Photos

More pictures, as promised!

Kobe
Osaka Jo

Picnic photos aren't working...I'll keep trying to get it to and then put them up! :)

March 30th

I know, I know. That's about the most creative title in the history of blogging.

Yesterday = Bad Day. Today = Better Day. Stupid Elevator.

I get a visitor! My Mommy is coming to visit me, in May! Someone to talk to, giggle with, and a real hug! I haven't had any actual human contact in 2.5 months. No hugs, nothing. Not really even handshakes, because they bow, here! I never thought about it in Canada, but I've noticed it, here. Strange. Anyways - I'm excited for her to visit! It will be nice to see someone familiar again, especially my Mom, and I think, scratch that, know! we'll have a lot of fun!! :) :) Nothing makes an elevator move up faster than good news!

This morning I got up to meet my coworkers to enjoy the famous Cherry Blossoms & a BBQ. I briefly considered crawling back into my nice, warm, comfortable bed, because the sky was the color of a rat, and looked upset. But I figured that until I heard that we weren't going, I'd go! And we did go.

We picked up some food at the supermarket (random meat, seafood, snacks, drinks), and met the rest of the group in the Expo '70 Commemorative Park. There's a (massive) 'art' statue in the front...



We had a BBQ, Japanese style (grill in the middle of the table). The food was a mix of random meat and vegetables, just thrown on the grill, dipped in BBQ sauce, and eaten. It was delicious.



However, when I say random, I do mean random. I tried chicken heart, liver, and stomach. Yep, that's what I said. They thought my reaction was pretty funny, because I thought it was pretty strange. But I tried it - it tasted fine, but had a funny texture. Especially the liver. Oh, and I could see the aorta - the AORTA - coming out of the heart. That threw me.



After the BBQ, we snapped some group shots in the pouring rain, and some of us visited the Japanese garden anyways. The cherry blossoms were beautiful, the tulips were starting to bloom, and the landscape in the garden was amazing. I am definitely going back (hopefully not in the pouring rain!). Pre-Garden-walking, we watched a Bunraku (traditional Japanese puppetry) show. And participated. At least, I did. They wanted a volunteer, and the other members of my group volunteered Yamashita-San (much to his giggling and dismay). I thought it was funny - but he grabbed my hand and pulled me up with him!! Normally, I wouldn't care. But all I could think was, "Oh my goodness. I neither speak or understand Japanese. What was he thinking?!" With some translating help from him, I managed to say my line into the microphone. I think we were supposed to be acting, but I don't really know. Everyone clapped, they asked (of course), where I was from and how I liked Japan. It was funny.

Partway through the walk, we stopped for traditional Japanese tea! (Suzanne, I'm glad you warned me!) The tea was dark green, foamy, and really bitter, especially the last sip! Fortunately, I like green tea and I like it plain and strong - so it wasn't too bad for me. We also had a sweet treat that was made from beans - so yummy!



I know I always say it, but it was a lot of fun to socialize again. I may come back to Canada socially inept, since my social events here are so few and far between. But, I will be good at crocheting (yes, still obsessed. can't stop. must crochet, more, more, more.)

On another note - fortunately: I will get some more social time, kind of. unfortunately: I will lose my privacy & therefore freedom to internet surf during work hours (I know, I shouldn't be doing it in the first place.) My office room is being used for something else, so Takemori-San and I are moving upstairs to where everyone else.

That's it for today, folks. Except I finally got some pictures up...links below! More to come tomorrow.

Osaka Bay PS - This day was infinite fun with balloon creatures!!
Sumo
Coop Goodbye Dinner
Kobe - Coming Soon!
Osaka Jo (Castle) - Coming Soon!
Cherry Blossom Picnic/Expo 70 Park - Coming Soon!

Connection Is A Wonderful Thing

Today was subarashii (superb)! I stopped in the morning to pick up my Alien Registration card, then met my boss at Osaka Station. We got me a phone which took a while, but we got 'er done! I have a fancy new phone (photos below...) I can even watch TV on it! I did some more 'food' experiments, then sat through a meeting about the chemical heat pump. It was both a little bit boring and a little bit frustrating - the first part was in English (for my benefit), but the discussion was all in Japanese. I can generally tell the topic of conversation, but not what they're saying about it. After work, I headed home to see...and...

YES!!! I have internet! I was so happy - I couldn't believe it finally happened. Now I'm busy catching up on the news, emailing and Facebooking people, doing some research! It's great to be connected to the world again - both through the internet and the phone.

I was asked today what the most difficult thing to deal with has been. There are two - one has been lonliness, and the other has been how difficult it is to communicate! It's great to be able to use the internet and phone to facilitate that communication again!

