I woke up a couple minutes before my alarm clock was to go off at 7 A.M.. This night went much better thanks to the working heater over in the corner. Today was the day of the Japanese Language Placement Test, the evaluation that would determine what level of Japanese language class I would take. I wasn’t too nervous, since there really wasn’t anything to be nervous about - it served only to place me in a class appropriate to my skill. I did the usual morning routine of showering and teeth brushing, grabbed my things and went out the door.
The sun was shining brightly as I pedaled my way to the university, the path now firmly set in my mind. I rolled down the hill just beyond my room, down the street and took a turn to the right. Soon enough, I was at Hirosaki University without the help of Nahoko. I felt a little bit proud. I parked my bike along with all the other bikes in a special section of the parking lot.
I had arrived more than an hour early. It was about quarter to eight and I was hungry. I walked toward the center of campus and found a couple options: one was a konbini that wasn’t yet open and the other was the cafeteria, also not yet open. It appears that 8:00 in the morning is the time that things at Hirosaki University open up. I decided to kill the fifteen minutes by buying a small bottle of green tea from one of the ubiquitous Japanese vending machines. 100円 later I was sipping and strolling around, checking out things I may had missed while with Nahoko. I saw a set of ATMs, including one that would work with the post office bank account I set up.
Soon enough, the cafeteria opened up, so I decided to go inside. People were already lining up, so I quickly made my way over and grabbed a tray. I’d never really had breakfast here in Japan up to this point, besides the simple continental breakfast in the hotel. The last couple days I had just eaten granola bars that I had packed, so I didn’t know what kinds of foods would be available. I decided it would be best to “do as the Romans do” and select some of the same things I saw others choosing. Miso soup sounded good, too, so I asked for that when my turn to order came.
“Miso?” I asked, conveying my order as best I could that early in the morning.
The woman began speaking in fast but obviously polite Japanese, pointing to the bowl of miso in her hand but not offering it to me. I became a bit distraught over this, trying to think of a reply, when a older man came to my rescue.
“This is traditional Japanese breakfast set. Do you want American breakfast?”
So that was what the trouble was, they were concerned for my gaijin palate. I understood their desire to be accommodating, but I wanted the authentic Japanese experience.
“Iie, breakfast set wa ii desu,” I replied. The bowl of miso was finally handed over.
I made my way to the counter to pay. The total came out to 280円. I sat down at a table and marveled at all the food I got for less than $3.
The breakfast set was very good, especially the egg squares. They tasted of egg, but with a sweet tang. It was different but still very good. I ate slowly since I had about 45 minutes until I had to go to my test. The cafeteria was very busy by this point and the sound of Japanese chatter filled my ears. Soon, 8:45 rolled around and I was out the door and to the test across the little street that cut through campus.
When I got to the room, I was the only one there. Well, besides the two instructors at the front of the room. I wanted to double check I was in the right place
“Nihongo tesuto desu ka?” I asked.
I received an affirmative response, so I took my seat at a spot with my name written down as “KESTER Joseph Robert.” In front of me was the name of the other student from UMaine, Hojin Lee, who I knew to be visiting Korea recently. I was curious to meet him, since I knew he had taken Japanese at UMaine, just in a different class from me. About a minute later, the room began filling up with students, who all seemed to pour in at once. Many seemed to be of European descent like myself, but the vast majority of foreign students, I’ve come to find, are Korean. A young man of Korean descent in a baseball hat swung around and took the seat in front of me. It was indeed Hojin. We shook hands and introduced ourselves and got to talking about the trip over and how we were settling in. We were interrupted soon enough by the instructor at the podium at the front, who issued instructions in Japanese and English. First, we filled out a paper indicating what class we were aiming for. There were four levels, the first of which was “Basic” and its description was in English. The other three were of various higher difficulties and all had their descriptions in Japanese. I knew from researching at UMaine that I wanted to take “Upper Elementary,” the next level of difficulty up from Basic. I marked that and wrote my name on the paper, both in English and in its Japanese equivalent. The Japanese had a set of characters almost exclusively for foreign words called the katakana, which is what I used to write my name. Here it is for you to see (you need the Japanese language installed on your computer):
ケスター ジョセフ ロバート
That reads as “Kay-soo-taah Jyo-say-fuu Ro-baa-toe.”
