Back to School
This past week has been one of adjustment – it’s been a long while since I last went to classes at a college level. Like I mentioned in my last post, I last went to classes last fall semester at UMaine, about four months ago. Now I’ve gotten my schedule all worked out and I feel like it won’t take long for me to get back into the swing of things. I’ll talk a bit about my classes, and then about the weekend, which was exceptionally fun – there was a welcome party for the new foreign students and then rafting with the club I just joined, the adventure club, or tanken-bu.
The first day of classes, I had my business class (or ke-ei jyugyo) with Onishi-sensei. Given his appearance, I expected this to be a formal class, given his smart comb-over and formal choice of dress. But this couldn’t have been any further from the truth. He was quite the character, chatting with some of the students in their own languages such as Spanish and Chinese. But the majority of the class was given in English. The class will be focusing on how managers should conduct their business, especially how to manage people based on their personality and the culture of the business. On my way back home after class, I got this cool picture of a sakura tree and a house. The sakura are starting to come into bloom, just in time for hanami, which will be celebrated starting next week.
The second day, I had my first Japanese class. I will be taking Japanese for six periods every week, with each period being an hour-and-a-half long. The class is one of the smaller Japanese classes as far as I know, with a total of only six students. We’ve spent the first week of classes mainly reviewing and refreshing things that I’m already familiar with, but with us meeting six times a week, the level of Japanese we are studying is sure to ramp up quickly. The group of people in class is also diverse with everyone coming from a different country. There are folks from China, Thailand, South Africa, Kenya and the Philippines. Three professors teach the class on different days and they are all varied in their personalities, but Yamazaki-sensei takes the cake – he seems very much to be the quintessential “absent-minded professor.”
On Tuesday after classes, I wanted to find out more about joining a club. I emailed Lim to see if he wanted to come along, to which he agreed. I was looking at a variety of clubs that mainly did outdoor-related activities. I figured these types of clubs would be my best chance to travel and visit more of Japan while in school. Being the veteran Boy Scout that I am, I’m also (fairly) confident in my abilities as an outdoorsman. However, there was but one club present that evening, the paragliding club. Lim and I made our way over and I got a brief introduction to the club in Japanese. I could understand enough to know that they would be having a meeting in a couple days to formally introduce new members to the club. I put my name down on a paper and a little bit afterwards Lim asked to pull me aside and talk to me about the club. Being the more fluent of us in Japanese and also a capable speaker of English as well, he explained that they were speaking in very condescending, rude language and that it was actually starting to make him angry. In Japanese, there are a variety of levels of politeness, primarily determined by the way you conjugate verbs and adjectives. They were speaking to us in a very plain way, the way you would only with very close family or to children. Because we were neither, it is taken to be quite impolite and rough.
I got the sense that this club would probably not be much fun, because of the haughty way they would act towards new members. The members of the club had just extended an invitation to go out to eat with them and I asked Lim to make up an excuse for me to have to leave. He did just that and I got myself out of what was not exactly my first choice of club anyway. I didn’t fret for long, though, as I got a chance to see another, and much more “Japanese” club in action. This was the aikido club. Aikido is a form of martial arts, which apparently focuses on counter-attacking an opponent in order to pin him to the ground. Lim and I entered the dojo and asked the permission of a senpai, or senior student, to sit and watch for a bit. Lim had plans to join this club next week and I was impressed by what I saw. Graceful movements and a high degree of politeness and respect towards each other, especially the old master who was there. He was an older man, wearing large glasses and sporting a round belly. But his apparent lack of physical prowess was quickly made up for by the effortless way he threw around the other students, leaving them breathless and him like nothing at all had happened. One of the senpai asked us after about fifteen minutes if we wanted to train for a bit. I was shocked at the offer and a little nervous, because I had never done any kind of martial arts before. But soon enough I had donned the white clothes of the other students and was warming up with the senpai and Lim.
I learned three different techniques, each involving my wrist being held tightly, after which I would spin out of it in a certain way and use the attacker’s own weight to send him to the floor. I also learned a couple of interesting techniques for getting out of a hold from the ground. I sat down on the floor and Lim pressed down hard on me with his whole weight, making it impossible for me to stand. But as soon as I extended my arms in front of myself and spun my fingers in a circular motion, I was able to stand up and nearly lift Lim up off the floor.
