Day 10-11: Busy Busy Bee! That’s Me!

These past few days I’ve been really busy as the title attests to. Lots of things to do in preparation for classes and official start of the semester for me. Yesterday was probably the busier of the two. I went to Meiji Gakuin University to go to a club fair on campus (that’s the closest quivalent for what it was st least). During this whole week clubs are trying to recruit new members since the number of members affects the budgets they receive from the school. My buddy Mayu agreed to help me and help translate conversation for me. She’s also supporting the idea of me joining the clubs she is in (English Speaking Society and Cycling Club). But I first had to get to campus on my own. I will admit that there is a bus that will take me to campus so don’t feel too sorry as I regale my tail for you. I decided to use Google Maps which up to this point was very reliable for me, and after this walk is a little dead to me. A walk to campus should take 30 minutes or so but I took almost an entire hour! It kept taking me on odd back streets and through neighborhoods and I kept getting turned around. But I really shouldn’t complain too much because I saw a lot of the beauty Totsuka had to offer. I saw Sakura along the river with festivals stalls underneath an  beautiful houses and the extravagant gardens they boasted (some even had personal shrines!). I even walked through a tranquil Bamboo Forest (I’m telling this was a wild walk but very enjoyable. Eventually I returned to the main road and after a pit stop at a Lawson’s (now is a good time to admit that after seeing Japan’s public toilets I will forever be uppity with US toilets, I mean they aren’t even heated like Japan’s??) I was at the gate of campus. My buddy came to greet me and we were off to the club fair. I do have to admit though that MGU’s campus is just gorgeous in a different way from UCA’s. I love both equally already but one does have a view of Mt. Fuji so... Anyway clubs in Japan are a lot different than clubs in the US but are also very similar. For instance the American Football players act just like their US counterparts. There are some really popular clubs and some clubs struggling to get by, and some very very serious clubs. I think the biggest difference is that the clubs here aren’t just business like I feel most US clubs are. They have a pretty active and social recruitment process and most of the time they meet a lot outside of the meetings put in place. Basically the clubs you join is your social circles on campus so it’s a very important decision that I am obviously struggling (any tips on choosing are appreciated!). Some clubs even did demonstrations in front of the cafeteria. This day I saw Marcjing Band, Cheerleading Club (A real blast from the past for me), and Cheer Up Club (similar to cheerleading but more traditional and focused on cheering at games). It was amazing getting to see the cultural differnces between the things I knew so well back in the states. I can’t wait to see Loren of them and hopefully eventually join a club so I can tell you guys more about it. After the club fair I made my way to Tokyo from campus (more senic routes involved) to go see the famous cherry blossoms at Ueno Park. When I got there the crowds were more insane than I had ever seen them before. It was really cold too so while the flowers were beautiful and I got many pictures I didn’t enjoy myself as much as I would have it had been sunny. Despite all the bad I couldn’t deny the beauty of a full bloomed Sakura tree among fifty or so others. Ueno park is also famous for many other things like their Zoo and their complex of shrines. Since I had gotten a breakdown of how to shrine from online and from my buddy I decided to try and participate at a shrine on my own. Sadly as much as I tried to be respectful there were hundreds of tourists who were being very disrecpectful right after me. Mostly using the shrines and it’s different parts as a photo op and not for its significance. I even tried to eat my favorite festival food to cheer myself up but it was hard to focus on the good when you’re alone surrounded by people who don’t care beyond the surface around them. I hope to go back to Ueno Park another time so I can enjoy myself fully with friends I know will respect the different parts of the park. After waking for hours looking at the Sakura and shrines I decided to head back to the dorm since I was very exhausted from the massive amount of walking I did. Luckily dinner at the last night was fired chicken and it was delicious!! I was ready to sleep to my heart contents afterwards but I had to do some studying for my Japanese Placement Test that was today. Beford that though quick side note. I got my first sun burn of the season yesterday. It was pretty light and was only on my face but I didn’t even think it would happen since it was so cold. Today I went to buy Sunscreen which is very complex when you don’t know enough Japanese to read the bottles, but I am glad to inform that I will not be safely protected from the sun. Alright back to the placement test. I will admit before anyone else that I was a nervous wreck for this exam. I wanted so badly to do well on it even with my limited Japanese. After a very long wait to get on a public bus to campus (let’s just say in time it took us to get there on the bus I would have had time to spare with walking) all the Internatonal Students from our dorm were late and slightly embarrassed. As the exam began I was frazzled from my lateness and the sudden realization that oh my god I’m actually going to learn a foreign language here. The exam only made it worse, it said it was for beginners but I only knew maybe 40% of what was on there? Guessing sometimes on it too. I also asked if I could do the interview section (not required of me due to my skill level) and that was even worse. It was pretty discouraging at the time but I guess who have to fail at first to succeed later. I’ll proabbly be put in the easiest class but it will probably be good to review. After the test I helped some of my friends navigate the club fair with my limited and discouraged Japanese. We had a lot of fun though going around as little group trying our best to understand things. After that I took them on the senic routes I went on yesterday and we had a great time enjoying the beauty of the area. We also happened across the same river as yesterday with the festival food. I caved and bought more Takayuki and shared it with them, and some bread I hadn’t bought earlier. Sitting along the river underneath the blossoms I had my first technical Haname with some new friends. The weather was beautiful and I had a great time just relaxing next to the river enjoying food. I understand why the Japanese are such a fan of Haname. After a little bit more shopping I returned to my room where I will be honest I relaxed and did minimal work. In my opinion it’s one the best things you can do after a disappointing exam. Even with the rough start I’m still trying to stay positive and will continue to challenge myself to learn as much Japanese as I can here. Tomorrow is filled with more orientations so I’ll be back with more learning experiences. Until next tine!