The test consisted of a section on vocabulary and kanji, listening, reading and writing. I think I did OK on the test overall, especially the listening. But I wasn’t able to answer many of the questions. Many of the students, especially the Korean students, seemed to do quite well. I felt confident in my performance on the test, though, so I think I will be able to get into the elementary Japanese class.
After the test, I planned to go to the library to see if I could get online with my laptop on Wi-Fi. I had heard that Wi-Fi was available in the library, but alas it was all locked down. I would need a password. I decided to get online back at the computers in the IEC, the International Exchange Center, which is the office for foreign students. On my way out of the library, though, I ran into Dae Ki Lim again, the Korean student from yesterday. We talked a bit about getting online, to which he said that he heard that instructions for getting online on campus would be mailed out soon. I asked him where his room was again and promised to stop by sometime.
I jaunted across the small street and into the building housing the IEC, where I had my first meeting with Nahoko the day before last. Inside, I found that all the computers were being used, but I struck up a conversation with one of the Japanese students in the office, whose name eludes me now. We talked a bit about clubs at school before a computer opened up and I said my goodbyes and took my seat.
I checked my email inbox, which was filling up rapidly, in addition to getting on Meebo.com to use my AOL instant messenger account. I talked with Zoe, my brother Tom, and a friend from UMaine named Will. I also fired off some emails to one of my favorite Japan podcasts, which I mentioned before in my post on podcasts, called “Japan Talk,” and to the “CAGcast,” another favorite of which one of the hosts lives in Japan. I remember a while back on the CAGcast the host was mentioning a get-together in Tokyo, so I emailed him about that.
It was rolling on mid-afternoon at this point and I was hungry. I said my goodbyes to everyone online and made my way out to my bike. I figured it would be cool to eat at that gyudon place again, so I began pedaling, trying to remember my way. Since I didn’t have Nahoko to help me out, I would be exploring a bit on my own today. I rolled down the street towards the downtown. It was a bit rainy, but not too bad. I soon saw the familiar bank where I changed money before and headed to the right. I passed the Soft Bank cellphone company from a couple days ago as well. I pedaled a bit further when a sight caught my eye: there was a cherry tree, with early sakura blooming. I just had to get some photos.
I came up to the Jappal department store from yesterday and finally found the gyudon place, “Yoshinoya.” I went inside.
“Irrashamasse!”
You hear that greeting every time you enter a shop. It is a general statement of welcome to new visitors who have just come through the door. I think this is a wonderful aspect of Japanese culture. Their businesses always, without exception, go out of their way to make you feel accommodated. The waitress came over to greet me.
“Hitotsu,” I said, indicating I was but one person eating today.
I took my seat over by the window and ordered the same bowl of food as last time. I took my time, paying attention to the interior of the building. It was all lacquered brown wood beams with orange trim here and there. To me, it smacked of what one might consider traditional Japanese architecture. I noticed a little cup beside me for what looked like suggestion cards. There was an amusing bit of Engrish on it.
I got up, paid the bill and made my way outside. The whole, filling meal cost a mere 400円, or about $4. I keep being amazing at how cheap food can be had.
Now done with the Yoshinoya, I made my way down the road in a direction I’d never been. Along the way, I saw some interesting signs for what appeared to be a liquor store and some stuffed birds on the side of someone’s house.
I pedaled and pedaled, allowing myself to just go where I pleased. I stuck mainly to the main roads, but soon found myself in a neighborhood, with its small, two level homes and low walls huddled up against the street. I was wisked away again onto a main road and saw a sign that just begged me to go in and check it out.
“Bookland” was the name of the place, probably akin to a Borders back home. The sign looked a bit worn down, in addition to the building, but that just added to the allure of the place. Here, the main attractions were magazines, manga (Japanese comics), and video games. Inside, it was a sensory overload. Bright colors and a multitude of manga characters flowed into my eyes and loud J-Pop flowed into my ears.
