(probably) Final Entry!

Hello all


Thank you everyone who's been reading my blog, no matter how rarely- it's so nice when you're in a far-away foreign country that people you love back home care enough about you to want to see what you're doing. Thank you!

I've been fairly busy recently since there's only a week left till I go home- I'm trying to do as much as I can! Yesterday I went souvenir shopping (due to luggage weight constrictions I haven't been able to get that many sorry!) and I found a Studio Ghibli merchandise store! For those of you who don't know, Studio Ghibli is a Japanese film company? or something that produce high-quality "anime" movies. Their works are very popular in the West and the most famous member of Studio Ghibli is none other than Hayao Miyazaki, maker of Spirited Away which won an Oscar.

Anyway I was like in love!- it was fairly expensive, but I love Hayao Miyazaki and all the merchandise I looked at had "only sold in Japan" written on it. As if I needed any more persuasion!

Today we had another house party which are always popular and I really enjoy. We were celebrating a Baha'i Holy Day, and also thought it might be a good opportunity for people who weren't able to come to my farewell party on Saturday to say goodbye to me. We had 19 people attend, which was the most there's been while I've been here- although apparently once 40 people turned up which I can't even imagine! Anyway, after using a couple of the quotes that were in Monday night's social night (This week's theme: Healing), I did a powerpoint presentation looking back on my 6 months in Japan. I was fairly nervous the last night and this morning, because (as those who know me know) public speaking isn't my favourite pasttime, and coupled with the fact that I had to do it in Japanese... Ha. Ha.
Anyway somehow I managed to get through it- and thankfully everyone seemed to enjoy it.

Afterwards, we had a "question time" about my presentation, and I was really impressed with the thoughtfulness of the questions that came up. Things like whether I'd experienced culture shock (no), whether I got homesick (not really), in more detail what were study circles like...

For the last question, I tried to emphasise how much I'd learned from all the other study circle participants' views- ie that it wasn't a "I know this, you don't and what I believe IS right" (haha), I found that by listening to what other people believed I was often like "Wow, that is so true!". I asked some of the study circle participants who were there today what they thought. A lady who is in Book 3 (Children's education) at the moment said she'd been thinking about study circles lately and realised that it's more group brainstorming than anything. ie Rather than there being a "teacher" who tells everyone what is "right" and what is "wrong", everyone says what they think- which is treated as important and really MAKES the group.

Anyway, I was thinking it might be nice to have a "welcome back" party or something when I get back and use a similar Powerpoint (about what I did when I was here and maybe also about Japan in general). I guess any kind of excuse to see my friends all together again :)


Japanese Culture

I thought on my (probably) last blog, I might talk a bit about Japanese culture. To me, Japanese and Western culture seem in many ways fairly opposite. Of course neither one is "good" or "bad", just different in many ways (and in some ways similar!). The differences between the 2 cultures to me come down to one central difference: GROUP vs INDIVIDUAL

Western culture to me seems to value the importance of the individual. This can be good (freedom of opinion, basically freedom to be different in any way) or bad (being too opinionated, not thinking of others or society, basically focusing on the self)

Japanese culture, instead seems to value the importance of the group. This can also be good (caring about others- even strangers, importance of unity) or bad (excessive conformity, not questioning what the group thinks & automatically thinking that)
I think the idea of unity in diversity is really important, ie having everyone in the world united, while still retaining their respective individual cultures. Treating the world as "one country" is really important, but to make everyone the same would make everything VERY boring!

Just like probably most other countries, culture in Japan varies markedly from place to place. While not nearly as pronounced as those in China, it has regional dialects, for example. The Tokyo dialect is chosen as "standard" Japanese used on TV and at school. This has lead to middle-aged and younger Japanese people's speech being fairly understandable throughout the country. Elderly people, like Obaa-chan (Osaka dialect) though, who grew up before TV are not so.
Every prefecture, city, town... in Japan has it's specialty- Kagawa's being udon noodles for example. Wasanbon, a handmade specialty sugar, is also one- as is lacquerware.

Then just the way people act varies from place to place. Ando-san, who is originally from Yamaguchi prefecture on mainland Japan talks about the cultural differences between her and her husband's Shikokuan family and how that was sometimes a bit of a struggle. There's even a TV show here which goes to different places around Japan and highlights each one's interesting feature. My favourite example is Osaka. Osakan people are renowned for their sense of humour. The TV show had been told that if you went up to a random on the street in Osaka and mimed shooting them, they would fall down "dead". When I heard this, I thought it was the wildest stereotype I had ever heard, until I heard the rest. They actually went to Osaka and did it- and the person they did it to DID fall down "dead" hahaha.

The other one they did in Osaka was they went up to a stranger, carrying an inflatable world globe. They then asked him that they wanted to go to "... Park (in Osaka)" and would he show them where it was on the globe? HAHAHa! The guy they asked took them really seriously and proceeded to pretend to think seriously, then pointed in the vague area of Osaka on the globe. We could see his girlfriend in the background in hysterics.


I'm sure everyone reading this knows someone (or it may be yourself) who needs some form of healing in their life- whether physically or emotionally. I'll leave you with this prayer from our Monday night social night on "Healing":

Thy name is my healing, O my God, and remembrance of Thee is my remedy. Nearness to Thee is my hope, and love for thee is my companion. Thy mercy to me is my healing and my succour in both this world and the world to come. Thou, verily, art the All-Bountiful, the All-Knowing, the All-Wise.

-Baha'u'llah

Sonia

Final Weeks

Hello


It turns out my "eventful" week had its toll. Knowing my lovely, easily-exhausted body, I was barely surprised when I suddenly got dizzy and came down with a fever last week. In the interests of everyone's health, I stayed in bed the next morning. We were expecting several guests- some of them elderly, for the Feast and I thought they would be fine without receiving my germs.

Baha'is in each town gather every 19 days at the "Nineteen-Day Feast" to spiritually recharge and unite the community. It consists of 3 parts: spiritual (prayers and Sacred Writings are read), administrative consultation and socialising. The word "feast" refers to a "spiritual feast" rather than a mountain of food- if the host is only able to provide water, that's ok. Anyway, I always enjoy these gatherings so I was a bit annoyed at being sick. Mind you, being sociable when I'm not feeling well is not one of my strong points, so it was probably for the better!

Today I helped out teach English at the local primary school again. I really feel like I've got a relationship going with them now- I love them. One of the main reasons I wanted to help out with these classes is I really believe in the importance of meeting people from different cultural backgrounds. If I somehow manage to leave a good impression, this will hopefully stay with them for the rest of their lives, and help them to overcome any prejudices that may arise. At first I must admit, every Monday evening I would dread the next day and go to sleep not looking forward to it at all. But every time I see the kids, I feel so happy- they are just so insanely enthusiastic.

Last night, we had a social night. It was like aaaaargh... the best thing ever. Peter and Lacey, the Indian restaurant-couple and Mioko, a Japanese friend of ours, came- along with Ando-san, Andrew & Angela.

We first ate dinner together, then sat on the floor of the tatami room together and listened to Andrew play a beautiful song a friend had composed, on guitar. Then we listened as people read various prayers and quotations in English and Japanese, each based on the theme of "Contentment". While we were soaking up the spiritual atmosphere, Angela continued the theme by reading us a story from the life of Abdu'l Baha, the son of the Founder of the Baha'i Faith, who was renowned for his selflessness and love for others. What followed was one of my favourite parts of the night. Everyone shared what they thought contentment was, any thoughts they had relating to the concept at all, and any other Scriptures/poems anything they had. The thoughts that resulted were really touching and demonstrated the level of trust everyone there had for the environment. I gained a lot from what others shared. Peter and Lacey are Mormons, and although they didn't bring any Scriptures, they shared some orally with us which were really beautiful and really added a lot to the evening.

Then out came the guitars, and we all sang along together as Peter and Yuichi took turns playing. The funniest was definitely Yuichi's rendition of "We will rock you" (my request!)- complete with us all clapping out the rhythm as Yuichi yelled the whole song in this unbelievably entertaining voice. Peter is an amazing singer and really gave it his all everytime he sung. At the end of the evening, I think I can speak on behalf of everyone when I say I was extremely refreshed and felt... content :D. Andrew and Angela want to have one every week, and I was thinking it'd be nice to have one when I go back home. There's already regular get-togethers like this in the community I'm from, but there's something about doing it yourself, that control... we'll see. I'm already excited haha.

Here's a prayer that was shared last night, revealed by Abdu'l Baha:

"O God! Refresh and gladden my spirit. Purify my heart. Illumine my powers. I lay all my affairs in Thy hand. Thou art my Guide and my Refuge. I will no longer be sorrowful and grieved; I will be a happy and joyful being. O God! I will no longer be full of anxiety, nor will I let trouble harass me. I will not dwell on the unpleasant things of life. O God! Thou art more friend to me than I am to myself. I dedicate myself to Thee, O Lord."

Sonia

An Eventful Week

Hello once again


We had another guest this week, this time- Cathy's cousin, Skye, who grew up in Australia. She's currently living in Tokyo with her husband while he works on his PhD thesis in anthropology. Skye originally came to Japan for a year as a 15 yr old on exchange- and if she adds up all the times she's been here, she says its probably about 6 years. Her Japanese, as you would expect, is amazing. Skye is a professional journalist and photographer, which I also found interesting as I enjoy taking photos too.

The other day, I went out bowling with Andrew, Angela and Ando-san. I think out of all of us, I had been bowling the most recently which was probably about 3 or 4 years ago. Anyway, it was hugely fun- we all got really into it (jumping up and down and yelling in support of each other, clapping enthusiastically even when one of us got zero...).

Andrew and Angela were interviewed today for the same segment in the newspaper that I was in a few months ago. The section is designed to give Japanese people an insight into "the lives of foreigners". This particular segment is going to be about what movies Andrew and Angela enjoy. It was fun for me though, because I sat in and *tried* to interpret what everyone was saying, which at times was particularly difficult.

The weather is continuing to get worse and worse- this week is going to be 31 like everyday and HUMID. It's worst when you are wearing jeans, a hat and a jacket- for sun and mosquito protection - and cycling. You get so sweaty that Japanese people carry mini-towels around with them in summer, to wipe themselves off before a meeting. To be fair, I don't mind the current weather too much, it's more the knowledge that it is going to become significantly even hotter that I find difficult. I have a newfound respect for my uncle, who, whether its 42 degrees or 8 degrees, cycles to work from the outer suburbs of Melbourne into the city everyday.

We went to the orphanage again with Nahid yesterday to give the children "virtues education" (lexically-dense explanation?). This time, Ando-san and Angela also came with us. This month's theme was "love". The kids are all between 1 and 5, and for being so young I was really impressed by how well they listened, and how well-mannered they were.
We read the first part of the following quote together, then the children coloured in a picture of a rose:

"In the garden of thy heart plant naught but the rose of love,

and from the nightingale of affection and desire loosen not thy hold"

- Baha'u'llah

Once again, if people want to comment or email me, have any questions, opinions or anything about what I'm doing and my blogs- feel free!

Love from Japan,

Sonia

Culture Shock

Hello

Last night, I went out to an Indian restaurant for dinner with Andrew & Angela, and another American couple they work with. Just the idea of going out to Indian in Japan I found very novel. While we were there, Peter (other man) asked us all "What would you take back to America from Japan?". Answers were interesting- the garbage system* (see below), public baths, urban agriculture, the public transport system, Japanese people's hospitality & consideration for others. I think a couple of them may be going through some form of culture shock at the moment, so I think it was a smart question to ask.

"Let your vision be world embracing"

- Baha'u'llah

Culture Shock Phases

Andrew googled "culture shock" the other night, and was really interested by the different phases within it. I thought people might find them interesting (courtesy of Wikipedia as usual!):

1. Honeymoon Phase- Differences between old and new are seen in a romantic light. (eg love new foods, peoples habits)

2. Negotiation Phase- After about a few weeks, differences between old and new become more apparent, and may cause anxiety. (eg miss food from home, find people's habits annoying)

3. Adjustment Phase - After about 6-12 months, one becomes used to new culture and things become more "normal". Host country no longer feels "new", become concerned with basic living again.

4. Reverse Culture Shock - Produces same results as above, but is often unexpected and therefore can be more difficult than standard culture shock.


Types of "International People"
(Thank you Wikipedia!)

1. Rejectors - Can't integrate into new society and form ghettos. May be perceived as hostile by general community, return to home country seen as escape. Ironically, this type also struggles with re-integration the most when they return home. 60% of expatriates are like this.

2. Adopters - Completely take on host culture and lose original identity. Remain in host country forever. 10% of expatriates are like this.

3. Cosmopolitans - Adapt parts of host culture they like, while retaining aspects of original culture. Able to return home, or relocate elsewhere with few problems. 30% of expatriates are like this.


Prevention/Coping Tips

Scared? Here's some tips I found for the international adventurer.

* Learn about the country & culture before your trip. This way, culture is more familiar and one is more aware of differences & how to deal with them. (eg study the language, reading about country)

* Avoiding offence (this is v. useful in life generally) - Try not to be offended, or offend locals. When I feel offended by what someone says, I take a deep breath, then try to understand the reason why the person said it. 90% of the time it's not intended to be hurtful.

* Being open-minded about culture - Try not to think "Why do they do it like this? In Australia, ...". It's simply different.

* Exercise, meditation, yoga etc are good ways of dealing with stress

* Socialise!

For other tips, see http://edweb.sdsu.edu/people/cGuanipa/cultshok.htm



Sonia



* In Japan, you have to divide your garbage into several categories - combustible, plastic, PET/aluminium, non-combustible, paper & cardboard. If I wasn't so lazy I might appreciate it more!

Guest

Hey

A few nights ago we had a very interesting man visit our house. He came to Takamatsu for Second Hand, to do a lecture at the local university about non-profit organisations. This man went to Iraq as a "human shield" at the start of the Iraq War, and as a result of that experience developed a love for Iraqi culture and its people.

In Japan, like in the West, the image many people receive of Middle-Eastern people is distorted, and our guest said that before he went to Iraq, he too was prejudiced. However, meeting the Iraqi people in person revolutionised his outlook. Apparently half of the Iraqi population is under 18 years old, and our guest really enjoyed the large number of children there.

As a result of this experience, he decided to start a charity which brings Iraqi artists to Japan, in an aim to transform Japanese people's view of Iraqi people, and to give them an opportunity to be exposed to such a different culture. He also started studying Arabic which I found amazing! His global perspective reminded me of this quote:

“The earth is but one country and mankind its citizens”

「地球は一つの国であり、人類はその市民である。」

Tomorrow night the children's class fathers and I finish the 1st workbook of the study circle sequence. I'm very excited. Because I've been involved with so many study circles (the majority of which are in the 1st workbook), I've done many sections of this workbook several times.

I've been particularly repeating parts from the 1st unit, which primarily deals with what kind of qualities we should strive to practise in our lives (eg truthfulness, kindness). I don't think you can repeat this enough though- if we all got to a stage where we could model these qualities more, you'd think the world would be a better place.
Here's a quote I particularly like, from the very first section of the workbook (below).
Every time I look at it, I feel like it keeps all my goals and actions directed towards "the betterment of the world".

"The betterment of the world can be accomplished through pure and goodly deeds, through commendable and seemly conduct."

「世の改善は清らかで立派な行いと、称賛に値する礼儀にかなった行動を通して達成できる。」

The weather's continuing to heat up here. At the moment, its averaging high-20's still, but the humidity makes everything a bit bothersome. It also makes me wonder how I'm going to transport my space-consuming ski jacket home, on the way here I wore it- but wearing a ski jacket when it's over 30 degrees and humid won't be pleasant.

My neighbourhood has been transformed into a land of emerald lakes with the flooding of the rice-fields. It's gorgeous.

Sonia

Ando-san!

Hello

Yesterday I had ICES again, the club for international students at Kagawa University. All the people there are so friendly- I love it.

Today Yuichi asked me to sell a book about local architects in an underground plaza from 1-5.30. It was extremely boring. At least I wasn't alone, there was a guy only a couple of years older than me who I was with, but our conversation didn't get very far. Also very few people came which didn't help, and I had no reading material.

In comes Ando-san, aka miracle-worker. She is such a generous, selfless person- and when she heard that I was selling books, she came to support me. Anyhow, she ended up staying from about 2 till we finished at 5.30, 3 and a half hours talking to the 2 of us and even going to Starbucks and bringing us back drinks from there. I love her.

Tonight me and Ando-san went to karaoke with a friend of mine from ICES called Shinya. One thing I love about Ando-san is that, despite her being slightly older than my mum, her energy and enthusiasm make her really fun to hang out with. I often forget that there is an age difference between us. Shinya also likes 70's music, and both him and Ando-san are really friendly, so even though they'd never met before, we all got along really well.

On Thursday, we had a study circle with friends of Cathy and Ando-san's. They recently began the 3rd workbook of 7 which study circles are based on. Book 3 focuses on children's education and its importance. These women are all mothers and quite a few of them are teachers, so its a topic close to their hearts.

The weather in Takamatsu is gradually heating up. At the moment, the average maximum is in the high 20's. They recently flooded all the rice paddies and planted fresh rice plants, which has brought with it an influx of mosquitoes. Today when I rode my bike to karaoke, I kept getting hit in the face by mosquitoes. They're everywhere. In the first week after the rice paddies being flooded, I made the mistake of going for a walk in a skirt- and my calves each were bitten no less than 10 times.

Summer is supposedly terrible here- over a month of the temperature not dipping below 30 degrees, even at night. Humidity, also is a problem. A maximum of 38 and humid, for weeks, is not my idea of a pleasant experience. A Japanese book I'm reading at the moment said that Japan's summer is worse than that of many places in the Middle East, chiefly because of the humidity.

I can't believe it's only a month and a half until I go home! I love Japan and am going to miss it, but being able to see all my friends and family again makes the idea of leaving Japan more happy than sad. And I'm determined to make an effort to maintain my Japanese (and even perhaps improve it!) after I go back, but with busy uni life whether that'll be possible or not I don't know.

I think reading though is really important- and reading in Japanese makes me appreciate even more the importance of children reading lots of books when young. It is so incredibly good for every aspect of my Japanese (it even helps my spoken Japanese) and for vocabularly learning and retention, that it makes me want to tell every parent read to your kids! I remember the fact that I read a lot as a kid really helping me at school.


Sonia

Many things...

Hello again



On Sunday I went to Sanuki Gakuen, an orphanage, with Nahid. Nahid is a Baha'i who has lived in Japan for 31 years. Her and her family lived in Takamatsu for a long time and now live in Kobe, a city about 2 hrs away, but come back occasionally.

Nahid was 18, the same age as me, when she and a friend decided to move from Iran to Japan to support the Baha'i community here. The very next year, 1979, there was a Revolution in Iran and the heightened persecution of Baha'is under the new regime meant that she was unable to return to her homeland. To this day, like many other Iranian Baha'is around the world, she has been unable to return.

The kids at the orphanage were beautiful- although it was fairly clear that they were love-deprived, by the way they were kept on wanting physical contact with us. I tried to just hug them as much as I could and give them as much love as I could. We were there to do a children's class with the kids like we do with other kids in Takamatsu, basically teaching them how to be a good person and nice to others etc. Steph, a really good friend of mine, wanted to work in an orphange when I left, and this made me think of her a lot.


Here's an excerpt from an old blog draft which I didn't end up publishing:

Yesterday I went to the local primary school to help out with the year 5's English classes. I was mainly there to demonstrate "proper" pronunciation, and I also did a veeeery simple self-introduction. There were 3 classes, and each one seemed to be more enthusiastic than the previous one. When I walked into the last classroom, I was mobbed with eager English students, and when the class started, almost half the class was leaning forward in their seats, eager to hear what I said. [end of excerpt]

Today I went to the primary school to help them again. The teachers there are amazing, and its such a great opportunity for me to sample Japanese school life. The kids are also lovely- the last class (so enthusiastic!) I did heads, shoulders, knees and toes with and it was the funnest time I've ever done it. The kids yelled each body part at the top of their lungs- everyone was so happy. Last week we taught them "My name is... Whats your name?" and this week was about likes and dislikes, and "How are you? I'm ..." We practised the likes and dislikes with different fruit (Do you like banana? Yes.) etc.

I've been emailing Genn and Sigourney, two former classmates of mine who are partway through a year-long exchange in Japan at the moment, quite a bit lately. We were talking about homesickness, which led to discussing happiness, and Genn kindly sent me this quote about happiness which I really liked:

"It is always your heart that decides whether you are happy or not"

"幸せはいつも自分の心が決める"

Apparently this quote was on Genn's family's calendar. I like this quote because it can be interpreted in so many ways. I like to take it in that happiness is an attitude, a state of mind; rather than a concrete destination, which to get to, requires certain things (eg boyfriend, own your own house etc)

We also had a youth group on Saturday. Recently, we've had quite a few new faces join the group, all of whom are in Year 5. I've been really impressed by the attitudes of these year 5's, they all seem really eager to help their community. These youth groups which are run by the Baha'is are a bit different from the general meaning of the term, and from other Baha'i activities. There is very little talk about religion, the word God only occasionally comes up in the workbooks (see below). They are more intended as a guiding hand for this difficult period, and to utilise the energy and enthusiasm young people have to make a difference to our world.

I especially like how these groups view young people in such a positive light. Sometimes I feel that the general image of young people is a bit negative (alcohol, drugs, image-focused etc), and that view certainly isn't very motivating. I guess everyone has the potential to do good and bad things.


"...It is during this period (youth) that the mind is most questing and that the spiritual values that will guide the person's future behaviour are adopted."

-Universal House of Justice

One of the main purposes of these youth groups is service projects; to as a group do things to contribute to our community. On Saturday we brainstormed "What is service?", "Why do service?", and "What kind of service do you want to do?". We then together read a story from a workbook specially designed for these groups, called "Walking the Straight Path". This particular story was about a king who meets an old man planting trees, despite the fact that due to his age, he wouldn't be able to taste the trees' fruit. The story highlights the importance of helping the environment for the sake of future generations. Each story in this particular book as a different "moral" though.

Because these stories are designed for 11-14 year olds all over the world, including areas where not everyone has access to education, the level of language is easy to understand. I was happy though, because it was good for my Japanese!


Sonia

Kimono Day

Hello

(note: I wrote this yesterday but because our internets been a bit dodgy lately, I couldnt post it- so the 'yesterdays' and 'todays' may be inaccurate but oh well)

I have blogworthy news! I'm excited. Yesterday, Nagano-san, the amazing woman who I went to Matsuyama with, dressed me and Angela in kimonos. ^^
The ability to dress others in kimonos is a dying trade. Usually when Japanese women wear kimonos (eg at graduation ceremonies, weddings etc), they get a professional to do it for them which costs a lot of money. So Nagano-san's gift to us was really special.

To do me and Angela's hair and put us in a kimono took a grand total of FOUR hours. I so admire Nagano-san, and also Ando-san who came to help out, for their concentration and patience. Poor Angela hadnt eaten breakfast that day, and once you're in kimono unless you feel like wrecking a $600 piece of clothing, it's better not to eat.

After finally getting us both looking lovely, it was suggested that me and Angela go somewhere with heaps of people, since we bothered to get dressed up, we should show ourselves off (was what they were thinking). The choice was between the local shrine, where noone ever goes, and Risturin Park (lots of people). Me and Angela, both being fairly shy, thought the idea of being blonde foreigners in KIMONOS in Risturin Park was a bit hard to take, but the adults were eager to show us off, which in the end I was grateful for.

On the way to the park, I kept praying over and over again in my head to ensure it would be ok. Getting out of the car, Angela was equally as terrified- while she said she was scared that all the Japanese people would think we were wanna-be Japanese people, I kept repeating "I want to die" out loud. Hahaha.

The whole time we were there, we were mobbed by cameras. It was actually ok though. We sat in the original house of the lord of the area on tatami mats, sipping green tea and overlooking a Zen garden and Japanese-style lake in kimonos. We both felt very Japanese. At one stage, as none of us had eaten for hours, Nagano and Ando-san bought us ICECREAM (kimono+ icecream = bad idea), before handing us facewashers to eat it with. It was incredibly stressful. But yummy. The whole time we had this amazingly helpful tour guide who was able to point out to us the best photo spots and give detailed explanations of the history of every place we went in the park. We took lots of photos with him in which was nice.

Before going, I had told Angela that I thought going to Ritsurin Park would be either one of those tests in life that actually ends up being really helpful, or... just testing. I am glad to say that it was the former one.

I think Nagano-san particularly enjoyed it, after all that time and effort involved in dressing us up, every time a stranger said (they're gorgeous!) , she glowed with pride. It made me very happy.

Today I went to a bookshop and bought 2 Japanese-language textbooks, designed as preparation for the main internationally-recognised Japanese language proficiency test. The level that I'm aiming for is being tested in July, but I thought that it would be too stressful for me (I would have to go insane insane insane with Japanese study), but I might do it in December. At any rate, getting to that level is a goal of mine. I also bought a Japanese children's book, called "Chocolate Wars".

I found it very frustrating trying to decide on a book- the ones for grade 3&4 kids were mostly hardcover and so too heavy, the grade 5&6 ones were all about fairies or teen love, neither of which I'm overly interested in! A lot of the chapter books were also too difficult, so I was happy. At the moment I'm still *slowly* getting through "No one's Perfect", the book I studied in Japanese Extension in high school, but because I've read the English 3 times already, its a bit hard to motivate myself to read.


Sonia!

Okayama

helloo


Today I went to Okayama, a city on mainland Japan, with Cathy, Yuichi and Obaa-chan to visit Yuichi's uncle and aunt. To get there, we had to cross the Seto-Ohashi Bridge, which Wikipedia tells me is the world's longest two-tiered bridge system (bridge with one lane on top of another one). Anyway, its pretty long, and was pretty exciting to cross.

Yuichi's uncle is his late father's younger brother. This uncle's parents died when he was 6 years old, and the aunt's when she was 3, which makes spending time with family even more important to them. Even with the current recession, modern Japan is nothing like the impoverished country it was before, during and for a while after World War 2.

They were such lovely people though. His uncle, who's now mostly retired, is also a beekeeper, and he took us to where he keeps his bees. But apparently lately the number of bees has decreased dramatically, which Yuichi's uncle attributed to the increasing use of agricultural chemicals, which harm the bees. Consequently, he hasn't been able to make any honey.

I was happy because on the 1.5 hr car drive there and back I sat next to Obaa-chan, and I found I was actually able to (mostly) have a conversation with her, despite her Osaka dialect which is really difficult to understand. I must admit I did still have to feign comprehension at some times, but until now I couldn't understand her at aaaall.

On Friday, I went out with ICES, the international club of Kagawa University. Pretty much the main reason I went was for the opportunity to interact with young people and as a "native English speaker" and also very obviously the only foreigner there, I was a bit of a magnet. Which I liked, cos I'm usually terrible with introducing myself to strangers. I'm going to miss the magnetising-effect of being a "native English speaker" when I go back home...
Anyway, we went to a nearby family restaurant and I sat with one guy who was pretty into learning English. And I must say I was pretty impressed by his ability and attitude, what I've found since coming here is that students can (apparently) write amazing essays in English but struggle to have a conversation. This is partly due to an education system in which there is a focus on exams, rather than using language as a communication tool, and that there is a fear of making a mistake (mind you before coming here I couldn't do either!). Confidence with learning a foreign language is pretty essential I think.

On Saturday we had the children's class, and the youth group. Its Golden Week at the moment, one week in which there's 3 public holidays, so many people just take the other 2 off work too and go on holidays. Because of this, we were only expecting 2 or 3 kids to come to the children's class.

Instead, 11 children, many of who were under 6, turned up. At first, it was pretty crazy, because the first part we had planned expecting an older audience who had been to these classes before (many of the kids who came hadn't), and thus it involved a bit of sitting still. In Takamatsu, the childrens class focuses on a different virtue, ie a good quality, every time and this time the one the kids learnt about was justice.

But when it came to making paper crowns to fit in with the quote below about justice, they had a ball. A young child was so happy that she ran around the room repeatedly, proudly wearing her over-sized crown. I then took some really cute photos of her, eyes scrunched up, smiling, with her fingers in the peace sign. Cute.

“Attire mine head with the crown of justice, and my temple with the ornament of equity.”

-Baha'u'llah

Can't think of anything else overly blogworthy...

Sonia

Korea

Wow i have not written a blog in ages cos every time i get on the computer i seem to have so many emails to reply to! which is a very good thing- please continue to email me ^^



I got back from [South] Korea a few days ago. It was amazing! I needed to go there , as the nearest foreign country, for visa reasons, and I stayed with a Japanese/Korean Baha'i couple on the outskirts of Seoul. They were the most lovely people. Toyoko, the wife, took me to a traditional market on one day, then a typical Korean cafe, where she also explained Korean culture to me. Her explanation was incredible, and really interesting particularly as it was from a Japanese perspective. She explained that unlike Japan, where everything is fairly formal, you say itadakimasu before eating, gochisousama afterwards, women cant cross their legs......, Korean culture is fairly relaxed. As if to demonstrate, in the cafe we were in, a middle-aged woman sitting nearby suddenly started talking to us, asking what age we were (age difference dictates the level of language used in Korean), and asked whether Toyoko was Japanese (we were speaking in Japanese). Then she told Toyoko that the chef was really busy and told her "Why arent you up there helping her?" The directness was so unlike Japan- and not even in Australia would a customer offer to help a chef get food ready!



Although I didn't go into Seoul proper at all because both me and Toyoko dislike large cities, the area of Seoul we were in (right on the outskirts) was about the same density as the Sydney CBD and there was nothing bu apartments in sight. I shudder to think of what the Seoul CBD must be like.



I recently started reading a Baha'i book called 'The Dawn Breakers', a book that is probably the biggest book I've ever seen. It's about as thick as I can stretch my thumb and my second finger apart - just to demonstrate how massive it is! It was written by one of the first Baha'is, who was alive at the same time as Baha'u'llah, the Prophet Founder of the Baha'i Faith (Baha'u'llah lived 1817-1892 in Persia). The book is basically a history of the first years of the Baha'i Faith and it is amaaaazing. I'm not far into it yet, but the anecdotes it gives of what these people did for their beliefs are incredible- particularly given the persecution they received. The thing I like most about it is, because the author was alive at the time, and really "ablaze" with his beliefs, it sets an incredible, almost contagious, tone for the story.

A friend of mine was telling me the other day that she likes the quotes I put up on here in some of my earliest posts. I don't know whether I've put this one up yet, but its one of my favourite ones. I like it especially because it helps you to ensure that your love for others is genuine, at a thoughts level. And I think heaps of other qualities flow through from that... :

Do not be content with showing friendship in words alone, let your heart burn with loving kindness for all who may cross your path

- Abdu'l Baha

We just received a copy of Moribito II: Guardian of the Darkness, the second in the Moribito series which Cathy translated. I read the first one and loved it, I think I wrote about it in an earlier blog post of mine, but I'm really excited to get into it. As far as I'm aware, it hasn't been properly released in America or anything yet, so I'll probably be one of the first people to read it :) Looking forward to it!


Sonia

Art Tourism

hello again


Cathy's family are only gonna be here for another couple of days, but its been amazing having them here- they're all such lovely people. one thing their visit highlighted for me was the fantastic "Art tourism" available in Kagawa Prefecture (this one). Isamu Noguchi, a famous Japanese-American sculptor, spent a few months every year at a house near here for his sculpting because theres a special type of stone here that i dont thinks very common. Theres a gallery of George Nakashima, another Japanese-American, who was a furniture designer but had a background in architecture so the wooden furniture he designs was really revolutionary (its lovely).
Theres an island called Naoshima about an hour by ferry from Takamatsu, and on it there's 3 art sites. I haven't been there, but Cathys family were raving about it when they came back. They have lots of famous artists there, they even have Monet. Joan, whose really up with art, told me that it was definitely world class.

Theres lots of islands in the Inland Sea between mainland Japan and Shikoku, and on these islands theres lots of shrines and things that are no longer used. They were given to a number of artists to make into an art work, I guess kindof what Michelangelo did, and in 2010 next year theyre going to be opened as an exhibition, the "Art House Project".

They're visit though, obviously hasn't been great for my Japanese, cos I've been surrounded by English and also going out with Andrew & Angela (who can't speak Japanese as of yet but are studying it heaps hard). The other day, the 3 of us went to a park with Ando-san's English speaking group to have "English conversation" I was amazed at how good they were, particularly cos they all lived in Japan and were also of the age where learning foreign languages is said to be difficult. It was funny though, the teacher of the group, another Japanese lady, commented on how slowly I was speaking. It was pretty funny to have a Japanese person point something like that out- and it was true. Most of the English conversations I've been having have been with people who English is their 2nd language, and even people who seem really good at it I think would find it difficult to follow my usual speed of talking. When I first got here, speaking slow, simple English was as difficult as speaking in Japanese, but now its not a problem.

Yesterday Cathy's English group (a different one) went to Konpira-san, a shrine in a neighbouring town which is famous for the number of steps there are to reach it. They went for English conversation practice with Cathy's family. To get to the main shrine, you have to climb 785 steps and to get to the back shrine, its 1368 steps. The main reason we went was because there's an art gallery located a bit under the main shrine. The art gallery is famous in Japan as the best artist of every era was invited to live there and to paint a room. A lot of the works are only displayed every 120 years (Cathy tells me, but Ando-san says its 60 years) but however long, its a long time. That particular exhibit of course was not open though. Because Cathys parents can't climb up all those stairs, we had lunch at a restaurant on the same level as the art gallery which meant we could use their private car park.


Sonia

cathys family

hello


cathys parents and sister are staying with us at the moment for 2 weeks, they arrived a couple of days ago. its cathy and yuichis 25th wedding anniversary, her sisters 30th and their parents 60th so they designed it as a present for all of them. also, her dads 86 and mums 84 so its gonna be the last time they come to japan. so yeah its a pretty special time for all of them.

cathys sister, joan is the most amazing person- shes a psychiatric nurse who works at a childrens hospital, and is going back to uni next year to study art therapy. shes really thoughtful and spiritual and i really like her. she meditates for like an hour a day and reads heaps of self-improvement books, like shes trying to get us to read a book called "non-violent communication" which at first i thought meant like not bashing people up haha but its all about how to phrase what you say in a loving way and the impact words can have on people. the author apparently often goes to dangerous situations, like a room full of Israelis and Palestinians, or warring African tribes and uses his methods to defuse the situation. i really want to read it.

the day before last i got interviewed by the Yomiuri Shinbun, a national Japanese newspaper which has different local branches. I was interviewed by the Shikoku branch. Anyway, it was the same journalist who interviewed Cathy when she won the Mildred Batcheldor Award for translating Moribito- and she wanted to interview a foreigner who had recently arrived in Japan to contribute to a feature they were doing on "New Lives".

I was so scared- ive never been interviewed in English let alone in Japanese, so i asked Reina (who came again for 2 days to see her grandparents) to sit in in case i got stuck. I ended up getting onto the topic of Indigenous nutrition, and she asked me why they often have poorer nutrition than other Australians. Talk about a hard question to answer!! Particularly when i was trying really hard not to show any sort of political opinion about it since the whole thing can get pretty controversial in Australia. but i think it went ok cos i said it in English to ensure i could be as tactful as possible. when it gets published ill try to get it from their website or something so people can see it.

its so funny being surrounded by Canadians after being around Japanese people- its been a great opportunity to see how many Japanese people may feel when they live in the West. japanese people speak fairly slowly and are more comfortable with periods of silence then Westerners tend to be, and everything they say is very indirect and "delicate" (i think that sums it up well). Cathys mum is really direct and loud and it was so funny the first day she was here, it was a bit of a shock to my system haha.
for example, Japanese people tend to compliment you for really small things (eg if you just say konnichiwa, even if its the worst accent imaginable). cathys mum on the first day she was here asked me what "maple-viewing festival" was called, and ignorant me didnt even know there were maples outside canada, so i definitely didnt know the japanese word for the festival. when i told her this, she said "you dont know???" which after getting used to delicate Japanese culture was a bit of ashock to say the least haha. but now its ok.

i mentioned before the books cathy has translated, and i would encourage all of you to look for them- Moribito: Guardian of the Spirit and Dragon Sword and Wind Child. theyre both fantasy books but its fascinating to read fantasy from a japanese cultural background- theyre set in a medieval background like western fantasy but of course medieval Japan was not knights on horses going on quests. very interesting.


Sonia

latest update

hello all

i was waiting till something blog-worthy appeared in my life to give you all another update of my life here in japan.
well something turned up- its sakura (cherry blossom) season in Japan at the moment. this "season" lasts for about a week. on friday, i went with ando-san and haruna to Ritsurin Park to see the cherry blossoms at night which was fun, then i went again on monday during the day with andrew, angela, miyoko and mai (friends weve made). i preferred the day, as i got nicer photos of the flowers and on monday they were in fuller bloom than on friday (can u even say that in english?)

last night after going to ritsurin park, me, miyoko, andrew and angela went out to dinner together to an Okinawan restaurant. Okinawa is a group of islands south-west of Japan, between Japan and Taiwan. okinawa is supposed to have the largest number of centenarians per capita in the world i think. anyway it was pretty yummy and the restaurant had a lovely atmosphere.

on i spent the weekend with ando-san and haruna. on saturday morning, we all helped out with a Baha'i junior youth group. the 2 boys who were able to come were half-Australian which was nice. (japanese junior high school students are insanely insanely busy so its really difficult to make a date which everyone can come to)
anyway after that we went to an exhibition at the local art gallery on early 20th century japanese porcelain (like tea cups etc). apparently its popular in japan. after going to see the cherry blossoms, we went out to karaoke with andrew and angela which was really fun. then i slept over ando-sans place :)

on sunday me, ando-san, andrew and angela went to Shodoshima Island, an island between Shikoku and mainland Japan. we spent the day there with a lady who used to work for Cathy and Yuichi and she took us around doing touristy things. it was really nice cos theres quite a bit of nature remaining on the island, and i always feel alot better when im around nature. in fact, we saw wild monkeys (those ones with pink faces and grey fur) as we were driving in the bush at one stage. me, a&a went insane haha

it was only angelas 3rd time to see the ocean (shes originally from St Louis then moved to Chicago, both of which are in inland America) so it was really great to see how excited she got about seeing the sea. she said the 2 other times shes seen the ocean were in Florida and California, both of which were at crowded tourist beaches so this quiet, Tasmania-esque beach was really special to her.

its her birthday in a week or so, so we (ritsurin park people) decided that she should have a birthday party which somehow involves karaoke. she had a bit of a laugh that its gonna be the smallest birthday party shes ever had- its so true, both of our social circles are single-digit figures, but its been good for me, im usually so lazy organising social things in sydney, whereas now its so different.

on the way to Shodoshima Island, me, Ando-san, A & A had a really good talk about heaps of stuff and one of the things i said was how glad i am to meet different Baha'is. Baha'is in the same local council area (eg Warringah) are organised into the same Baha'i community. the vast majority of the things you do as a Baha'i are with others from your community. anyway ive been in warringah bahai community for 8 years so its refreshing for me to meet others from different places.

also its nice to socialise with bahais (in australia my social life with other bahais is non-existent). and ive noticed that before coming here i based a lot of my view of the Baha'i world on my community- eg i honestly thought most bahais were either persian or westerner just because if you live in sydney thats how it seems, but like 90+ percent of Japanese Bahais are ethnically Japanese. According to bahai.org, the bahais in the world are from over 2100 different races, which i think id prob read before but its starting to sink in more now. Although I already knew that the Bahai Faith is the 2nd most geographically widespread religion in the world after Christianity, i think i subconsciously presumed that Iranian and American Bahais just moved to a lot of countries. hahaha i feel so dumb now lol

im so happy at the moment- its spring, which means i no longer have to look like "shrek" or a "bear" as Cathy joked a lot during winter (i feel the cold), i now only have to wear 3 jumpers! id become a walking example of Australias obesity epidemic- the only visible part of my body was my fat face, then wearing 6 layers+ a ski jacket isnt exactly flattering. jenny would have a ball if she were here hahaha...


bye everyone!

Shoko!

hello everybody again

this week we had visitors staying with us which was pretty exciting. reina, cathy and yuichis daughter, is here for a week, and a bahai girl called Shoko was here for like 4 days too. shoko recently returned from volunteering at a bahai-inspired international school in Czech Republic, and her english is insaaaanely good like she has like 1% of an accent its crazy...

being with reina and shoko was very good for my japanese too. in japanese, you use polite form to your superiors (those older then you etc) and then plain form when speaking to people beneath you or equal to you (eg kids, teenagers etc). in school, u learn both forms but cos you always just use polite form in the HSC exam, you dont really ever practise using plain form.
so spending a few days with young people a lot helped me with my plain form although i often keep slipping back into polite form, i guess its better then the other way round when with older people.

the other day, a Japanese nurse whod just returned from spending a year working on one of Second Hand's projects in Cambodia talked to second hand volunteers about her trip. it was quite formal, which meant she spoke clearly and at a measured pace, and she had a slideshow of pictures and point from her talk which helped me to follow. this went for 2 hrs, but was hecticaly good for my japanese, and i found i could follow most of it so i was happy.

the project she was involved with was an ambulance service in Phnom Penh which Second Hand established. Cambodia is a country in south-east Asia near thailand where many people are living in poverty. but the standard ambulance service is really expensive and slow, so often even though someone is covered in blood and losing consciousness after a car crash, they dont want to go in an ambulance cos they cant afford it. the second hand service is faster than the other ambulances, has better equipment (donated from japan) and patients can pay as much as they want (or nothing) for the service. also, theyre trying to always have one japanese person with the ambulance service cos in Cambodian culture everyone takes there time to get places but obviously for an ambulance service this can cost people their lives. japanese people often tend to be really busy and rushing everywhere, and i thought it was a really interesting way to look at how certain traits of different cultures can complement each other quite well.

i could tell the difference with being bombarded with japanese at last nights study circle with the childrens class fathers. cathy wasnt there for most of it so i was left in a discussion about prayer, why we pray etc but it was actually ok. my work book is in english, and beneath each quote theres comprehension questions on the quote. anyway i always answer these questions in english, but last night yuichi was like 'why dont you do it in japanese?' (i always end up having to translate them verbally into japanese anyway) which made me happy.

yesterday i went to Ritsurin Park with angela, andrew, and haruna (ando-san's daughter whos 22 and is home for the uni holidays). it was so peaceful and beautiful, and it was a good time for us to get to know haruna and vice-versa. harunas fairly quiet, and im not hugely outgoing either, so when ive seen her before at social events its gotten a bit awkward, but after spending 3hrs together it got rid of all that. i also think shes incredible cos we were speaking in english for the whole time, except when i occasionally talked to her in japanese, and she didnt seem to mind at all. today shes coming over here again to plan the Naw Ruz party (Baha'i new year) were having on friday night here.

im also looking forward to that cos it signals the end of the Fast which ive really been enjoying cos its all spiritualish and stuff but at the same time i looove food and especially in japan where the food is actually nice 99% of the time... its so funny like everyday for dinner me and reina eat sooo much then eat sooo much dessert cos i have some weird outlook where i have to make up for all i missed out on that day hahha and then my stomach is always so sore hahaha


xoxo

udon is my love

hello everybody

my life in the past week has been exceptionally uninteresting in terms of blogability, other than that ive of course been fasting, so i dont really have much to add, i thought id just point up that ive uploaded a few more photos that hopefully convey a bit more of the flavour of Takamatsu...

my profile picture is of me eating udon, the specialty of this area. udon is incredibly amazingly delicious if u have it here, but whatever you do, dont have it in other parts of japan. i made the mistake of ordering udon when i was in tokyo in 2005 and it was really terrible.

this is a neat fact from a movie i watched, Udon, which is about the udon noodles in this prefecture:
"Though Japan's smallest in terms of land mass, Kagawa Prefecture and its population of approximately one million is served by nearly 900 udon shops. By comparison, there are 515 McDonald's outlets serving a population of 12.5 million in Tokyo. "


on monday, we had the study circle with the fathers from the childrens class. the topic this week was "Backbiting", ie gossiping and saying mean things about other people behind their backs.
the main reason im putting this up here was that i found it really interesting. after reading a few Baha'i quotes and discussing why backbiting is a bad thing (cos it makes you more insecure, look like an extra bad person yourself, foster disunity etc), yuichi asked us "well then, why do we do it?"
ive never really thought about that before- and peoples thoughts were really interesting. two of the main ones were "because its a good conversation starter/icebreaker" and "because its fun". others included "when you really like a close friend but out of embarassment try to cover it up with putdowns" or "when youre worried about someone close to you and so get frustrated and backbite", or "when theres someone you love but theres one thing about them that drives you insane"
i know for me, backbiting is such a difficult thing to stop doing, i mean realising when youre saying mean things about others is hard enough, then being strong enough to stop doing it and finding ways to get out of situations when people around you are doing it...
its definitely a bit easier for me not to at the moment, being away from the peer group and everything.
anyway, ive made it my personal goal to try to stop doing it and to stop thinking mean things about others too. but at the same time, ive reminded myself not to get disheartened if i let it slip a couple of times, but to keep in mind that any amount of improvement is a good thing! think of what could be achieved if each of us thought like that, instead of thinking "the world is a bad place what can i do about it"...
as Mahatma Gandhi said,


"Be the change you wish to see in the world"



heres some other quotes i like, that weve been looking at in the study circles:


"Do not be content with showing friendship in words alone, let your heart burn with loving-kindness for all who may cross your path"


"When a thought of war comes, oppose it by a stronger thought of peace. A thought of hatred must be destroyed by a more powerful thought of love"


"Speak no evil, that thou mayest not hear it spoken unto thee, and magnify not the faults of others that thine own faults may not appear great..."

Welcome Andrew and Angela!

hello once again

something very exciting happened this week. a young Baha'i couple from Chicago, andrew and angela, have moved to Takamatsu! they are here to teach English to pay off their student loans from university and at the same time help out the Takamatsu Baha'is. they don't speak Japanese, but they are really eager to learn it and have a great attitude (i think).

on monday, the Baha'i Fast started. this means that between sunrise and sunset we don't eat or drink, and at the same time we try to make an extra special effort to become a better person (more kind, caring etc). i find it also helps me to become more self-disciplined and after the Fast i always try to eat more in moderation- ie not too much, but not too little either.
only those between 15-70 fast and if you have certain health conditions or are pregnant or breastfeeding or in heavy labour you dont either. also if you start getting sick during it, youre allowed to stop fasting. theres been quite a few medical studies which show the health benefits of fasting for a limited period of time each year.

anyway, the hardest part of fasting at the moment for me is getting up at 5.45 am after being used to sleeping in till 10 every day. especially cos we arent going out as much, if youre doing something like studying Chinese characters, you get tired fast! so i had a nap yesterday and today. and cathy cooks us all breakfast and an amazing breakfast at that- she should win some award for how healthy her food is, so i only start getting hungry in the afternoon :D cant beat brown rice

i went to the public baths for the first time on monday with Reina, my host parents daughter, and obaa-chan. i had been reeeeally reeeeeally intimidated of going, especially cos even though i can handle standing out normally, standing out while i have no clothes on is one of the most daunting things i could imagine. but we went in the middle of the day so there was hardly anyone there and they were all middle-aged so it wasnt that bad- actually it was really relaxing. there are heaps of different small pools which are really hot and have different types of water or diff scents or something. of course male and female baths are completely separate.

on friday i was supposed to go to Ritsurin Park (the one in the photo on my blog which i got from google images) with a friend of Cathy and Yuichis. but it ended up raining, and more importantly for me, freeeezing. so we ended up going to the biggest shopping centre in the prefecture (which was about the size of Cairns Central or Greensborough in melbourne- which areboth averageish sized) we didnt buy anything, but we talked in english the whole time cos Hirano-san (the womans name) is trying to learn english.

afterwards, we went to the day centre for children with intellectual disabilities that Hirano-san works at. i spent the afternoon there, and met 3 of the children who come there. one was a girl who was 6 yrs old and had a more severe form of autism that meant she was unable to speak, but occasionally said recognisable words. one was a 10yr old boy whod only recently been ableto sit ona chair because he was so full of energy. another was a 14 yr old boy who also had autism but more mildly, so he could respond if you asked him questions and was really into drawing and could write chinese characters (and really prettily).

it was quite confronting to be honest, particularly the girl, who was really emotionally volatile. but i enjoyed it, and probably the main thing i took away from there was a huge feeling of respect for the parents and carers i met. Japanese society, in general, probably doesnt accept people with disabilities to the same degree that they are in the West, although of course theres room for improvement there too. but, Hirano-san was telling me, this puts an extra burden on parents of children with disabilities, and apparently some of the parents of the children who go to the centre have been hospitalised and are on medication because of conditions related to the stress they feel.

ive told heaps of people already, but in Japanese Extension at school, we had to study a book called "Noones Perfect" by Hirotada Ototake, and i thoroughly recommend anyone who has the opportunity to read it. Ototake was born in Japan with no arms and no legs and the book is his autobiography up until he was a young adult. it reached number 1 in japan and holds some record for being the most books soldin japan ever or the 2nd most or sumthing.
anyway, id never really thought of people with disabilities before i read that book, mainly because i dont know anyone with one, and reading that book was a big eye-opener for me.
whats perhaps most impressive is that Ototake thinks that the biggest way to increase acceptance of people with disabilities is through the education of children. to that end, he wrote his book in very simple Japanese and has become a primary school teacher. as he says in the book, he gets lots of children staring at him and asking Ototake whats wrong with him. often what happens then is that their parents tell their children to be quiet and they hurry along embarassed. but Ototake questions whether this is the best response. at school, Ototake was always really popular amongst other kids and never got bullied. he says that (paraphrasing) "of course children when they first see me all wonder whats wrong with me and thing it's strange. but once i tell them 'i got sick when i was in my mummy's tummy', they accept it and dont think about it any more"


wow my blog ended up hectically philosophical yet again haha... anyway good luck everyone whos going to uni with their first week- hope its going well :)

when different cultures meet...

i was gonna write about what ive done in this past week, but then it somehow transformed into my observations about what happens when different cultures interact with each other... i guess the fact that when i was in primary school, i wanted to be an anthropologist (someone who studies, among other things, differnet cultures) may have something to do with it...

today i went with Ando-san to a lady's house to watch the gospel group shes involved in practise and to help them with pronouncing the english lyrics... they were really good at both english and singing, but of course watching them try to say certain words was bound to be entertaining- like "truths"... hahaha

one thing ive noticed which i find amusing is that ive suddenly become "australia". like everything i do or think or like is representative of every single australian. for example, i eat kiwi fruit with the skin on (which even in australia is pretty weird) and cathy, yuichi and the gospel group presumed that australians all do that. so im trying to be extra careful of if i do or say anything really unconventional (like that) so i dont make people develop inaccurate stereotypes about australia, especially cos i know that people are more likely to develop negative stereotypes rather than positive stereotypes of different cultures...

one thing i learned today from cathy and yuichi is that Star Wars is partly a tribute by George Lucas to a famous Japanese movie director, Akira Kurosawa, who worked from the 1940s to the 1960s. for example, Darth Vaders helmet is based off the samurais helmet and the light sabre is based of a samurai sword (apparently). also apparently in episode 3 (revenge of the sith), yoda often strokes his head which, yuichi tells me, is a famous action from Kurosawa's film, the Seven Samurai.

we had the last lesson at the local primary school where we did english and international understanding yesterday. we made grilled cheese sandwiches (a Western food), using herby margarine so it was delicious, then they also made English-style tea. i sat at one bench-table in the home economics room with a group of girls and they made me laugh so hard, they couldnt stand the taste of the tea (Japanese tea is milder), they kept complaining about how bitter it was, so they filled their tea with sugar. and when i say fill, the girl next to me told me her cup was approximately half sugar. anyway after this, she tasted it and kept shouting "ama sugiru!! ama sugiru!!" (which means "its too sweet!" and she still had half her cup left, so she tried to fish out the sugar with her spoon (i wanted to explain to her that it was dissolved but didnt have the vocab). hahaha

one thing i expected to find when i came to japan was that everyone would be like "aaaargh a foreigner!" but ive been pleasantly surprised to find that this isnt very common. i did catch someone walk past me snatching glimpses at me from the corner of their eyes, then turn around when they walked past me to find them staring back at me- boy did that give them a fright! but yeah overall everyones been pretty good...
the kids at the local primary school make me laugh so hard though- when u go indoors anywhere in japan (including school), you take off your shoes and wear slippers. when cathy and me arrived yesterday, a crowd of year 1-2s surrounded us, offering to take our shoes and asking us questions like what nationality we were etc. then we had the opposite reaction, when we were leaving, cathy said "konnichiwa" to a cute little yr 1 girl and she returned a look of pure terror, before sprinting back behind her. unfortunately for her, she ran into her friend, so she then starting clutching her friends elbow and there were now two 6 year olds looking terrified out of their brains to see me and cathy. we took the hint.

when the gospel ladies heard i was coming over, they panicked cos they presumed i would hate japanese food, so bought bread instead specially for me. i was a bit relieved when ando-san told them that i didnt like japanese bread- i hastily added that i loved Japanese food which i think pleased them. thats another thing ive noticed being here- a lot of people expect you to act like the stereotype of a Westerner overseas- not wanting to try different food, not bothering to learn different languages and expecting everyone to know English... i find that attitude a bit disappointing more than anything i think, because i think its disappointing that you do hear stories about many Western tourists overseas acting like that and then giving the rest of us a bad name, but also disappointing because its frustrating to have someone judge you before youve even said anything cos youre appearance... prejudice in all its forms sucks.

im really enjoying japan though. like it is insanely good.

one of the cultural differences that many Westerners observe when they go to Japan (myself included- this was one of my biggest challenges last time I came) is that Japanese people don't say what they really think, and the result is that it can come across as a bit fake... i know for myself, people thinking one thing and saying another is something i get frustrated by in Australia- so im trying to use this experience as a lesson for me to become more patient...
for example, if you say to a Japanese person "konnichiwa" in the strongest Australian accent you can possibly manage, they are probably likely to still tell you that you are amazingly talented with Japanese... One lesson ive learned so far is to treat this kind of thing as, rather than a compliment, a cultural ritual. Also this way, I feel more comfortable with denying it, cos otherwise I find it really deflating to my self-confidence to be constantly rubbishing myself. But if you view it as a ritual, you dont think much of it, either in a good or bad way, then dont dwell on it afterwards... well its worked for me anyway :)

im hoping all im learning culturally will help me when i get home to Australia too. in a multicultural country like australia, youre always gonna have something to do with people from other cultures, and the things imlearning about japanese culture can often be applied to other cultures that are perhaps more formal than mainstream Australian culture. of course, there will probably still be things that i find frustrating, especially those that are avoidable which isolate and exclude people, but hopefully i'll become more accepting generally thanks to this experience!

talking to cathy and yuichi though, im also becoming so much more aware and stuff about how we should really try to help people in developing countries, and those who are generally in whatever sense, less well-off than us. cathy was saying that feeling sympathy for these people is really important, but its really important as a step, whats even better is to go from there to actually helping those in other countries (eg knitting jumpers for children in Mongolia through Guardian pharmacies, donating money, becoming a member of the ONE campaign which writes petitions to various politicians etc and was started by Bono (www.one.org), joining charities' Facebook groups...)
anyway its really opened my eyes even more and this experience is so far making me want to consider living somewhere overseas at some stage during the rest of my life

yes, there are challenges involved with being overseas, and also moving to other areas in Australia, but taking that first step out of your comfort zone is so insanely worth it.
as we learned so much in yr 11 & 12 English, taking a step out of your comfort zone (in whatever way), or even experiencing adversity is essential if you want to really grow as a human being.

“The earth is but one country and mankind its citizens”

- Bahá'u'lláh

i thought i understood this quote before i came here, but the longer im here, the more and more i find myself understanding it... culture is something you learn as you get older, but each one of us has so many inherent similarities that transcend any political borders that man has created.


food for thought?

xx

busy busy busy

hello all

its been a while since i last posted anything here- main reason is cos im so busy and want to limit my time spent on the computer. and im tiiiired prob cos of a mixture of my brain becoming japaneseified and doing a lot of housework which is surprisingly tiring. i suddenly have a newfound respect for women from the 1950s!

the other day i went with ando-san to a place called Aji which used to be a separate town but then recently became part of Takamatsu. a famous Japanese movie, called "Sekai no chuushin de, ai wo sakebu" of which the English title is "Socrates in Love", was filmed in Aji. we had lunch at the bay where the film was shot, it was incredibly beautiful- unfortunately i didnt bring my camera but were going again next week so hopefully ill get a chance then.
the main reason we went to Aji was for a study circle with a woman whose children used to go to childrens classes in Aji until they were stopped last year. we had lunch with this woman on the bay and she and Ando-san ate "yaki soba-pan" which is a white bread roll with fried noodles in the middle. apparently the main character of that movie liked yaki soba-pan so its now really popular in Aji.

after that, we went to a local Buddhist temple to see the monk there whos friends with the Takamatsu Bahais. the monk, who seemed to be in his late 30s, had studied psychology in Chicago and had suffered a lot of prejudice there from some religious people there who told him he was going to Hell for being Buddhist. but there was a Bahai man there who was the only one who was nice to him so he holds the Bahai Faith in high esteem. he seemed so nice and i asked him some questions about Buddhism there. apparently Japanese Buddhist are not vegetarian and can marry and are not monks for their entire lives, its more like an occupation. he said the Meiji dynasty (the one which opened Japan to the West) were responsible for making the change to allow Buddhist monks to eat meet and marry. He belongs to the Pure-Land School of Buddhism, which is really popular in Japan. The main Buddha of this school is called Amitabha, or Amida in Japanese. Amit (wikipedia tells me) means infinite and Abha means splendour or light in Sanskrit, so it means Infinite Light. Amitabha says that anyone at all who wishes to be reborn into his Pure Land just has to say his name as little as 10 times. very interesting i think.

yesterday we went out to lunch with ando-san, her daughter haruna and a group of women who are participating in study circles at the moment and are friends with cathy and ando-san to celebrate an award cathy recently received. Cathy is a Japanese to English translator and she recently translated a book called Moribito: Guardian of the Spirit. its really big in japan and is part of a series of more than 10 written by a Japanese woman who is an assistant professor in anthropology and main area is Australian Aborigines. but yeah the award cathy one is called the Mildred Batcheldor Award and is an American award for the best translated childrens literature each year. its not a money award, but it means the book will get more attention from non-japanese speakers and is good for japaneseliterature generally as most of the books which win that prize are european cos its cheaper and easier to translate european languages.

but yeah the restaurant we went to was posh! it was french cuisine and was on the top of this mini-mountain outside takamatsu. we arrived there at about 12.00 and were there till after 3! it was interesting cos it was french but mixed with japanese cuisine like one thing i got served was battered little skinny fish, but they were whole. it was horrible cos u could see their eyes and tail and you had to eat them anyway- to be honest they didnt taste bad but it was a little offputting. i decided after that that im not really made for fine dining, esp when the table conversation is all in japanese!

yuichis gone to tokyo for the weekend, so its just me and cathy here at the moment. yuichis on the National Spiritual Assembly of the Japanese Bahais, which is the national administrative body of the bahais of each country, so he has to go to tokyo once a month for its meetings. its insane though- the bus trip takes 9 hours and then he has to concentrate at meetings and stuff immediately after that! wow

cathys host parents from when she first came to japan 31? years ago are visiting over the weekend, so i spent the day today doing a lot of housework so im pretty tired. cathys best friend from school in canada was japanese-canadian and when they were 20, her best friends dad got offered a job at Kyoto University which he accepted. her best friend didnt want to go to japan alone (shed never been before) so she asked cathy to go with her, which cathy said she would. anyway the best friend ended up not wanting to come, and did a homestay with cathy's parents, while cathy did a homestay with her best friends parents and ended up never leaving japan!

xoxo

another post

hello everyone

wow i have been doing so much interesting stuff lately!

first- some interesting facts ive learned:

1. Shikoku (the island im on) is often in drought. i must be honest i thought that it was like a japanese-version of a drought, i was like haha "come to australia and ull learn what a drought is"... but i learned today that last year Shikokus dam got down to 0%. yes 0%. apparently u were only allowed to use water for 2-3 hrs a day so they used the water in the bath for heaps of things
2. takamatsu's grey water is not filtered at all, it goes directly into the local rivers. (they look disgusting). so if ur cooking with lettuce and noodles and u wash ur bowl down the sink, guess what ends up in the river? apparently the government cant afford to introduce proper treatmet systems for grey water

the other day me and cathy went to a primary school in the outskirts of takamatsu where cathy was going to give a talk on international understanding. cos it was in japanese and i know about that kind of stuff already, i spent the hour and a half at a lovely, big Shinto shrine near the school. (Shinto is the indigenous religion of Japan). after that being in the shrines grounds which i really enjoyed cos its the one place in japan that nature is preserved, there was a lovely mini-forest there, i went back to the primary school. there,me and cathy were talking to the schools principal who told us that the area the school is in is a traditional area of the burakumin. the burakumin, i have learned, are at the bottom of the traditional japanese caste system and were originally in the days of the samurai, people who dealed with death- eg executioners, leather-makers etc. there was a lot of prejudice against them until recently, and some even persists today. the principal said that this has influenced a lot of the kids attitudes in the classroom and stuff.
cathy told me later that mainly its people who are 60+ yrs old who still feel prejudiced against the burakumin and other minority groups like the Koreans. but she said that if u have burakumin blood in you and you live in your hometown, everyone knows it by your surname and discriminates against u (eg a Bahai with burakumin blood told cathy that no matter how good he is at his job, how high in status his job is, hell always be the 1st to be fired). i find that really sad. and the family of cathys friends in the 80s or so hired private investigators when their kids got married to ensure there was no burakumin blood in the other person.

after going to that school, me and cathy helped pack up for a local charity called Second Hand which had been having a charity bazaar at a local community centre. the charity is similar to oxfam in that it sells goods, then donates that money to places where its needed. But Second Hand only operates in Cambodia and has helped build schools, donate ambulance equipment etc to people in Cambodia, who are really impoverished.

for your entertainment, theres a japanese band which used to be quite popular called Kinki Kids. when i first heard about it i was like "do they know what theyre saying???" but Kinki is an area of Japan, so the band was saying that they were from kinki... lol

i dont know whether ive said already, but the prefecture (similar to a state but smaller) Takamatsu is in is famous for udon noodles. udon is a thick white noodle. so yeah ive been having a lot of udon lately but its yummy

i have been doing sooo many of those study circles i talked about last time. im doing the first workbook which is the one im actually up to with the childrens class fathers, then next week ill start the 2nd workbook with a friend of ando-san, i finish the 1st one with her this week, then i have another one of the 2nd workbook with a group of 4 housewives who i found to be extremely spiritual in the one we did together this week, and then theres another one of the 1st workbook which i did last night with another lady...
its so interesting to hear everyones perspectives cos theyre all so different and also to hear the culture coming through- like one of the housewives kept linking the bahai values to things shes read in haiku poems and at Shinto shrines etc, and one of fathers and another lady were talking about rank and hierarchy a lot... im really enjoying them all though, for me its such an amazing opportunity to talk about deep things like life after death etc with otherpeople i wouldnt normally interact with

i tried octopus the other day. it was horrible. it actually looked like an octopus tentacle, like the weird squingy round things that stick to things was still on its tentacle. anyway i tried it cos when in romes do as the romans do right? wrong! no amount of cultural sensitivity is worth trying octopus- its textures was rubbery and then the squingy things were crunchy ad it was a horrible experience. i gave ando-san the rest of mine and shewas so touched she gave me her fresh pineapple slices, i was like if you say this is a fair deal? actually japanese bread is pretty bad too- the only varietys are thick, medium or thin white bread and there are 6 slices in each. (i saw "brown" bread today which cathy thinks is coloured brown which had 3 slices)
to give u some idea of how the japanese like their bread, the bread i ate for brekky this morning was advertised as being "soft and sweet". yuichi laughs a lot at how bad japanese bread is so i dont feel like im being too culturally insensitive. but if you toast it its ok and the homemade strawberry jam yuichi made drowns out the taste of the bread. actually inall fairness tho i love japanese food andwith the exception of octopus and the bread, its all really nice and im eating way more then i would back in australia cos it tastes so muchbetter and feels so much healthier.

anyway i have written an insane amount especially considering i havent been doing that much (i spent the day today dusting the spare room thoroughly then mopping and vaccing it) in the last couple of days

love sonia

xx

photos

just quickly- ive put photos up but most of the ones ive been taking have just been cos i think landscapes look pretty and to take pretty photos, not photos of actual relevant things- ive actually been taking heaps of sunsets over farmland and stuff

so tomorrow ill try to take some photos of our house, the dog, my host family etc!

what ive been up to

hello everybody

ive done heaps of stuff in the last few days... one night i met a young woman called Mai who at a guess is in her early 20s and her friend. mai is friends with yuichi and she just recently came back from a year in england so wants to keep her english up and obv i want to practise japanese and i want friends my own age haha... but yeah were gonna get together sumtime for speaking practise for each other and she seems like a lovely person anyway

i went to marugame, the next "town" from takamatsu one day (i say "town" cos japanese peoples idea of a town is like half the size of cairns) cos yuichi had to do some architecture meeting thing there and i spent a few hours at marugame castle which is on the top of a hill/mountain and quite old. it had a lovely atmosphere and gardens and i didnt go in the actual thing cos im not interesting in history or sightseeing so i didnt wantto waste my money but i loved the surrounds and i got given a beautiful small painting by a lady selling paintings there, and met an old man as we were sitting on the same park bench but he talked at a million miles an hr at me in the local dialect so i was like aaaaaaahm yes. ok. hmm. but he was friendly and nice.

i spent yesterday dusting and cleaning the hirano's place which functions as the bahai centre of takamatsu in a sense so it needs lots of cleaning for people who come over esp as japanese people are very tidy. im doing lots of housework atm but i really enjoy it. prob cos its not at my own house, i dont think i would so much at home

i went to the local bahai childrens class on saturday morning which was beautiful. its held in a community centre and there were like 5 kids and then their parents also came and were really into it. they learned this prayer which is for when youre going through difficult times in your life:
Is there any Remover of difficulties save God? Say: Praised be God! He is God! All are His servants, and all abide by His bidding!

but they learned it in japanese and ando-san made a beautiful song to it which was very japanese-ish.

bahais around the world are encouraged to participate in "study circles" which are supposed to help you become more spiritually insightful etc. they operate on the basis that transformation of the individual is necessary for the transformation of society. these study circles most commonly use a series of workbooks, the first of which is called "Reflections on the Life of the Spirit". anyway that took longer than i thought to explain but i started the first of those workbooks last night in a group with 2 of the fathers of the childrens classes kids and yuichi acted as tutor of it , while cathy translated for me. i got heaps out of it and was really impressed by how deep the conversation got, i like how japanese people seem to be on the whole deeper than australians.
i liked the quotes we learned too, each one seemed quite simple but conveyed so much meaning.

Say, O brethren! Let deeds, not words, be your adorning.

this afternoon we went to a local primary school where cathy teaches "english and international understanding" to the grade 6s. cathys been teaching them about how there are other countries in the world where people don't even have enough to eat. today they gave us a performance which they did for the grade 5s on the weekend about what theyve been learning about different countries. i was actually really touched by their performance, you could tell for some of them it was really from the heart. at the end a few of the kids gave speeches about how they really want to make a difference in the world and how its not fair that countries arent equal when they should be. they said they were pleased that this performance was mostly organised by the kids not the teachers as per usually happens so it was from the heart. they then sung a song, "We are flowers of one garden and the leaves of one tree. Come and join us in our quest for unity, it's a way of life for you and me" It was so beautiful.
after that i gave a self-intro in basic english with pictures of my life up on a projector screen. then i answered questions of theirs about australia.
oh- and i almost forgot when asked about what australia was famous for, did they say "the harbour bridge" or the great barrier reef? no. they said wheat, wool and meat. wow they were such knowledgable grade 6s!
but yeah- it was quite funny some fo the questions they asked. "what is your favourite word in japanese?" um- whaaaat its a word not a poem or something! but they seemed to take it seriously so i said flower (hana 花) which seemed to be acceptable.
i also got asked by a boy whether i had a boyfriend and then straight after that by another boy whether i liked anyone. so much for japanese people being reserved haha.
then one boy asked me who throughout history i admired the most which i thought was a very mature question and i said probably Baha'u'llah

anyway im writing way too much again and i want to go to sleep now so i hope everyones well back home and my thoughts and prayers are with the victims of the bushfires over in victoria at the moment.

love,
sonia.

xx

commenting

hello everyone me again

the reason ur comments wasnt working was
a) i had it on the setting where i was moderating comments but thats annoying and i wont be checking that often and im sure creeps wont be interested in takamatsu bahai life
b) you used to have to be a member of this blog to comment i think but im changing that too cos thats dumb

today my japanese got slightly better and i spoke more, yesterday we went to the art museum and visited a famous sculptors exhibition, the scultpors a local and apparently had a massive sculpt? in the foyer of the world trade centre which was the only thing that survived the attack but was demolished by bulldozers to get to the other bits of the building

i met my host dads mum who speaks osaka dialect which is completely unintelligble and has a different accent but shes so funny and talkative and i said iw as from sydney shes like where? then cathy said australia. shes like is that near austria? and then cathy said no then grandma said oh is it near london? oh dear. but it gave me some perspective about australias global importance or lack thereof

i dont know whther i said before but we sleep on futons here, my host parents sleep in a tatami room and today we put the futons and blankets on the roof (the roofs are sloped so u ccan climb out of the top storeys windows onto it) to air them, apparently thats traditional

we had a Baha'i Feast today which is basically a gathering of the Baha'is in the local community every 19 days to have prayers together then talk about whats been going on and what nees to be done and just to socialise, sort of like church but not at church. okay i suck at explaining things. but yeah there were only 5 of us which was interesting cos theres like 80 plus that come in warringah and it was held in the middle of the day. one of the Baha'is, Ando-san just came back from the Baha'i World Centre in Israel on pilgrimage so she was pretty enthusiastic, shes a member of a gospel group and when i was talking about musical firesides (inviting people to your house and giving them an introduction to the Baha'i Faith in a way that involves music) she thought i meant a "musical" cos i said it in english then she started singing loudly 52600 minutes or however many that song is... anyway what a character

cant think of anything else to say but bye everyone :)

first couple of days

hello everybody

i am in takamatsu at the moment staying in a traditional looking japanese home which is 2 storeys and very cold. i cant work out how to use caps lock on a jaopanese keyboard but if i could, very would be in caps. also the keyboard is slightly smaller and some buttons are in weird places so excuse the typos

yesterday i went to my host mum, cathy`s friends place in the city to watch her do 茶道　(sadou- tea ceremony) it was really good and tasted declicious and foamy- there was also a 5 yr old girl there with her mum and she was hilarious, the only thing in english she knew was "fish or beef" cos apparently at her preschool they did a role play where they had to pretend to be waiters

the lady who hosted it, mariko, also invited us to a sushi party later in february where shell show me how to make proper sushi- i told my host father earlier that my favourite sushi is kimchee, avocado and sundried tomato and he almost had a heart attack hes like kimchee in sushi???
apparently in japan they have pizza with yaki soba (fried noodles on it which i think is way weirder but hey

the plane trip here i flied jetstar cos i was wanted to save money and i was pleasantly surprised with how good it was, the safety demonstrations were the most comprehensive ive seen so far. inflight entertainment was v.good and i was lucky to sit next to someone who was 19/20 y.o. and going to melbourne uni (hi stan if ur reading this) and we spent like the whole time talking so that was good, were both obsessed with languages and have a social conscience which was good - also an added bonus that i now know someone who lives in melbourne!

im sleeping on a futon atm in a house where all the doors are sliding so its pretty nice and traditional. also my host parents arent too formal so that took a lot of stress of me worrying about how to act- my japanese is abysmal btw. that would also be in caps if i could. liek shockingly embarassingly yr7-level bad. ie i forgot how to say good night last night. being at the tea party was good tho cos they spoke in japanese the whole time which i could understand a lot of , but i guess it will take a bit of time before my level of spoken japanese gets back to what it should be since i havent spoken it since the hsc exam in august

we rode bikes into the city as well yesterday- mum they are so much better than our bikes! like soooo much easier to ride and it was really enjoyable, about a third of the people riding bikes i saw were elderly- japanese ppl are so healthy

it was funny being on the plane, there was a limit of 20kg for luggage and 10kg for onboard so my suitacse was 19.5kg and my backpack was 9.5 and stuffed to the brim, and i was wearing a heavy warm jacket and a ski jacket that must have weighed about 4kg cos all the pocketswere crammed full of stuff in the gold coast. i got stared at alot.

japans pretty goodso far, it feels no different from being at home which is good and takamatsu isnt hilariously overly dense so i dont have to worry abou tbeing claustrophobic

thats all that i can think of to say right now, ill write something else in another few days

sonia
xoxo