A comment

The Japanese are famous for their politeness and understatement, and I knew that as a culture they aren't terribly big on public displays of affection, but it's really hit home for me in the past couple days.

My host sister Reina was home from boarding school this week for only four days before heading off to New Zealand. She'll be studying abroad for six months, but when okaasan said goodbye to her, it was a simple kiotsukete (take care) and a handshake. It seemed odd to me, but glancing around the airport I realized there was no kissing, no tearful "I'll miss you", and no goodbye hugs. The arrivals gate was the same way when we picked up my other sister Sachi later that day, people greeting each other with words instead of embraces.

As an outsider looking in it seemed odd... I've grown up in a culture where I take such public displays of affection for granted. I was reminded of the culture gap again tonight when I watched a TV show where a girl wins a trip to Britain. Upon arriving in the airport and seeing a reunited couple kiss she exclaims hontouni gaikokudesunee (it's really a foreign country, isn't it!)

On a related note, I wonder how my okaasan feels about her ever-dispersed family-- with both kids in boarding school and dad away for cycling about half the time, it must get very lonely. I think this might be part of the reason she's offered to host exchange students, but it feels intrusive to ask...

Tanabata (and Midterm Exam Shippai)

Tuesday (7/7) was Tanabata matsuri here in Hakodate. Tanabata is mostly a Hakodate-only affair, though I think there are variations elsewhere in Hokkaido. The modern version involves yukata-clad kids going door-to-door singing and begging for candy... well, not just candy, also rice crackers, toys, water balloons, fish treats, and frozen snacks. The sound of childrens' voices rings through the neighborhood and crowds of hovering okaasantachi escort the kids and tote the overly large bags of collected loot.

adorable kids crowding round for candy

Another Tanabata tradition is to write your wishes on colorful scraps of paper and tie them to branches... I wished to become ぺらぺら, but that's probably a bit beyond the range of Tanabata magic.

Tanabata wishes

My okaasan and I accompanied her friend's children around the neighborhood... a welcome excuse to marvel at cuteness (Japanese school children in Pikachu yukatas) and avoid studying for my midterm exam.

I survived a nerve-wracking speech contest without forgetting my lines only for a glorious しっぱい (fail) on today's exam. Oh well... at least tomorrow I'm heading off for Sapporo!

Now for some random photos:

me and my otousan


me and my dance sensei

Spot the Engrish!

The blur that is the past week and a half...

Maybe times passes differently here, but the last few weeks have raced by, and with the midterm exam looming, I'm left wondering where they went.

Things have been rather hectic, so here's a quick recap of the past week or so:

Saturday-Sunday: We overnighted at nearby Onuma Quasi-National Park for a HIF trip. Despite lack of national legitimacy, the park is beautiful... a maze of meandering footpaths, and lakes dotted with small islands.

Onuma, as viewed from pedal boat, or "boat moved with feet,"

which is how I asked for the rental....

Wednesday: We finally made our much anticipated trip to Asahi Elementary School, where we were greeted with welcome speeches from nervous schoolchildren, competitive rock-paper-scissors, and a demonstation of the ika odori of festival fame.

flower welcome arch at Asahi Shogakkou

Thursday: Finally met my host dad (who's been away cycling competitively)! He's friendly and laid-back, except when it comes to his 4 a.m. practice sessions...

Friday: Shades of elementary school as our okaasantachi and otousantachi visit school for parent-teacher conferences and classroom observation. For their benefit, we hold a heated debate over the social acceptability of house husbands in Japanese society. (Don't ask me why... the other debate topic choice was even worse.)

Saturday: Fourth of July, Hakodate style, i.e. commemorated with a Japanese interpretation of western food in a restaurant named Brasserie Carrillon that flies an Italian flag.

Sunday: Intense kanji cramming for Monday's test and failtastic attempt at peach pie with Japanese ingredients. (せっかくクリスこを持ってきたけどやっぱり失敗だった。)

Coming up: Wednesday speech contest (I can't do public speaking in English let alone Japanese, so this should be interesting...), Thursday midterm exam (aaah!), and then a weekend in Sapporo!

On a more serious note, language learning has it's ups and downs... there are times where I feel somewhat competent, like when some Japanese (!) tourists asked me for directions and I gave them, and other times I feel decidedly less so, like when I incorrectly parse my host dad's words or someone in a shop gives me a strange look the moment I open my mouth.

I'm forever learning my limitations... a weekend in Onuma without the Nihongo Dake Rule (Japanese only) reminded me how nice it is to make casual conversation without thinking. There are so many things I can't express precisely in Japanese and I find myself drifting back and forth between direct and distal speech for no particular reason.

More humorously, I recently mispronounced the counter for a night's stay in a hotel, provoking an interesting reaction from my okaasan. My denshi jisho doesn't have the slang to tell me what I said, but based on some online searching, I think I accidentally made a reference to male masturbation... oops!