I fought a bear!

[Cue Flashback Sequence]

I had heard buzz around the dorms the previous week that this retreat was excruciatingly boring and painful. After initially believing the rumors, I made little attempt to turn in my permission slip to attend. However, while "routinely" visiting the Humanities office, Sean and I were corned into signing up. We were trapped. As each day passed, we dreaded the retreat more and more...eventually Saturday came..

[End Flashback Sequence]

After Thursday’s night of burgers and shenanigans, I woke up Friday morning went to class and just loafed around. Later that night, I stuffed my suitcase full of the essentials needed for the international retreat the following morning. I woke up Saturday very tired with only 30 minutes to spare. I hopped in the shower, lathered up, rinsed off, and got dressed liked a madman with 20 minutes to spare. After collecting my thoughts and belongings, I took a deep breath and made my way to the meeting place.

Everybody checked in by 9:45 a.m. and we shuffled onto the bus. This bus was quite different, however. Forgoing all fire and safety codes, we sat two to a seat with another person sitting in the aisle. The Japanese apparently with their ingenious efficiency figured out a way to cut transportation in half by placing an individual in a handy little fold out seat within the aisle. Thankfully, I got there early enough to stake out the prime seating located in the back.

After about an hour we arrived to the hostel in Takuchi. We first checked in then proceeded to go into a lecture hall where we carefully learned how to make a Japanese style bed using a scale model of a futon; I kid you not. After 30 or so odd minutes of lectures, we were whisked off to our sleeping quarters which actually turned out to not be quite so bad. We then headed to lunch...

As soon as lunch was over we went back to the lecture hall, where we sat listening to about 4 hours of lectures on how to live in Yamaguchi, how to recycle, and, my personal favorite, how to follow traffice rules. During the first third of the lectures, we learned about how to register as aliens, how to open a bank account, and how to apply for health insurance. All topics that would have been useful the first week, not the fourth week. It was rather silly.

After the introductions, the next round of lectures consisted of how to comply with Japan's unnecessarily complex recycling program. For example, in order to recycle milk cartons there are six steps.

Guidelines for recycling in Japan (Part one)

First, wash out the carton using hot water.

Secondly, cut one side of the carton so that the milk carton is one long sheet.

Third, hang the cartons outside by clothespin to dry.

Fourth, bundle up the flattened cartons.

Fifth, tie them together with twine.

Sixth, place into corresponding trash receptacle.

There were plenty more where that came from, but that was one of my favorites. Following the 30 minute lecture on recycling, we were treated to the traffic presentation complete with workers in crisp blue uniforms. The rules were obvious, but different from the US. Apparently in the US, we drive on the wrong side of the road. Mental note taken...

The best part of the traffic demonstration following me being volunteered to walk a straight line in beer goggles was the traffic accident. What, you ask? Well, after the PowerPoint presentation, we were treated to a "shocking" display of what it looks like to be hit by a car. One of the workers held a dummy by a string, while the other proceeded to drive and hit the dummy full speed dead on. The dummy was launched a good 40 feet. And at the risk of sounding morbid, I laughed my ass off. I wish I could show you the video I took of how silly it was. Maybe I have a warped since of humor or maybe you just had to be here.

The rest of the day was filled with a group Frisbee golf match among other things. Folks, not to brag, but I won America the gold. I went -3 on six holes and kicked my group's, made of up Japanese, Chinese, and Bangladesh, collective ass. Go me!

We finished our game a little earlier than the other groups, so my group's leader took us exploring a little bit. We went away from the camp a little bit to this spot where week could see a local lake. The scenery was breathtaking. Unfortunately, I didn't have my camera with me at the time. This is where I think I really started to enjoy myself. The finality of me being in Japan sunk in a little more and I smiled as we headed back up the mountain to dinner.

After dinner, we went to the international cultural night where we were treated to an aikido demonstration, a magic show, and various dances and songs from the representing countries. The retreat was turning out to not be such a bad thing after all and it got better as time went on.
Next, most everybody cleaned up and "went to bed" like we were supposed to. But a good chunk of us actually just walked around and had a party. We stayed up drinking and talking for a few hours and went back to bed. There was about 10-15 of us. It was actually pretty fun, talking to other international students. Everyone was pretty cool. By 12:30 or so the party had ended and people staggered home, I included, to our respective dorms and futons to wake up early the next morning.