Lim and I made our way home a little while afterwards and I reflected on my time in the dojo. I was talking with JJ (a Canadian student) just a couple days ago about the aikido club, which he also attends. They meet everyday after classes, but everyday attendance is not required. I may join them a couple days a week and possibly delve deeper into the art. My first impression of martial arts was a very good one.
Speaking of martial arts, the next class I attended during the week was Japanese traditional sports. The first class was just an orientation by Sawada-sensei, with next week seeing the beginning of the class proper. For four weeks each, the class will be held in the nearby gym and masters of kendo, aikido and judo will give us a hands-on introduction to their art. The class will be a chance to get a taste for the basics of each form and at the end of each month, a test will be administered and a grade determined from that.
During the course of the week at school, various musical clubs had been playing outside the cafeteria. I remembered that last week Yasu mentioned that he and his band, Light Music Company, would be playing on Thursday. During the lunch break on Thursday afternoon, I got to meet him again and see his band play.
The three-piece outfit played two songs, mostly punk/alternative rock in the vein of Sublime and Green Day. The songs were originals and I loved seeing them perform. They are apparently very talented musicians and I look forward to seeing them play again. Here is some video I got of the show:
Clubs clubs clubs. I suppose that was kind of a running theme of the week. But clubs are very important to the culture at Hirosaki University, so much so that the clubs have been actively trying to recruit new members for the past two weeks. At the end of each day, the cafeteria is jam-packed full of club members sitting at tables, holding up signs and talking to new prospects. I took some video of this in action:
Soon enough, Friday rolled around and with it, the highly anticipated Welcome Party was about to commence. When I got there, I wasn’t sure what to expect. But I sure didn’t expect it to be as big as it was. The party took place on the third floor of the same building as the cafeteria. It was covered in colorful decorations and chalkboards with posters on them showed of each of the different countries that students came from. We started out with some eating of the food at each of the many tables throughout the room, after which I proceeded to take some pictures and video. I met many, many Japanese students, both old and new – several of the students I had met at UMaine just a month ago, for whom I was a conversation partner.
After a while, the new students began giving their presentations on their country, with the students from Thailand going first, who were followed by the Chinese, Koreans, Hojin and I from the US, New Zealand, South Africa, Kenya and the Philippines. Here is some of the video from the night:
Hojin and I gave a Powerpoint presentation accompanied by some music by local Maine artists Rustic Overtones and Dead Season. I was a bit nervous, I will admit. I did all the Japanese talking while Hojin added with some English. We focused on the state of Maine rather than America as a whole and I think we did alright. I asked some questions to the crowd to keep them in it and I got enthusiastic responses about the music and about snowboarding when we were going over the environments in Maine.
Afterwards, there were a few after parties going on. I decided to go with Alex, a guy who actually used to be from Maine but now hailed from California. He was having a bit of a party at his apartment and a small crowd gathered. We threw back some beers, watched movies but mainly chatted about a variety of subjects. It was the perfect way to wind down after a stressful night at the Welcome Party, what with the presentation in front of hundreds and all. Towards the end of the night we got together for some group photos.
I had to leave early, though, because I would be doing some whitewater rafting with the tankenbu, or adventure club, the following morning. On Thursday, I was able to go with Joline to the cafeteria and check out the clubs, of which the adventure club was in attendance. I got to meet some of the members and get a feel for what they do. They did hiking, camping, spelunking in caves, and of course, rafting. They told me that they would be meeting on campus on Saturday morning at 8 o’clock to go out and hit the water. I thanked them for the opportunity and made it known that I would be there.
I was a bit tired from the night before, but I managed to make it to school on time. I was met by the club’s leader, Takahiro, who would be my guide for my first day of the club. He led me over to a series of long, single-storied structures which I later learned were the rooms for all the clubs. The adventure club’s was jammed full of outdoor equipment and memorabilia from past trips. Members were carrying gear out to the van parked outside, while I tried on some water shoes and made sure there was a large wetsuit available for use once we go there.
The ride to the river was about half an hour. I rode in Takahiro’s car along with some of the other members and we chatted for a while about the club and why I had come to Japan. I marveled at the GPS in Takahiro’s ride, which would actually call out directions once and intersection or turn was reached on our way to the river. We would be rafting down the eponymous Iwaki-gawa river, which flowed by the base of Iwaki-san, the large mountain just outside of Hirosaki.
We pulled onto a small, single lane road and pulled up by a clearing next to the river. This was to be our starting point. I helped unload the gear and inflate the rafts.
