Shirakawa (Saturday, April 30th)

Finally, here's a post that isn't all about me studying.  I took advantage of an opportunity to visit Shirakawa village in Gifu prefecture, a UNESCO world heritage site.  As Wikipedia describes it, the village is "well known for [its] houses constructed in architectural style known as gasshō-zukuri (合掌造り). The Gassho-zukuri, "prayer-hands construction" style is characterized by a thatched and steeply slanting roof resembling two hands joined in prayer. The design is exceptionally strong and, in combination with the unique properties of the thatching, allow the houses to withstand and shed the weight of the region's heavy snowfalls in winter."

We're basically talking about an authentic village of thatch houses nestled in the a valley in the middle of nowhere, surounded by mountains.  The photos below don't do it justice, as it really is a thing of beauty.

Incredibly, it is still a real village and people do actually live in many of these homes.  Here's some pictorial highlights from my visit:



Here's the small suspension bridge, on the approach to the village.



We went in and toured through one of the houses.



It was certainly busy, since today is the start of Golden Week, and although my photos don't necessarily show it, the streets were packed.



The village is known for the "sake" they make at the shrine and sell locally.  It is very strong and has a large amount of actual bits of rice in it, as you'll see in a later picture.



It still seems very isolated even today.  Massive tunnels were bored through the mountains, in recent years, to provide a convenient means for visitors to get here.. I can't imagine how they would have made it here a century ago.

These little rascals are "Surabobo" dolls or talismans unique to Gifu prefecture.  They come in a variety of colours and bring different kinds of good fortune to their bearers depending on the colour.  They are also a little creepy since they don't have faces.  I noticed there were far more of the red version on display (which I believe signifies "love") compared to, say, the gold ones (bringing the bearer weatlth) which is kind of telling.  Maybe all you really do need is love!  I was kind of hoping to find one that brings the bearer the ability to "memorize massive amounts of kanji characters quickly" but it was not to be.

Kirei (beautiful) as they say in Japan.

By the time we climbed up to get this bird's eye view it was raining pretty heavily, and was quite overcast, unfortunately.

Here's that special sake I was telling you about... it's hard to see from the picture but there are bits of rice floating in it, and it is POTENT stuff.  It was tasty (oishii) enough, but I can't see downing more than one of the bowls full.

Cram Session (Sunday, April 24th)

Nothing to report other than I'm cramming for my review test of the first seven chapters of my course.  Wish me luck tomorrow!

Ari to Kirigirisu (Saturday, April 23rd)

For some reason, since I've arrived in Okazaki, it's been gorgeous weather every day except for each Saturday, when it's done nothing but rain - weird.  Very strange weather patterns.

Not much to say, so I'm going to mention an anecdote from yesterday that I thought was pretty surreal.  I had a "Reading" elective class yesterday, in which two teachers spent a full hour with me as the only student, basically reading me children's stories.  The idea being, that during future sessions, I will be able to read stories on my own, but they would start me off with Japanese versions of "The Ant and the Grasshopper" (one of the old Aesop fables, of which the sensei were surprised to hear I knew about for some reason) and "The Three Little Pigs."

Here's some cute Japanese-style animals since I couldn't find any pigs or crickets that resembled the ones in the stories that were read to me.

I'm kind of embarrassed to say I caught myself really getting into it!  Of course, I was into it because I was surprised I was able to follow the Japanese reasonably well, and not because I was into the story itself.  Still, try to picture what was going on in that room.  Here is a grown, 35 year old man enraptured by these two stories, having them read to him by two very earnest sensei (and yes, there were pictures... I noted that in the Japanese version, the triumphant pig with the house of bricks was the cutest and smallest of the pigs).  Pretty funny when you think about it.

All I can say is it serves the damn "kirigirisu" right for singing "la la la" all day instead of preparing for winter.  What a wastrel and layabout!

And Then There Was One.. (Friday, April 22nd)

From today onwards, I will be the only student in my class.  I have been definitely excited at this prospect since it means I am getting incredible value for my money, but I have been a little bit concerned that without the other, more advanced student in class to field many of the harder questions, things will fall apart.

I needn't have worried.  Because it's just me now, the whole thing is pitched directly to my level, which seems to be more bearable for the teachers as well; it means they're allowed to ask me questions that don't generally end in me giving them blank looks and stammering, since they don't need to worry about keeping things exciting for the other student. 