Seven o'clock came way too quickly. I got up took a freezing cold shower because I didn't realize that the camp showers were also heated by gas. I just thought something was wrong with the shower. Silly me. Next, I got dressed and headed back to the lecture hall for the closing ceremonies and panel discussion. It was during the panel discussion that I got inspiration to keep going.

An African man, from Cameroon, who has been here for two years, spoke about his troubles when he first arrived in Japan. He spoke about the language barriers and his ability to overcome a lot of them with determination and patience. I know it sounds rather simple, but it really struck home with me. The finality of me being here for 9 more months really sunk in. I decided that I'm going to live in the now, take everything in that I can, and cherish it all. But most importantly to take what I have learned and grow from it.

After the panel discussions, we closed everything up, ate lunch and headed to a nearby national park. The scenery, again, was gorgeous and breathtaking. We explored the park for about an hour and a half then packed up and headed home.

Looking back on the experience, I was pleasantly surprised that everything turned out the way it did. I came into the event with low expectations, and, while, some of those were met it was a good experience. I’m glad I went.

If you were wondering about the title of the post; before we went we were warned numerous times about the rampant bears running amok. We were told not to stray to far from the group unless we wanted to be mauled. I, however, saw this as a challenge.

But to make things clear, I fought no bear of any sort. In fact, I did not drop kick, judo chop, or roundhouse any mammalian creature of any kind. But trust me, if I had the opportunity I would have. You have my word.

Check out the freshly posted pics...

"If it can be broke, than it can be fixed..."

On this 10-month excursion, I discover who I really am more and more each day. Nothing extraordinary has happened; no epiphanies have occurred, yet I keep finding out what makes me tick. A scary but welcome change due, in part, to the change of scenery.

One issue I've realized that's been on my heart has been regret. Regret seems to be a big focus in my life. I still regret what I said to my mom before she passed away, and not spending enough times with my family and friends before the trip. And today was no different. I think I may have made a hasty and stupid decision concerning a good friend back in America. I told myself it was for the best, even though, I didn't necessarily believe it. But alas, I need to face what I did, deal with, and grow from it. It'll be hard, but what's life without a little struggle.

I've been told before, that I'm a torn person; a walking contradiction but I never really realized it until today. Moving on..

This past week here, excluding inner torment, has been quite enjoyable.

Last Wednesday brought tidings of tacos. After spending a nice bit of change on the preparation, our Mexican feast went down without a hitch. Enlisting help from our Chinese friends, Sean and I prepared delicious tacos not unlike the ones back home with all the fixins'. I was actually surprised that they turned out like they did, and everyone who came to the fiesta enjoyed the tacos. After the taco party, we went to ESS (English Speaking Society), which is a club where, well, the Japanese sit around and practice English. An odd choice for an extracurricular activity, but we've met some cool people there. While we were there we invited some people to go out on Friday to a local restaurant.

Thursday, we joined the majority of Japan and did our first Japanese thing, bought a keitai (Cell phone). We went to au, one of Japanese big three phone companies, and after two hours of sitting down filling out our applications, picking our plans and phones, we left. Our phones all turned out to be free, and were delivered the next day. I'll be the first to admit that Japanese phones kick America's ass. My cell is a white phone with a flip around screen (I'll post pics later). I can watch tv, e-mail, listen to music, shop online, use gps, scan barcodes, and send information through a handy little infrared sensor. Thankfully, I got a phone that is bilingual. Hooray for me!

When Friday rolled around we were pretty stoked. Not only did we get our cell phones, but later friday night was our first big outing with some of our Japanese friends. Weekends have gradually been getting better and we were finally glad to experience some of the night life especially since I'm legal over here. Quite of few of the ESS people, some of our international friends, and many others showed up for a couple hours to eat, drink, and relax. It was a blast. Afterwards, most of the group went to a karaoke bar which was a hoot. We all cracked up when Sean tried to rap and what not. And I must say, I gave a smashing rendition of "We will rock you" by Queen.

Check back for updates and a few pics...

Matane.

Climbing the mountain...

Nearly three weeks have passed here in Yamaguchi, and the trip has already had it's share of ups and downs. I've started to make friends and a home here, but I still feel like I'm missing a big chunk of me. Where is that piece? Somewhere I haven't found yet..

