Cafes and More!

    Hi everyone, thank you so much for reading my last posts, I love reading all your comments. I feel like I'm settling in a bit into Japan, but I don't really have a routine yet because I haven't started school yet. I'm going to talk about Orientation, administrative stuff, Cafes, and what it is like to be living in an international dorm. 

Cafes

One thing I've been doing recently is visiting a bunch of different Cafes. Kyoto is known for their amazing Cafes, and I suspect I won't be able to visit all of the ones I want to in these two years because there are so many. Cafe's in Japan usually do not have an option for a to-go order, and it is not common for people to walk around and drink or eat anything, you have to sit down and enjoy your meal. 

Wonder Cafe

This is my favorite Cafe I've visited so far, and it is only a ten minute walk away from my dorm. It has so many books, trinkets, and posters all over the wall. I ordered french toast and Ochya (green tea). The french toast was the best piece of french toast I've eaten in my entire life, it was covered in white fluffy whipped cream, and it was so hot and fresh it burnt my mouth when I had my first bite. I don't really know how to describe wonder cafe so I am just going to insert a ton of pictures. 

The bathroom upstairs was so cool!

Husband and Wife Cafe

I got the idea to go here from a tv show that my dad made our entire family watch before I left to go to Japan called Somebody Feed Phil. In the tv show Phil went to this cafe and had high praise for it. I wanted to go inside the cafe, but you have to make a reservation and there were none available for inside dining. However, there was an option to get a picnic set and eat outside, so that is what my friend and I decided to do. Overall it was a little pricey for the reservation you had to make, tatami mat you had to purchase for the picnic. The coffee and biscuits they gave us were good, but I am unlikely to go here again unless it is with my family and they pay for it instead of me. 

                                                                  outside of the cafe

           The place designated for the picnic was absolutely gorgeous and made the experience worth it (also I swear that the glass I'm holding is coffee without any sugar or creamer in it yet not wine)

                                                    absolutely gorgeous view during the picnic

Musik

This was recommended to me by a friend, and I recognized it on my way back from school orientation randomly. It is a small cafe, with seating for about 15 people if you really packed everyone in there maybe. The entire menu was in Japanese, and no one in there spoke english. I ordered tea and pizza toast, all in Japanese, and when he told me the price I remembered the Japanese numbers and paid the correct amount. When he told me I had paid the right amount I said loudly "yesss!" because I was excited I got it right and everyone in the cafe stared at me. The cafe is known for music, it has two giant boom boxes, records, C.D. players, and thousands of different types of music related items everywhere. While I was drinking my tea, I heard a man talk with the owner about the record that was currently playing out loud (it was some classical music). They both seemed very passionate about music. On the menu the one thing in english was a notice that you can bring in any C.D. or record and they will play it out loud in the store. I didn't hear any pop or hip hop while I was there, but I am tempted to bring in a C.D. of Chappel Roan or Taylor Swift to switch up the vibe in the cafe one time. I didn't take any pictures while I was there so I am going to insert some of the images I found on their website of the cafe. 

Administrative Stuff

    When you move to Japan, there are a lot of administrative things you have to do. I went to the Kita Ward office to get a residence card stamped (it similar to a drivers license in the U.S.), and an insurance card. Two of our RMs (Residence Managers), (they are similar to RAs in the U.S), took a group of five of use to the ward office. It has similar vibes as a DMV in the U.S., except people are nicer. It took around 2 and a half ours of waiting and filling out forms to get everything done. When I turn 20 I have to go back there and register for the national pension plan (which is kind of like social security in the U.S), but then I have to give them proof that I'm a student so I can be exempt from paying for it each month. I also had to go to the post office, to make an appointment for getting a Japanese bank account, which I will do next week. The first week I was here I had to go to a Japanese bank and pay for my rent, including a hefty security deposit. I didn't really know what was happening, but a banker was pointing to which buttons I needed to press on a machine and then I put the money in. Afterwards I talked with one of my friends about how easy it would be for a banker or any person to completely scam us and we would have no idea. Luckily people in Japan are very nice and helpful, most of the time when I fill out forms I have no idea what I am signing or pressing. I also made my first big purchase here, and got a bike! It is pronouced Jitenshya here, and I would say that there are about as many bikes as there are cars here. Bikes are kind of treated like cars here, you have to get insurance, register them with your housing facility, and if you park them in places they aren't supposed to be they can actually get towed. You also get fined a bunch of money if you listen to music or go on your phone while riding a bike. 

