The semester finally, Finally, ended this month. What a ride. Those last couple weeks were crazy and super busy. I finished up my Japanese class in a rush and received an A+ for my effort. Woo! I'm sure I did well in my other classes too. Success! Though I'm hoping I'll be able to take my experiences this semester to be better prepared for the next one. I'm thinking I'd like to take more Japanese language classes, and perhaps start getting some ideas for my Capstone...
The last week of the semester also saw the culmination of a project I'd been working on for a while. It stemmed from the special Global Communication course that met four times. Here's the gist: Okayama University has been named a "Global University" by the Japanese government, and will be receiving a grant to aid in efforts to become more global. So, as a class, we came up with a Global Resolution, with Student ideas and perspectives on how to make Okayama University more global. In Japan, it's unusual for University administration to ask students for feedback on University policy, so it was extra important to be able to put our voices forward as Japanese and International students. I was a part of a small group of students that continually met up after the class was over to edit the document. In the last week of school, this small group of students presented the Resolution to the president of Okayama University. It was a bit nerve-wracking; I ended up being the one to explain the Resolution (my nervousness made me speak a little too quickly, bleh). However, it went very well! Hopefully some of our ideas will be considered and implemented. It was also pleasing that the teachers facilitating the project were impressed with my critical thinking and overall performance. I loved working on it, and I found the whole thing to be a really great opportunity! It's also great because now I can officially say I am a "Certified in Global Communication", hehe. After this experience, I hope I can be involved in similar ventures in the future. I'm thinking of trying to get together a team next semester to attend a Model UN conference; I think it would be pretty cool and a great experience. I've been feeling a bit blah, but slowly recharging as break goes on. I now have two jobs as an English teacher over break (not L-Cafe, it's closed). One is more frequent, but pays less, and another is work for the prefectural police department of Okayama! The police one pays really extraordinarily well, though I only work a couple hours on Tuesdays. Eventually, my teaching partner and I will help translate documents to English that will them be disseminated and used throughout the prefecture, wow. It would be nice to have a true break with nothing I have to do, but I value the money and experience I can gain, and I still have days when I don't work. As far as traveling goes, I went to Kobe twice in February. Once was a one day school trip the last week of the semester, the other was a vacation after the semester ended. The school trip was for my class "Globalizing Japan: Society and Culture from a Multicultural Perspective." We went to Nankinmachi and visited Harbor Land. It was fun, but it was a bit difficult to do the anthropological research we were supposed to be doing -- everybody was too busy to really talk to us. The vacation was pretty great, I went with my UK friend Sally to experience the Spring Festival (Lunar New Year Festival) in Nankinmachi. We stayed for two nights and explored Harbor Land, found some super cool escalators, saw Chinese Lion Dance and a unique string instrument quartet performance, and traveled about on the City Loop bus seeing the sites of the city. Obviously, we didn't get to do everything, but it was a pretty great time. Our hotel was a "romantic" hotel, which was funny for the two of us, but it had some great perks, like free bread and an awesome shower. However, it was quite far from Kobe's downtown, so we had to go through some walking shenanigans to avoid taking the expensive taxi ride to and from the nearest train station to many times. It all worked out in the end though. The day after coming back from Kobe, I went with another friend to see the Naked Man Festival! This festival in Okayama Prefecture is on of the rarest and most unique festivals in Japan. The culmination of the festival includes nine to ten thousand partially naked men (they were traditional loin clothes to cover their genitals), fighting in the freezing cold (it was raining!) for these sacred sticks thrown into the crowd by a priest of Saidaiji temple. The man who capture the lucky stick and shoves it into a special area is the lucky man, and happiness is supposed to follow him for the rest of the year. It's a rather violent affair, and emergency services are on hand to deal with any injuries, I've even heard that it's not uncommon for a death to happen. It was a site, though the fight was shorter than I thought it would be. Before the fight, there were fireworks over the river, partially naked boys (and girls) marching around the temple in a show of devotion, and of course, festival stalls. My friend and I had a good, if cold, time (though we waited in the watching area for several hours to ensure we had a good spot to see everything, that was a bit boring). The festival ran really late, which ensured we arrived back at the dorms around 12 in very tired states. I also discovered I missed Reservation Days for housing next year. Yay. Now I don't know where I'm going to live when I get back. Hopefully something can be worked out with on campus housing. In happier news, February is the month of my and my boyfriend's anniversary! We've been together one year. It's been tough being apart, but he's been really great and supportive throughout my time here. I love him a bunch and I'm excited to be celebrating together this weekend with Pocky, mutual movie watching, and game playing over Skype!
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January has been something of a looong month. It began with New Year's and wound down with almost the end of the semester. As I write this, I only have about two weeks left before spring break begins.
I've been pretty busy with homework and final papers and presentations, and also a final trip to Hiroshima with Study of Japan! We visited Miyajima, which was beautiful, and the Peace Park and Museum. The Park was very pleasant, but the museum was devastating. I cried my way through reading about how people had died and suffered when the Atomic bomb was dropped. I chose to stay the night, and two French girls and I stayed at a cheap hostel before meeting with everybody else in the morning. It was my first time at a hostel, kinda meh and a bit dirty, but it was alright. On the second day we visited Yamato museum, a WWII naval museum dedicated to the largest and best ship Japan built (which was sunk before it could do anything), and then what I liked to call Bunny Island. The island used to house a poison gas factory, and when the factory was dismantled they released a bunch of bunnies onto the island to check and make sure it was safe for humans again. The bunnies didn't die, they bred. There are thousands of rabbits on the island that will come up to you for food. There is also a poison gas museum on the island, detailing the suffering of the workers. It was interesting and a bit bothersome to note that the museum completely glossed over how and where the poison gas was used during the war and what those victims suffered, but it's sort of a theme I've noticed in Japan, the ignoring of past atrocities they have committed. I had a teacher tell me that it was because Japan still hasn't gotten over the war. Anyway, the poison gas museum and the A-bomb museum were both pretty horrifyingly graphic; at least I didn't have nightmares afterwards. After the trip it was more papers and more presentations. I'll be glad of the break for sure! I'm hoping I can travel a bit too! And spend some time learning interesting things. |
AuthorHatty is a CSUMB student. Archives
October 2015
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