The friends that I have made thus far do seem genuine, both, Japanese and international, but nothing quite feels like it did back home. I sometimes wonder if the person that I let them see is the real me, but I've always struggled with that. Who am I and what am I doing here? I've asked myself that a lot recently.

I consistently struggle with the fact that everyone else's lives are continuing to progress without me there. I mean I've accepted this, but I feel different. It's hard to explain. Maybe I'm merely homesick. If that's really the case, I miss family, friends, pizza, and taco bell. Nothing more, nothing less. Is that selfish of me? I've just come to realize that I just don't miss the drama and bullshit. Maybe I'm just growing up and I'm finally realizing it or maybe I just idolize things too much.

I've caught myself becoming frustrated and angry with a lot of events and choices I've made in the past. And I think there in lies the problem, I keep going back to the past, and focusing on it. I put so much emphasis on it that I feel like maybe I'm missing out on the present and future. Frankly, the feeling sucks.

I'm sure this trip would be easier if I had nothing to come back to. And my out come depended on what I did with the time I was alotted. But I do have things to come back to. Regardless, I feel torn between the two worlds and I honestly don't know what to do. I feel like I'm climbing towards something. Except, I looked down and now I'm trapped. Too scared to climb any higher or go back to the start.

Settling in and starting over...

I've officially been at the university for a week now but it's felt much longer. Time, for some odd reason, seems to be slower over here. Maybe it's the fact that it the sun rises and sets earlier than in America. Go figure.

Monday was my first official holiday here in Japan. It was national Health and Sports day (taiiku no hi..I think) and I did nothing besides ride my bicycle around and go to Aruku, the 24 hour supermarket. Ironically, I took it easy on the national "fitness" day. I guess I haven't dropped my silly American ways.

Tuesday was a more exciting day as I actually got to see some of Japan and experience something new. Jiro took Sean and I took one of many ashiiyu, which is essentially a hot spring for feet. It was quite refreshing, but a few minutes into it my feet felt as if they were about to start boiling. Actually, they just turned bright red. After the relaxing foot spa, we rode to Big Wave Yamaguchi which is a very modern art museum, theater, and library rolled into one building. It was a very aesthetically pleasing building and I plan to go back and take some pictures. We browsed a little and found out that an American indie movie, Tideland, would be playing on Friday. I was excited because I missed these type of movies. On our way back to the university, we all stopped by a food vendor and bought some takoyaki (fried octopus) which wasn't that bad. However, I don't see myself eating it anytime soon since it gave me the shits. But hey, I tried..right?

On Wednesday, I took two classes: Karate and Beginning Japanese. Karate was interesting, but we had no clue what was being said. We were lectured for half of the class on the history. To my little understanding, the type of karate that we are learning is from Okinawa. After the lecture, the sensei showed us different hand and leg forms and the stances. Which reminds me, I need to practice. He also showed us the proper way to sit at the beginning and end of class and I must say it is quite painful since I have such long legs. Another minor discomfort that I have to get used to. The next class was ridiculous, however. Since I got a 5 out of 20 on my placement test, I was placed in the beginning class. The class we are taking for actual credit is an embarrassment. We had to learn hiragana (the basic alphabet) over and do silly introductions that I learned in my first class. Hopefully, it'll pick up.

Wednesday night, I hung out with some of the international students. Michael, the aussie, and Sarah, the Canadian, are pretty fun to talk to. One of these days, since Michael can drive over here, we're going to rent a car and go traveling a little bit. I also went to the English speaking society club where we were the guests of honor. Except most of the Japanese were embarrassed to talk to me. Odd situation but that's another post for another time. The club is strange, but most of the people seem very friendly.

Thursday was pretty relaxed. I just went to another basic Japanese class in the Economics department. The pace was very fast, but I actually understood most of what was said which was nice and gave me a small boost of confidence. I had learned most of the grammar we were going over, but I still learned quite a bit. Later that night, I just hung out with the international students and talked for a couple of hours.

Yesterday was decently fun. I bought a calligraphy set and took my calligraphy class. It was pretty fun but frustrating. One of Sean and my friends, Shoko, is taking the class with us to help us out.

