary reserve to walk along the boardwalks. In the afternoon, we went for lunch and yet again, I ate way too much delicious food.
Then we drove to the chemical district where Nikki’s dad works. I felt overwhelmed driving between the endless gigantic masses of tubes, pipes, vats and smoke stacks used to process crude oil into raw plastic products. We visited one of the companies and her dad’s friend insisted on showing us the promotional video for Korean chemical industries corporation. The environmentalist in me was less than convinced that it’s a good thing. I realize that this happens all over the world and creates jobs for many people, but that realization just makes me sadder/ more determined that things have to change before we destroy the earth.
Anyways, we drove to one of the many fire departments in the area and it was really interesting to see the huge industrial fire trucks and a special one used to analyze chemicals and treat burn victims. From there we took a ferry across to a quaint little island. We drove through the narrow street of a tiny town and then winding up a mountain and down through into a little bay from which we got a beautiful view of the setting sun. Then we continued along the windy road to another little community and back up the other side and caught the ferry back.
I was thoroughly exhausted by this time and had a stomach ache, but they had arranged to go for dinner with Nikki’s dad’s friend. So we drove a ways back to the town and across a lit bridge to an island where we had dinner in a restaurant that looked like it belonged in Greece. Even though I was still full from lunch and they said I didn’t have to eat if I didn’t want to, it all looked so good, so I tried a bit. We had Korean-style sashimi which was, you guessed it, delicious!
Just when I thought we were done for the night, we walked up the hill from the restaurant to a tea house! There a friend of the dad’s friend served us three kinds of Asian teas and gave me a beautiful hand-painted fan! We got home late and Nikki had to pack up some stuff to move into the university residences in Pusan the next day after dropping me off at the airport. Actually, she missed the first few days of university in order to visit with me. She is such a sweet person and her parents are wonderful. I was sad to leave Korea, but I know I will go back someday!

Ulsan and Pusan

Well I'm finally back in Nagoya (it's good to be "home"). I'll to try to get caught up on my blog in between meeting the new students and studying for placement tests.
On day 7 of my 10-day trip to Korea, I went by train from Daegu to Ulsan (a large industrial town on the coast) to meet with Nimo. I hadn’t seen him for more than a year, but some people never change. We took it easy all morning and afternoon, first visiting his university and going for lunch around there (table-top fried rice and noodles). Then we took a bus to his place where he played piano for me and I met his mom who made me some food and gave me two sets of stainless steel chopsticks!
In the evening, I caught a bus to Pusan to stay with a lady I met on Hokkaido. Actually we had only talked for 5 minutes in a convenience store between catching trains because she was surprised to meet a foreigner who could speak Japanese. When she found out that I was going to Korea she invited me to stay with her family in Pusan! I love random coincidences like that! Her and her son met me at the bus station and we drove to there apartment. She made a lovely dinner of octopus stew. Then I played cards with her husband and son and showed them some pictures from Japan, Canada and Ecuador.
The next morning, I took the bus across the city (it's huge!) and made use of the Korean characters I had learned to figure out what stop to get off at. Nikki was there waiting to give me a big sisterly hug. For the rest of the day, we wandered around the city, hand in hand.
She first took me to a park commemorating the fallen soldiers from all over the world who fought in the Korean war. Then we went for coffee at her university after using the post office there to send a 2kg box home to Canada of all the stuff I had received so far. From there, we took the subway to downtown, squeezed my pack in a station locker and visited the shopping district (new shoes... for just $10!!!). For lunch, I tried bibimbap - love the name! And it's delicious too! Rice topped with various cooked vegetables, an egg and a hot sauce.
It was a cloudy day and we were both a little tired so I decided it would be nice to go for a movie. While waiting, we took the subway to a beautiful beach and ate nectarines that a vendor had given us. After the movie (very enjoyable), we wandered along a shopping street and I paid for our dinner at one of the food stands (it didn't even cost $4... for 2 people! But then the ice cream after was that much each).
Finally, we took a 3-hour bus her hometown, Yeosu...

Daegu with Penny

On the way from Daejeon to Daegu, I ate the 3 boiled eggs White had given me (apparently a common train snack), while admiring the narrow valleys with many little orchards and greenhouses which reminded me of the Okanagan in BC.
Penny was a student at Selkirk for the whole time that I was Cultural Assistant there and it was great to see him again when he met me at the station. Together we wandered around the station and went for a lunch of kimbap (Korean sushi with egg, ham and pickled radish), toppolki (thick rice pasta in a spicy red pepper sauce) and a side of battered veggies and seafood. They call this a students lunch because it`s so cheap (just $6 or $7 for 2 people!). Then we went for a walk in a historical park before taking a bus to where he lives.
In the afternoon, we went with his mom and her friend to the Donghwasa temple on Mount Palgongsan. The majestic temple buildings near the entrance and the trees, creeks and paths that surround them are beautiful. Then we walked to a large temple hall supported on huge stone pillars, above which a 33m statue of Buddha towered over us. It is in fact the tallest standing statue of Buddha in the world. Simply stunning. It was definitely one of the most beautiful things that I have seen in my life.
Back in Daegu, his mom took us all out for BBQ duck!! It was scrumptious! We ate it with mushrooms, garlic, lettuce, sauce, kim chi and various side dishes. She also treated us to some sweet raspberry wine. Then we walked off the delicious dinner at a nearby park and watched a beautiful fountain display on the lake there. The lights and water were coordinated with music like a fireworks display.
The next morning, Penny`s mom prepared a huge breakfast for us before we left to the station for me to catch the train to Ulsan. His mom is such a sweetheart and so talkative. Penny did a great job of translating everything for us!

24 hours in Daejeon

On my last night in Seoul (Thursday), my friend from Daejeon called me to say that he had got the next day off and invited me to spend a day there before going to Daegu. After some tricky train ticket rearranging, I was able to change my ticket and spend 24 hours in Daejeon.
White`s friend had a house in the countryside so after going for lunch and buying some dinner ingredients at a fresh food market that reminded me of the ones in Ecuador, we drove out to the countryside. It was so beautiful! Korea is surprisingly mountainous.
That afternoon, we went to a type of park up a mountain where we could swim in the river!! I went in in my clothes, it was so refreshing! Then we just chilled beside the river...
Back at the house, after cold showers, we started preparations for dinner. White and his friend showed me how to make Korean-style BBQ pork which we ate with lettuce, miso sauce and kimchi.
Later they tried to teach me how to play a Korean card game using a set of beautiful cards that Sue gave me. It proved to be quite complicated, but I got the gist of it. Then we drove to a mountain from which we got a beautiful of the city night lights. It was quite chilly at night. I was totally amused by a set of flashing police car lights mounted on a post at the side of the road. I would later realize that it`s quite common in Korea... brilliant!
In the morning, they drove me back to the station so I could catch a train to Daegu. I had spent 24 truely fabulous hours in Daejeon during which I wasn`t allowed to pay for anything! Koreans are so welcoming, caring and generous.