Well I thought I would record some of my observations and experiences so that I could remember them clearly and share them with others. I guess the start of any trip begins with airports…enough said. After a nice thirteen hour flight, during which I got absolutely no sleep, I landed at the Kansai International Airport in Osaka Japan. A word of note about this airport, it is built on an artificial island in Osaka Bay. Thus the landing strip and water are very close together, which is a little disconcerting to say the least. After landing and getting through customs, basically standing in a very long line, I got my luggage and met other students heading to the same university. As it was night time and I was pretty tired I didn’t get to see much on the way there (shell shock anyone?). I was able to stay awake long enough to get to Hirakata City and to the dorm. Where upon I proceed to find my room and get some much needed sleep.
I was once told that what we noticed most in situations where one is in a foreign country, is that we pick up the most oblivious differences and fail to see the similarity...that tends to be an understatement for Japan (well one man’s view). Besides the many different cultural differences (such as what is seen as being polite – don’t smoke and walk or consume alcohol in public areas) there are even differences in just daily living. Let me say this about transportation in general: One, they drive on left side of the road (but what really gets me is that the steering wheels are on the other side too). Two, the roads are uber small (what would be considered one lane in USA is a bonafide two lane road, trust me on this). Three is that the cars are ‘funny’ looking but really they are very economical...small box type looking things (and I love them even if I can’t fit in them). Four, you are more likely to get run over by a bicycle than a car and yes everyone has them. Five, if you are caught being drunk on your bicycle, it carries the same weight and fines as if you were drunk and driving a car. Also they can and do ride their bicycles on the sidewalk. Six is simple, mopeds and lots of them (they also have this habit of driving on the side of the road on main streets to jump head in traffic). Now a quick note about the public transportation system, it’s great and effective, except it’s mostly in Japanese and even the romaji (Romanization of Japanese) is very confusing (I still need a guide if I want to go anywhere beyond walking distance).
The campus its self is beautiful and about a 20min walk from the dorms. There are three different cafeterias around campus and if that wasn’t for one than there is Seattle’s Best and McDonald’s here as well. I have yet to try either yet but I hear it’s not like the American version. There are about 444 students participating in the Asian studies program this year, which makes it the largest number of students they have ever had. Although there are very few Japanese students on campus, as they are still on summer break, they will be returning by the end of the month. The teaching faculty is broken up into Japanese language instructors, permanent faculty for other academic courses (economics, history, anthropology, etc and they are mostly non Japanese – Also important to note is that they are all taught in English), and visiting faculty. One must take Spoken Japanese which meets five days a week and includes a language lab. Usually reading and writing is taken as well, but not required (meets three times a week). They give a language placement test during orientation to place one in the correct level. Then a lottery is given to determine your place to choose classes. You must take at least 14 credits but no more than 17, this works out to be four classes a semester. The classes I am taking besides spoken and reading & writing are culture & everyday life in Japan and Shinto.
Until next time!
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