Last night, we all went to go see Tideland at the arts center which was a bizarre movie. I didn't really enjoy it, but didn't totally hate it. I actually don't know what to think besides it finely rode the line between art and utter shit. Not a film that I would probably watch again and I think that was the general consensus. I feel bad for Shoko and Hisako because I could tell they wanted to leave, but Jiro said it would have been really rude to walk out on a movie. Go figure. Anyway, when we got back to campus, I stopped by the ESS meeting and then went back home and watched some LOST. Rockin' Friday night, right?

Today, I think I may go traveling and exploring again...I'll write more besides general updates later since I need to get out of my dorm and get some fresh air.

Hello Japan, Goodbye America

We arrived at Narita International Airport in Tokyo about 3:30 pm on Oct. 3rd to unfamiliar surroundings. The plane ride had been very cramped; it was good to be able to finally stretch my long legs. We walked through the terminal and stopped off at our first Japanese bathroom. They had western-style toilets that I swear if we knew how to operate all the gadgets on it, probably would have started talking to us. A slight exaggeration, but they were nice nonetheless.

After the pitstop, we rode some sweet conveyor belts that honestly went on for quite some time. These conveyors were a great way to show off some of your moonwalking skills if you had them. Sadly, I did not. As we hit the end of the terminal, we headed down stairs to get "landing permission" which consisted of standing in a long but fast moving line and handing the worker our passport. We had no trouble getting through which was a relief.

Next, we proceeded downstairs to pick our luggage which arrived safely. However, it was here that I realized that I overpacked by a lot. I sat and waited as Sean called Jiro, his international friend from OU and our guide, to get instructions on what to do next. I waited anxiously for about 15 minutes then made my way through customs. The lines were short and the workers efficient. "What is purpose of stay? What are in your bags? Do you have any drugs, explosives, etc." I said no, and it was official. I was in Japan.

The next four hours at the airport, however, proved more frustrating. On the first floor, we visited every english-speaking terminal we could find. "Eego o hansemasuka?" I asked. And most everyone we asked could in fact speak english. A good transistion into Japan, I thought. We searched and searched to find a hotel and eventually we found a decently cheap Holiday Inn (Tobu Narita) near the airport. We decided we would take the shuttle in the morning from the hotel, catch a limousine bus, then buy our train ticket at Tokyo Station rather then getting lost in Tokyo our first night. Everyone we met was so helpful.

We waited outside near terminal 16 for our shuttle to arrive. Ten minutes later, we were picked up and ten minutes later we arrived. A friendly Japanese bellhop carried up of all my 8 million baggages of luggage while we checked in. The check in process was easy and the room was nice.
We saw another cool toilet, and flipped on the tv to find Stephanie Tanner from Full House, dubbed in Japanese. We laughed, sat down our luggage, rested for a few minutes and then went exploring.

Outside of the hotel, there wasn't much to see more than parking lots, a few convience stores, more hotels, and odd vending machines placed next to each other every 3 feet or so. Even on the dark, sketchy alleys there were vending machines. I bought a coke and it wasn't half bad. We continued exploring for 45 minutes or so then when back to the hotel and hit the sack; we were both exhausted.

The next morning, we checked out of the hotel at 6:30 got on the bus to the airport and caught the second limousine bus to Tokyo station. The hour and half ride was through the country. It was beautiful. When we arrived at the station we ordered tickets in sloppy Japanese mixed with a little english. We found our train platform and waited around; we were early.

At 10:13, we boarded the Nozomi 19 bound for Hakata with stops in Shin-Yamaguchi (our stop). The train was very comfortable and the scenery gorgeous. I took some pictures of the country side but they turned out blurry. Again, I saw the country side albeit at 168mph this time. There were rice fields, and mountains as far as the eye could see between the cities. It was here that, I started to get excited. About five hours later, we arrived at Shin-Yamaguchi.

Waiting for us at the station was Jiro, our friendly Japanese guide, and a worker for the college (I forgot his name). We introduced ourselves, left the station, and went to a suupaa (supermarket) to grab some grub. The food was cheap and a small Japanese boy came up to us curious. I guess he had never seen an American before. I smiled and went to check out. Next, we went to the university and checked into our dorms. From the outside, the dorms looked quite shitty but when I got to my room, it wasn't as bad as I thought. A little cramped, but at least I had my own bathroom (I'll post pictures a little later). After climbing five flights of stairs, I dropped my luggage off, took it all in and went down stairs to sign some forms and get some dinner. We were told all about the recycling here in Japan and how to seperate everything into their respective containers. Afterwards, we got some food at one of the cafeterias, called Bono (the other better tasting cafeteria is called Kireda). I got some chicken and rice, it was actually quite tasty but hard to eat since my chopstick skills were pretty much non-existent at that point but I quickly improved. The rest of the night Jiro showed us around campus. I went to bed pretty early. I was a little homesick but fell right asleep.