Orientation

I had orientation for school last week which it was very informative and a little overwhelming. I haven't been in school since early May, and this is currently the longest stretch of summer break I've ever had. Sitting down at a desk and listening to a teacher talk was something that I had to readjust to again. The first day of orientation we went over how to register for our classes, got our student IDs, and went over Ritsumeikan's absence policy, which is that if you miss 5 days of the same class you automatically fail that class. We also learned who our academic advisors are, and how to join the university CO-OP that gives you fire insurance for your dorm and gives you a student discount of 10% when you go to certain stores. The second day of Orientation we got tours of both of the libraries at Ritsumeikan. The main library is beautiful, it was built in 2016, and has state of the art technology in it. We also had a earthquake/fire drill at my dorm, which was very interesting. For the earthquake drill our manager came over the loud speaker and announced that there was an earthquake and instructed us to go under our desks in our room. For the fire drill, alarms went off in the entire building and we went out the fire escape stairs on the side of the building. We then got a safety lecture, that ended with us practicing how to use fire extinguishers. They filled them up with water and we had to shoot the water at some cones. 

Living in an International Dorm

    Living in an international dorm has been such an amazing experience so far. I've met people from all over the world, with so many different perspectives on life. When I talk to people we share different cultural insights, and contrast our schooling, languages, customs, and share different foods and recipes. We all have one thing in common, which is trying to figure out how to fit into Japanese society and customs. I've met people from Germany, France, England, Indonesia, Myanmar, Thailand, Australia, Spain, Korea, and so many more countries. 

    I'm starting to become friends with a girl from Myanmar, which if you didn't know is going through a very violent military coup. She has shared so many sad and horrific stories with me about living in a military dictatorship, and how her family isn't very safe right now. She is one of the strongest and smartest people I know, she actually learned English through youtube, the BBC, and some online classes. She mentioned to me that she does traditional Burmese dancing, and I told her that I used to do Irish dancing, so we are going to teach each other how to do these traditional dances soon. 

     One downside to living in an International Dorm is that it is very easy to stay with only international students and not branch out and make friends with Japanese people. So to combat this, I had my friend who is better at Japanese than me help me craft an email in Japanese to send to the Hiking Club. I may not be able to communicate with them super well for the first couple months, but I don't really need to know how to speak Japanese to follow people up a mountain. 

Here are some miscellaneous pictures I wanted to share as well:

                                                         My friends and I at Osaka Castle

                                                                    Downtown Osaka

                                                                      Beautiful sunset

The most delicious, scrumptious, mouthwatering meal I've had here yet (Nepali Nan with Chicken Curry)

Living in Japan

      These past couple days have been a whirlwind. Japan is a combination of things I've heard, and things that I did not expect.

   

1. THE FOOD!

    Japanese food is insane. First off it is cheap, I went to a relatively nice restaurant and got a full meal for about $6. The food is very good quality, you can taste every flavor on your tongue. A lot of the time I don't really know what I'm buying and rely on pictures to chose what I want to eat. I can tell that the food I'm eating isn't filled with processed corn syrup, food dye that gives you cancer, and preservatives. The restaurants are tiny, seating about ten people on average, and there is a very chill, welcoming atmosphere. Ordering can be daunting, especially if you have questions about the food or special requests for your meal. The 7/11 down the street from my dorm has amazing snacks, chilled meals, frozen meals, ice-cream, drinks, and other things that make it like a convenience store. I've gone into that 7/11 at least once a day if not more to buy food or other things for my dorm. 

                                                           Chicken and Vegetable Curry

                   Soba (you are supposed to take the noodles a little bit at a time and put them in the broth)

Asahi Mori (bottom) and Beef Intestines (top) (this is raw and then we cooked everything on a grill on the table)

2. The People

          The people in Japan are incredibly kind and courteous. Some can be weary of foreigners or Gaijin, which means round-eyed person in Japanese, and is kind of slang for a foreigner. It can be compared to the slang gringo in Spanish. Japanese people are so patient with me when I am trying to figure out how to order food at a restaurant, or buy things at a store. They all know varying levels of English, but usually not much, so I'll try and use as much Japanese as I can, and then fill in the rest with english and see if they can understand. 