January 23rd

I had my first Japanese lesson today, with Ego-San. Oh, speaking of names…the guy who I called ‘M’ is actually Yoda-San (I don’t know his first name, it might start with M). The other friend I go to work wit his Maurita-San. I don’t know if I’m spelling their names right, I’m just spelling them how they sound to me. Ego-San (Nihongo Sensei, Japanese Teacher) edited my Japanese introduction for my presentation on Friday. I was surprised – there were relatively few and minor changes, and she said it was very good. I’m better at writing in Japanese than I thought! The hardest part of learning a new language is recognizing it when other people say it. I can learn to write it and to say it, but when people speak, everyone speaks in different tones and speeds, so words sound very different from one person to another. That will take the most practice. I think my 3 minute Japanese intro will be shorter than 3 minutes, but I’m not about to try and change it now. I’m just going to work on perfect pronunciation of what I have, speak slowly, and enunciate.
There are a couple things that are everywhere, in Japan. And by everywhere, I mean within 100 metres of each other. These things are: drink vending machines, cigarette vending machines, and ‘Pachinko & Slot’ facilities. The legal age for cigarettes is 18 or 20 or something like that, but the vending machines are everywhere, with no restrictions. Apparently Japanese kids aren’t rebellious and don’t buy things they’re not supposed to… The number of Pachinko & Slot (gambling places) makes me wonder how anyone in Japan has any money. They’re everywhere! That’s it for Japan details today…I got caught up in studying again, and I should have been in bed 10 minutes ago. Speaking of studying – I’m learning! I can recognize most Hiragana & Katakana characters. Now I just have to learn the words…when I recognize the characters, I can put a word together, for instance: ‘mi-ru-ku’. But then I need to remember that miruku is ‘milk’ in Japanese. So it’s still difficult to read. Oh!! Also…I got my ‘inkan’ today! Inkan is a small stamp that is equal to a signature. Mine has three Kanji (Japanese Chinese characters) on it – for ‘Su-Te-Hane’…the translation of my name. The characters mean ‘Red-Heaven-Feather’. It’s so neat! It comes in a little case with it’s own small stamp pad. It will be one of my favorite souvenirs from Japan, I think. That’s it for now…good night! :)

January 21st

I got so caught up in learning Japanese, it’s bedtime and I forgot to blog! I also realized, on my adventure home today, that I’ve been writing mostly about how I’m feeling instead of what it’s like here. It would probably be a lot more interesting to read about Japan, instead of the ramblings of Stephanie’s mind and heart. So here goes…details! But first, my adventure home…all went well until Tsurahashi, when I got on the wrong train – I just walked to the wrong platform because I wasn’t paying attention. It took me several stations to realize that none of the names sounded familiar. So I asked a woman, in broken Japanese, if this train was going to Yao station. My heart (and stomach) dropped when she started chattering in Japanese but was pointing back the way we came. I realized that – yes – I had gotten on the wrong train. I thanked her (that’s one thing I can and do quite proficiently) and got off at the next station. After another broken conversation with a man on a train, I found my way to the platform I needed to be at. I recognized a station name and knew I could go back to there and find my way from that point. Yay! The adventure ended well.
I live in a company dormitory – everyone who live here works for Osaka Gas. Osaka Gas is something like Terasen Gas – there are buildings and centers and labs all over the city. There is a woman’s section and men’s section, and the opposite sex is not allowed in the other section, at all. There are four other women in the dormitory – we are all on the same floor – the 3rd one. At the end of our floor is a bathroom (sinks & toilets). I think there’s another floor up above us that is empty. On the second floor is a TV room, a kitchen area with North American style tables, a bathroom/shower, a kitchen area with Japanese style tables, a bigger shower room, and laundry. On the main floor is the lobby area, the cafeteria, and the mysterious hallway leading to the men’s section of the dormitory. There are 95 men in the dormitory. Yoshida-san and (I think?) his wife run the dormitory. They’re a very kind couple that doesn’t speak English, but we make do between their random English words and my busted up Japanese. My room is a decent size – about the size of my room in Sparwood. I have a cot-type bed, a small shelving unit, a desk with a chair, two closets, and my own little entryway with some shoe shelves. There are also two overhead storage areas. The dormitory is right beside the road, and it’s very loud! I’m used to it now, but at first it drove me nuts. You can hear all the cars going by and everything that’s happening outside. The lobby area has a reception area, and the shoe area. When you enter the dormitory (or any Japanese home), you remove your shoes and put on slippers. There’s a compartment for each person to keep their shoes on. There’s also a message board (which I can’t read), but I did notice a sign that said ‘Welcome’ on it, with my name in Japanese, below. I get suppers at the cafeteria, on weekdays. On weekends and for mornings, I’m on my own. Usually, supper consists of a vegetable-type thing, a salad-type thing, a fish-type thing, rice, and miso soup. It’s all very good and I’m always starving when I get home from work. On weekends, I cook for myself, but I miss the Japanese dinners (they’re pretty yummy). For breakfast, I have toast with butter & tomato slices, a glass of milk, and yoghurt. The bread, milk, and yoghurt are slightly more expensive than I’m used to, but it’s worth it! The train station (Takayasu) is about a 5 minute walk from my house. From there, I can get anywhere in Japan, pretty much. There is a decent-sized grocery store within a 15 minute walk from my house, and several within 30 minutes. I’ve discovered that maps are infinitely useful and provide a universal language. I got Yoshida-san to draw me a map to a swimming pool. I think I found it, but you couldn’t see inside and it looked…special. It was all wooden and Japanese-looking (most things in the city aren’t actually what you would picture Japanese buildings looking like). I didn’t feel like trying to venture inside (it looked very closed), so I figured I’d leave it at that for the day. I’ll put some pictures up of my dormitory, to add to my brief descriptions. I’m off to bed now, more details will have to wait until tomorrow! Oh – and my presentation is now on Friday – ahhh!!







-Photos (in order):
*My dorm room - from the entrance and from the opposite side of the room.
*The main kitchen area I use...
*The Japanese-style table
*Bathroom area - you can't really tell, but the sinks are light pink! Cute.