The next two days we're pretty much the same. Jiro should us around campus and outside of campus. He introduced us to other Humanites students, whom were very friendly. We met our main advisor, Matsumoto-sensee, who spoke no english and were "officially" checked into the college. I also met my own personal advisor, Ikezono-sensee, a friendly but formal Japanese man who spoke good english. We filled out form after form after form and we were told what we had to go do next. We had to get a personal stamp, alien registration card, bank account, etc. All of this meant that we had to fill out more forms and wait. Where do all of these forms go, I don't know. Thursday night, Jiro and Atsuko took us to Joyfull, a denny's-esque restaurant, close to campus. Friday, we bought new bikes, registered them, and picked up our personal stamps. My last name, Arens, translated to Aanzu and my kanji that sounded like my name meant apricot. Later in the night, Sean and I went exploring around Yamaguchi and found a cool department store with a McDonald's in it. We grabbed a bite, shopped, and rode back home and chilled before going to bed.

Yesterday, we explored the local shinto shrine and took a lot of pictures of campus and the shrine. I talked to an Aussie guy on my floor, named Michael, who is pretty cool for about an hour or so. He's been here for awhile and gave some good tips about local life from a foreign perspective. The rest of the day was spent relaxing, and later that night we went exploring in hopes to find downtown Yamaguchi. Instead of finding downtown, we rode our bikes in circles for about two hours lost. We must have traveled 10-15 miles easily. Eventually, we found our way back to campus and I went to bed, exhausted.

Well guys, it's Sunday here. My first week has past and it's been an interesting week. Next week, we'll finalize our class schedules and hopefully join some clubs. I'll keep everyone posted on what we take and how everything goes.

If want to write me:

email: bmarens@ou.edu
address: Yamaguchi International House, Room #504 1677-1 Yoshida, Yamaguchi, 753-0841

Here are some photos:

flickr photos: http://www.flickr.com/photos/tabiji

Mata-ne!

Mere Beginnings..

After several sweet but painful goodbyes, I left all that was comfortable and proceeded through security at Will Rogers. Security was not as bad as I thought, but the workers were equipped with cold stares and a no non-sense attitude. Apparently, this "terrorism" issue is quite important. So important that they had to make sure my shoes wouldn't explode.

Eventually I made it through the gates and went towards Gate 3, my departure gate, where I would munch on some overpriced food in hopes to ease my queasy stomach. Oddly enough, aiport chocolate milk is quite tasty. I waited for about an hour or so to finally board a cramped Mesa airline bound for Chicago O'hare. I couldn't sleep because I had no room to stretch out my longs legs. Stupid puberty, but that's another story. After two hours, I had enough flying for the day. Silly me, I still had a 13 hour flight ahead of me.

When we arrived at O'hare, I was quite tired and famished. So I got something to eat, waited around for Sean to get some money exchanged and then made it to my departure gate where again I waited nervously. All of this waiting wasn't really helping much either. Next, we boarded a Boeing 747 jet bound for Narita International airport in Tokyo. As I made my way onto the plane, I saw what I soon realized was first class and thought, "This won't be so bad", but no, the seats kept getting more squished-like as I made my way back. The seats were better than last time but not much.

I sat in the window seat and looked out at the unimpressive airport and said my 40 minutes goodbyes. Apparently, the workers forgot to fuel up one side of the plane and we where delayed for a little while. Finally, we took off and headed for Tokyo. The view below was beautiful. I tried to squash a few cars with my fingers but I was sadly unsuccessful. The next twelve hours were full of discomfort, watching 5 lame movies, talkingto the Taiwanese man next to us, and trying to sleep. I met a Canadian named Gabriel who had lived in Japan the previous year. He was quite nice and even bought Sean and I a small bottle of wine. The wine tasted like licking a toilet but hey it's the thought that counts, right?

After 12-13 excruciating hours we finally made it to Narita Internaional Airport...