“One’s destination is never a place, but a new way of seeing things.”
– Henry Miller
Starting out with this quote first. After experiencing my first full day in Japan, this quote stands out the most to me. Why? Because that is what I am slowly learning, through interacting with the native Japanese students and exploring the community around Nanzan. Through interacting with the community, even on a very shallow level, I'm able to understand how their culture is driven.
My expectations were hardly met. The difference between the "shy" Japan and the lively Japan is either the demographic or level of acquaintance. My "host" roommate Yuusuke is a genki fashionable guy that always invites his friends over to hang out -- the opposite of shy. I've yet to hear a single insult other than (in Japanese) -- "such a heavy bag! did you pack President Obama in here or something?" which is just a joke. And although I can't really call it "the sights," if I go out three times a day like I did today I'm sure to see all of Nagoya in a few weeks time.
So in the end, my expectations were not met -- they were exceeded.
Make that four times a day. Lawson is awesome.
On the night of my arrival, I was greeted by a concierge of three other foreign students and two Nanzan University students. We were a mixed bunch of foreigners -- a Korean girl whose Japanese was outstanding, me and my so-so proficiency, another NY native with the same moderate ability, and a Canadian who had never spoken Japanese in his life. It really surprised me, that the students who did not know English had incredible handle on the Japanese language. It must be because Nanzan requires foreign students to be fluent in either English or Japanese. Would I give up my English speaking ability for perfect Japanese? That is a really tough choice.
On the night I arrived, I met Yuusuke's frined Ryouta, who seems to be a very brash and casual guy (the kind of person you'd greet with an "Ossu!" instead of an "Ohayou"). I asked him "So how is Nanzan?" and his reply went something like this -- "Have you seen the main building? It's pretty dirty. And the cafeteria food is just your normal deal. But every person you meet will be interesting. Everyone is fun." It may've been my fatigue, but I thought that was pretty profound. That and anything sounds epic in Japanese.
Minna ii hito desu. I've said this line about 6 times since I've been here. It means roughly "everyone is nice." And it's true. There's probably no parking garage in America that hires traffic conductors specifically to give bikers the right of way. There's probably no middle-aged couple who would laugh and wave if you biked into the middle of the road and cut them off. And there's probably no group of college students that would go through such great lengths to track down headache medicine without aspirin in it. Apparently an aspirin allergy is the weirdest thing to Japanese people. They never did find a safe pain killer for me.
Today, I went out four times: this morning to the Aeon shopping mall (the largest mall in close proximity), 7-eleven, the hyaku-en store (similar to the Dollar Stores in America), and Lawson (convenience store similar to 7-eleven). I biked twice. Since I haven't ridden a bike since I was 10 years old, it was a frightening experience. I can vividly remember Yuusuke cynically taking snapshots of me (while on his bike!) as I shakily followed along. But I made it alive! It's sink or swim in Japan.
I didn't bring my camera while biking, but I did take some snapshots along the way to 7-Eleven.
Look forward to Aeon, 7-eleven, Lawson, and more as my stay in Japan continues.
This is my room! It's plain but is very clean and spacious.
And the view from my balcony~
We had a yakisoba party today, but I forgot my SD card in my computer. I met everyone here. I'll talk about them in more detail as my stay in Japan continues (need to conserve resources for future posts).
All in all, my first impressions are not far off from what I expected. If anything, the Japanese (specifically the most recent generation) are more like Americans than some books may lead you to believe.
I look forward to tomorrow and new things to share! The adventure is just beginning...