“Irrashamasse!”
I gave a small polite bow to the clerk behind the centrally-located register. First, I made my way to the left, where all the magazines and books were. Row after row of magazines filled the left side of the store, in addition to a large collection of manga magazines. I was simply amazed at the volume of the stuff. I made my way around another shelf and was shocked at what I saw. Pornographic manga was on full display, devoid of any kind of wrapping. Not only that, but the characters on the covers for anyone to see were all topless and in various suggestive positions. I didn’t know what to think of that besides to take a picture. I won’t post that here (because of the chilluns that may be reading this blog) but if you really want to see, go over to my Flickr. I suppose that’s just a difference between here and the U.S. - I went on to see more pornography in another corner, this time the live-action variety, also devoid of nearly any censorship, spare a convenient blurring here and there.
I decided to check out the video games next. The whole right side of the store was dedicated to them. I saw Wii Fit, which hasn’t come out in the U.S. but I know is expected to be a big hit when it does. I also saw many ads for Metal Gear Solid 4, which I am eagerly anticipating. The game is due to release in June, so I’ll have to wait until I get home to play, but it was really neat to see the somewhat different approach to advertising in Japan for the game. I noticed this too in a Xbox 360 magazine I briefly looked at too. Whereas an American video game ad will tend to emphasize the graphics and gameplay, the ads here put the characters front and center in dramatic poses, often without any screenshots of the game at all. Story and characters are king here, apparently, or at least just as important in a game as the actual game part.
I decided to make my way out and continue exploring, but not before I noticed a sweet picture of Tommy Lee Jones on a Suntory Boss coffee vending machine.
I pedaled down the road, curious where I would end up next. It would seem that wouldn’t take long for me to find out as a came to a place declaring itself as “SEGA WORLD.” It appeared to be a big, two story arcade. I just knew I had to go inside for a look-see. I parked my bike and went in. It was loud and flashy, with the faint smell of tobacco in the air. Apparently, you can smoke inside there, as I saw several people doing. The first floor was mainly games for younger kids and the variety of games where you use the claw arm to pick up prizes. But the real action was on the top level. I went up the stairs and was hit the sight of a large-scale horse betting game, complete with an enormous widescreen display dominating the back wall, in addition to several rows of leather seats with display panels on them. Many older folks were sitting in them, tapping here and there on the displays as virtual horses ran by on the big screen. I was stunned. People really paid actual money to bet on virtual horses? It boggled my mind, but at least the set up helped to make it authentic. I saw another horse race betting game on the other side of the place, but this one was decidedly more old school: a table was in the middle of the seats and little animatronic horses galloped along the top of the table, which was painted as a race track.
In addition to all the horse racing, there was a bunch of slot machines and this curious looking game where a big screen is laying flat between all the players, who man controls to toss stuff at fish in a pond. It was really interesting looking, but I was content to just watch the flashy aquatic graphics. I decided it was about time to get out of there and continue my exploring. Before I left, I went to take a picture of the building. As I took it, some kids inside waved to me through the window. I returned the wave before pedaling away.
It was getting late and I decided to make my way back home. The twilight was beginning to come over the town. I saw a pachinko parlor on my way back. These things are really popular, it was the fourth large one I’d seen since arriving into Hirosaki.
I pedaled back towards the large Toyoko Inn (the hotel I stayed at the first night) in the distance, which I used as my point of reference. I passed through small roads and neighborhoods again, in addition to some large entertainment centers with movies theaters and such. These would have to wait for another day. I pedaled and pedaled, and suddenly found myself with a great view of the Hirosaki skyline.
It may not be much, but it gives you a feel for how big this city is (the downtown section, anyway). I found my way back to where I had left from and found some more interesting views of the city. There was a three-dimensional sculpture and a busy street corner near the Toyoko Inn (shades of Times Square?).
I eventually found myself on the familiar roads near the International House and made my way home in the dark. I parked my bike, went inside, and nearly passed out from exhaustion. It was the end of another long day in Hirosaki.
YokohamaBogi Says:
Joe Says:
