I think when I leave Japan in a year, I may miss my friends and food here, but as of right now, I cannot stop thinking about the Hawaiian food such as lomi lomi salmon, meat jun, saimin, and poke. I definitely want to move from Hawaii, but it is sad to know that there is something that I will miss about that place as well.
In order to deal with my culture shock, I have kept myself busy. About a week ago I got to sign up for a community service event for the school and meet with some of the survivors from the
2011
TÅhoku earthquake and tsunami. I did not ask them about their experiences from
the earthquake, but I tried to play with some of the little kids and practice
speaking Japanese with the elders. In addition, I gave them candy from Hawaii to the
survivors.
Even though my Japanese was very limited, the old people were very patient,
and were happy to meet the international and full-time students. I tried to
talk to the old people about their personal lives and mention facts about
Hawaii. As for the children, I tried to make origami for them. After talking to
some of the old people, this old lady gave me this key-chain that
resembled a pair of slippers. It was very thoughtful of her and I am happy that
I got to meet these people.
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| My friend posing with the Japanese ladies |
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| A gift that was given to me by one of the ladies I spoke with |
Getting to the castle was slightly difficult because we had to
walk a lot of stairs and climb a mountain. My Filipino friend had to
rest while me and my other friend explored the castle. The castle showed
several models of medieval Japan and contained many ancient artifacts. At
the top of the castle, my friend and I could see a view of Akita City, and
enjoy the vast scenery that Akita has to offer.
On the way back to the bus stop for the shuttle at Akita city, my
friend and me spent an hour trying to find my Filipino friend. He was not at
the place we left him nor did he have a cellphone so we tried to walk around
the mountain. We made jokes about him getting kidnapped, but we were confident
that even if we could not find him, he would be able to figure out how to get
back to the university. Thankfully we found him near the castle and the three
of us were able to return to the university safely.
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| Akita City from above |
At the university, my two friends and I met with some of our other
friends and celebrated the second half of my birthday that was canceled because
of my friends' bicycle accident the week before. It was a small party, and some
of my friend had cooked foods from their own culture, so I got to try both
Mexican and Taiwanese food.
The food was delicious and despite being limited on
utensils, everyone had a fun time. At the party, we talked about the norms from
the different cultures such as Hawaiian pidgin and Taiwanese
swear foods. In addition, we got to Skype with our friends and family from all
over the food.
After most of my friends left, two of the girls slept in my roommate's and my room for the night. It was too dark and too late for them to return to the dormitories by themselves so my roommate and me allowed them to sleep in our room. I let one of the girls sleep in my bed while I slept on the floor for the first time. Sleeping on the floor was not that bad because I had lots of blankets and the room was not that hot.
The following day I did homework, and the rest of the week I focused mainly on my studies. At the end of the week, my friend from the University of Hawaii showed me the bicycle path from Akita International University to AEON mall but I got lost trying to return by myself so he had to help me get my bicycle back from AEON mall to AIU. The bicycle path from AEON mall to AIU is pretty beautiful, and I got to pass by plenty of rice fields and ponds nearby. I am hoping to get a few pictures the next time I take the bicycle path, but regardless I am happy I bought a bicycle.