Definitely the classes were even more intense today because of the changes, but I felt I learned more than on previous days (maybe part of it is that I'm finally beginning to understand the rudimentary language basics).

Today was pretty much just review for the big test on Monday, but I also had my first "elective" session today as well.

How Very Taxing... (Thursday, April 21st)

Well, I found out today that I'm going to have to wait even longer to find out if I'll be doing JET this coming year.  You seriously need to have the patience of Job to get through this JET process.  Marianne, how did you cope?

At least the people back home hired by McKesson to do my Canadian taxes finally sent me the final version to approve.  Hopefully they'll be more on the ball than they were last year.  I guess I'll have to get my folks to sign off on the official version and mail it in my stead; no big deal... I can have them forge my signature and no one will know... wait, this is the internet!  Maybe I shouldn't be posting this...

An Interesting Development... (Tuesday, April 19)

Big news today: there is another individual starting the acceleration program (the one I am currently doing) next week.  This individual is pitched at a higher level than our intro class, so he will be starting at lesson 20, in a separate "intake," if you will. 

My classmate (who has always seemed to me to be way more advanced compared to the level of our current class) has been given the option of crossing over to join this other student's class.

The sensei insist that she still write a test of some kind, and she is cramming extra lessons at home this week to prepare for it, but this definitely makes sense to me.  She will be challenged in that other class, where I think she's just spinning her wheels in our current one.

At this point, she's up for it, so if she passes the test that means... I will be the only one in my class!  Yes, I will have a one-on-one teacher to pupil ratio starting next week, if all goes ahead as planned.  I sure can't complain about that... very much a once in a lifetime opportunity for the price I'm paying.  Now if only I can cram crazy amounts of practice and homework into my brain to keep pace with this opportunity!

Kanji (Monday, April 18)

I must say that kanji is really cool.  We haven't really learned much of anything yet in class wih regards to kanji, but I love the idea of each character being symbolic, and the fact that there is so much detail and precision in the drawing/writing of them.  This adds so much art and poetry to the mechanics of a written language, something wholly missing from English. 

Inherently, this also means that I will probably always struggle massively to write it, no matter how much time I put in, since my fine motor capabilities are so limited (I can only "swoosh" a pen stroke so far before it becomes a "blot").  Undoubtedly these thoughts float through every Westerner's mind when she or he starts learning any similar language, so I'm sure most of you are saying: "well, duh!"  Tough luck!  This is my blog so I'll be as obvious as I like!!

Vital Information About Japan (Sunday, April 17th)

I thought I'd take a study break and share with you some of the wonders contained within Minna no Nihongo, my japanese textbook.  A close perusal reveals many important facets, not only of japanese word etymology, and how to speak the language, but culture as well.

For instance, the textbook, very correctly, I might add, assumes that anyone learning the Japanese language will need to know several key phrases and words with a certain amount of urgency.  Examples include the ability to ask what time of day it is, or where Shinjuku station is.  They also make references to key locations that are important to visit regularly (the supermarket, bank, Osaka castle, etc.) and thus make it a priority to teach this vocabulary first.

Here's one sample from Lesson 5:


Below my dirty fingernail, you can see an overexposed example of Lesson 5's vocabulary.

 At the botom of the next page of the vocab list, as shown below, you'll be able to see why I believe the Japanese people have their priorities straight.  I think it speaks for itself:

This textbook doesn't shy away from other important topics, either.  For instance, in addition to learning the language, they assume you will want to know how to use a toilet in Japan.  Here's the relevant section of the textbook:

I'm definitely glad I read this before trying to use a japanese toilet.  I think they should, in fact, move this section up a bit and put it right on the first page of the textbook, because no offense, as important as it is to learn to speak Japanese ASAP, it's even more important to know how to relieve yourself.  I love the way the picture also shows you how to use the toilet "Western style" as a point of comparison, in case you've forgotten how to do so.

Well back to the books!  Sayounara suckers!!

Who's The Boss? (Saturday, April 16th)

What gives the guy on the can such credibility is the pipe.

Studying away today!  As a special treat, I'm showcasing two of my favourite coffee cans by Suntory.  On days when I want to start the day off feeling like "the man," I drink a can of "Boss" coffee.  When I've got a really brutal test, I pull out all the stops and down a can of "Smart Boss" for that extra burst of intellect.  I love the way the dude on the front looks like Orson Welles from Citizen Kane.