    I do not understand a lot of the unspoken rules in Japan. For example there are tables in stores after you buy things where you take your cart and the  unopened grocery bags they gave you and set everything on the tables and put things into the bags. As an American, I expected the cashier to put all of my merchandise into the bag so when they handed me everything back I fumbled and started trying to put everything in the bags at the counter (holding up the line behind me) and the cashier motioned me to bring my stuff to the table on the other side of the register. I do notice that I am being stared at a lot more here, and sometimes I think it is because I have something in my teeth, or my hair looks crazy, but I have to remind myself that it is just because I look a bit different than everyone else. They also say thank you after every single interaction, and you are expected to say it back as well. When you leave a store or resturant they say arigatogozaimas (thank you very much), and then you can give a little bow if you really want to be respectful and say it back to them. 

     I've also crashed into three different four foot tall really old Japanese ladies in stores because they aren't in my line of sight. They are so quiet it feels like they almost sneak up behind me and then when I turn around I don't see them and crash into them. I don't have great spacial awareness to start but I need to start making a habit of looking down a bit more when I am walking around here. 

3. The Sights

    I haven't done a ton of sight seeing in Japan because I've have to do all the administrative paperwork and tasks that come with moving to another country. I've also had to go shopping for things like pillows (which I STILL haven't found) I'm just using folded up sweatshirts right now, organizers for all my stuff for my room, shampoo, conditioner, and hangers just to name a few. Shopping in another country is pretty difficult and time consuming when you can't read any of the labels or signs in the store.  

    I was able to do some sight seeing yesterday with two of my friends, and it was amazing. We went to the historic neighborhood of Gion, where Geishas used to be. There was a huge market, and we also walked down a skinny street lined with traditional houses and businesses, with lots of little alleyways. The thing that struck me as really interesting was seeing 2,000 year old temples nestled between a Starbucks and a clothing store. 

    Even walking to the local 7/11 to get dinner right now is considered sightseeing for me because everything just looks so different. Every sight, sound, taste, touch, and smell is so different than home. Which can be very overwhelming. I am physically exhausted after everyday from the amount of walking that we do, but also mentally exhausted from all of the language translation and new things that I am seeing everyday. 

                                                             Temple in downtown Kyoto

                                                               Historic street in Gion

                                                                     Market in Kyoto

                                               Very overstimulating store called Don Quijote

                                     View of the city from the top floor of Kyoto Train Station

I made it!

     Hi everyone! I wanted to update you all on my journey to Japan. Although stressful, I am finally in my bed at my university dorm, called Taishogun. 

     My first flight was 13 hours long, it was from Chicago to Tokyo. My mom somehow convinced airport security to allow my entire family to walk with me to my gate, so they all got to say bye to me right before I got onto my flight. I’m grateful they were allowed to go through security and be with me until right before I left. I had my friend Ruby with me on the flight, and we helped each other not go crazy from flying for that long. We played card games, talked and watched some movies together. 

    When we landed, we were told that we had to go through customs in the airport, and pick up and then re-check our bags. This would have been fine if our connecting flight wasn’t leaving in 2 hours. We wrongly assumed that our luggage would be taken to our next flight and that we would go through customs when we landed in Osaka. We basically ran to customs, and then waiting in (what seemed like at the time) a super long line for a long time. During our waiting time in the line, someone in front of us unfortunately had a heart attack, and airport personnel were performing CPR and shocking him with AED paddles. This was extremely upsetting and coupled with the fact that we didn’t know if we were going to miss our flight made the situation very stressful. We don’t know if he made it, they were going CPR mixed with shocks from the AED for at least 20-30 minutes before we were out of line and had gotten through customs. I’m praying for him and his family, and also praise the airport staff for working so quickly and efficiently to administer aid and still manage to keep the line in customs moving. When we arrived to re-check in our bags again we were sweaty from running through the airport with our heavy bags, and so sleep deprived we probably looked insane. We managed to make our flight because it was delayed by an hour, and after not sleeping for 15 hours straight, and it being 4 A.M. in our home country’s time, we sat down in our seats. 

After we landed we dropped off our luggage at the airport hotel and got dinner at a restaurant inside the airport. We ate Tonpei-Yaki (pork, egg, and green onion). Which was delicious! 

Our hotel was small but very nice and we were so exhausted from traveling for almost 20 hours straight that we fell asleep almost instantly. 

In the morning we got on a bus that took us to Kyoto, and then a taxi that took us to our dorm. My dorm is very nice, and everything is new and updated. I was lucky enough to be placed on the fourth floor (top floor), with a beautiful view, additionally my floor is female only. 

(View from my window)

If you got this far thanks for reading! I will post some more pictures of Kyoto as I explore it and talk about the culture. I’ll also get into how I manage to get around in a country where I don’t speak the language super well yet, and register for the things like health insurance, bank account, and registering my address at a government building.