I was helped into my wetsuit. All the new members of the club had to take a dip in the freezing cold water in order to practice catching an emergency rope, myself included. I gently lowered myself into the water just up the river from the sandbar everyone was standing on and rose up onto my back. The flow of the river began to pull me along.
“Roppu!” A long strand of yellow rope landed in the water in front of me, which I quickly grasped. I was pulled to shore and got out of the water.
“Chotto suzushii,” I quipped, noting that the river was a bit chilly this morning. That got a laugh out of everyone.
The rest of the day was a blast, but very tiring. We got onto the rafts and made our way down stream. It was a fairly casual affair. Iwaki-gawa wasn’t a raging river by any stretch of the imagination, but the were pockets of whitewater here and there, which we merrily dove head first into, getting drenched by water in the process. After about an hour, we were at the end of the river and we took a break for the lunch that we had bought at a convenience store along the way. Everyone packed into the vans and cars and made our way back to the starting point. Before we left, I got out of my wetsuit to allow another member to go for a trip down the river. This was a great opportunity for me to get some pictures and video of everyone, which you’ll see here:
(You can see many more photos on my Flickr account).
I had a great time with everyone, but I was feeling really tired from the combination of intense physical activity and the lack of sleep I had from the night before. We piled into the vans once again and made our way back to school. There, we gathered around and heard some group announcements, after which I received an invitation to join the club and attend next Thursday’s meeting. I gave them an enthuiastic, “Hai!” At least, as enthusiastically as I could muster. This was responded to by a series of gasps and claps, the members apparently happy to have this gaijin join them in their future exploits.
That night, I fell into bed early after watching a bit of The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya online, since we were discussing the anime in the car on the way to school. I slept for a good 10 hours or so. Today I’ve been catching up on stuff for the site here. I went out this evening by myself to enjoy some gyudon at Yoshinoya and dive into the book Rashomon and Other Stores, a collection of short stories written by famous Japanese author Ryunosuke Akutagawa. It was recommended to me by my tutor, Nahoko. We found it one afternoon this week while visiting the toshokan, or library, in the foreign students’ books section. The book is a slim volume translated into English and so far I have enjoyed the first two stories of the book. The prose is very straight-forward yet subtlety crafted. I think it’s about time I started getting more into the great works of Japanese authors, musicians and directors and between this and Norweigan Wood, I don’t think I have that bad of a start.
Well, I hope you enjoyed this post. I know I’ve been a bit slow on the posting, so I’ll try my best to write more frequently. Now that I’ve settled into the groove of going to school, I think it should be a bit easier. Until next time!
また、ね！
Hirosaki 08-09
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adventure club, aikido, classes, clubs, Iwaki-gawa, Iwaki-san, Japan, Japanese, Maine, party, UMaine, video
Themocracy
That adventure club sounds like a lot of fun. I bet there is all kinds of great outdoorsy spots in Tohoku.
I wouldn’t worry about how the paragliding club spoke to you. Not to discount Lim-san’s Japanese, but “They were speaking to us in a very plain way, the way you would only with very close family or to children” sounds like something an old Japanese person would say about the guldurn youngsters these days before shouting at you to get off his lawn. It is very common for senpai to address kouhai in that manner. It’s not anymore haughty or arrogant than you would expect from a normal college kid, even in Japan. Not everyone speaks that way but its certainly not strange, especially on a college campus.
And better not let the girlfriend catch you filming girl’s chests like that youtube video @1:05 ;)
hey bro i came here after running across your vid on youtube and just wanna say great stuff it sounds like you are having a killer time out there!! i was out workin in iwate a couple years back and will never forget it. the people, food, girls, everything was unforgetable.
oh and dont listen to yokokamabogi! lets see some vids of more girls chests! lol! naw but seriously though you might have to let that gf go for a hot minute! japan is no place to have a girlfriend!1 its like goin to an all you can eat sushi place except you cant eat fish! you can still get along but you are missing out on the best part am i rite! lol naw dont sweat it though it happens to all dudes who come to the big j! peace and keep posting vids
I’ll second what YokohamaBogi said. Even with a graduate diploma in Japanese, when I first went to Osaka it took about 6 months to understand what the young guys in my dojo were saying – plain form Japanese was par for the course. In fact, if they had spoken polite Japanese to me THAT would have been the insulting thing…
Enjoy your first spring in Japan – it’s been many years since mine and it’s nice to hear/see it through fresh eyes again! :)