Barrels of Fun (Friday, April 15th)

Although I'm still going to keep studying my berry off on the weekend, at least it means I'll have two days free of homework and "testo"s, so I can catch up on some of the stuff that has gone over my head, and take some time to master the hiragana and katakana characters a little better.  

We chose "elective" classes today, which will begin next friday.  I'm not sure what that's all about, since there's only two of us anyway in the class, and so if we pick different electives, I'm not sure you can call one person a "class".  For the accelerated class that I'm in, we don't get things like karate and instrument playing like some of the other programs, but continued academic choices like extra "kanji" classes, or "pronounciation" classes... which is fine by me!  I don't want to waste my time here with cultural fluff (kidding of course, but I do think that the academic options are of more value for me right now anyways, in terms of my learning).

The elder sensei "Uno" taught us this afternoon, and this is the only time she's taught us all week, and I sense that she sort of "rules the roost" in terms of the ACCP instructors, so I was a little more nervous than usual.  She lulled me into a false sense of security in the first ten minutes by having us repeat numbers in Japanese to her (which I was able to successfully do) but then turned the tables and had us pretending to call a fictional Japanese bank and ask their hours of operation (which I wasn't so good at).  I tried to say that the bank was on a "yasumi" or holiday for the date in question, and that hours of operation didn't enter into it, but I wasn't able to get away with it.

Here's some more great coffee cans.  These are my staple coffees, no sugar and milk added of any kind.  I really like the one that comes in the barrel shape.  It makes me feel like I'm a giant drinking straight out of a regular sized barrel.  Mind you, normally it's more beverages like ale that are stored in kegs, but after a long week, that seems appropriate.  Sure it's only coffee, but I can still pretend I'm tying one on and having a "hit of the bird," as they say, after a long week, since I'm on a budget and can't afford to go get trashed on sake.

Strange Brews (Thursday, April 14th)

I have to tell you.  One thing I can't get enough of is canned coffee (pronounced ko-hi- in japanese).  What a marvelous invention!  Why it hasn't taken off in North America is beyond me, since we're such a coffee obsessed society.  There are a HUGE variety of different canned coffees that you can get at any of the drink vending machines everywhere.  I know you're probably thinking that canned coffee must be along the same lines as "instant coffee" in terms of quality, but I actually find it quite good!   

And amazingly enough, you can get it both hot AND cold.  You heard me, you can get HOT canned coffee from vending machines.  There's a wide variety of different brews available, some with milk and sugar, and some without.  My favorite, of course is to get it hot and black, the way I take it back home.  It's super convenient not to have to wait in line for coffee during breaks at a coffee shop, just and hit the vending machine instead... then you can return to class and nurse your heated metal can of caffeine goodness.  

Over the past week, I've had at least one a day, and I've been trying to sample a variety of different brands, so I'll profile some of the more interesting selections over the next little while.

This photo shows a coffee specially tempered with the power of fire.  I'm not sure what makes the fire used to roast these particular beans special, but it's clearly what distinguishes this product.  I must say it has a lovely rich-brewed taste, and an lingering after-burn.

This evening, I actually took a break from studying for once and went with four other people from my residence for dinner. There's only a few other people in the building right now besides those of us who went for dinner; it's basically a ghost town in here.  The Yamasa people gave me the dorm room beside some guy whose name on his door reads: "Carlos".  Weird, since the rest of our hallway is totally empty and they could have spread us out more.  I've never seen Carlos out and about, but late at night I can hear him in the next room talking loudly on the phone or skype or to himself, or whatever it is he is doing in there.  Not that it bothers me really, since I can sleep through anything.

Anyhow, the other people who went for dinner seemed nice enough and were from England, Hungary, the US and Calgary respectively.  They are, of course, in different programs and quite advanced at Japanese compared to me.  Somebody wanted to try the Italian restaurant in the nearby "Wing Town" plaza (no, I don't know why it's called "Wing Town"), and since it was close by and wouldn't take me away from studying for that long, I had no problem with the choice.  The service was pretty good, and I kinda felt bad for not tipping, as per the custom in Japan, but that's just my Western conditioning talking.

"Bideo" Time (Wednesday, April 13th)

One sensei filmed myself and fellow classmate acting out a little scenario in which we introduced ourselves and to another sensei at what I gather was supposed to be a "party" situation of some kind.  I have to say that I only got through it by basically memorizing the pre-set script from the text book.  We then watched the tape to see how we did.  

Despite butchering the language, I was pleased to see that I did a pretty good job of bowing in what looked like an appropriate manner.  Small victories!