つけもの and my room

I met my host family this past weekend... Quite an adventure. So far I'm enjoying the homestay, although it was a bit of a shock to discover that they don't have internet. I suppose this is my chance to experience a wireless world, but I believe I'm currently going through withdrawal.

On Saturday I helped my host mother make つけもの, or a type of Japanese pickled vegetable. We cut up the giant pile of...something (maybe similar to rhubarb?), boiled it with salt, and then soaked it with kombu (seaweed) and sugar.

Also, you can see my room!

Hakodate Day 2

The view from my school, and Hakodate at night from the top of the ropeway.

Hakodate Day 1

First day of the program - placements tests and time to walk around! Hopefully more text to come soon...

Pearl Harbor and the North Shore

Last weekend I went on a field trip (the last one of orientation!) to the Arizona memorial (aka Pearl Harbor) and the North Shore. It was interesting visiting the Arizona memorial, although I have to say I was turned off by the number of people posing in front of the names of the dead.

And now I live in Hawaii!

So, about a week ago I moved to the lovely state of Hawaii, where I'll be living for the next two years while I get my Master's degree in Philosophy (and Japanese). I'm living on the East West Center campus at UH Manoa with about 500 other students from the Asia-Pacific region. I think there are about 150 new students, and together we represent 42 countries.
Yesterday we took a field trip to the Kahana valley, where we cleaned trash from the beach (there wasn't much, but we did find an old carpet), then were fed a traditional Hawaiian lunch (rice with poi, which is smushed up taro, which is like a sweet potato, pork, chicken with taro leaves, pineapple, bananas, and coconut gelly-like things) and weeded a taro patch.

Making lanterns and the Iwamuro Onsen Matsuri

I am going to miss the Iwamuro art club. A lot. Last week I went to the Iwamuro community center with them to make lanterns for this week's onsen matsuri (the first picture is our planning map of things that remind us of Iwamuro). A bunch of nice grandparents showed us how to make the lanterns.
Then, last night, we put on yukatas (summer kimonos) and walked in the matsuri parade, carrying our lighted lanterns. One of my student's grandmothers had offered to help me wear a yukata, so I showed up early and she helped me get dressed. After that we did a quick tea ceremony, and then it was time for the parade.
The night was humid - it had been raining most of the day, but thankfully stopped for the matsuri. The air was thick and foggy and a few boys (my students) walked at the front of the parade with sparklers, and the smoke added to the atmosphere. There were men playing wooden flutes, a taiko (drum) player, and an omikoshi (a shrine carried by a group of men).
We finished at a shrine in the center of Iwamuro, where we tied our lanterns to railings on the stairs as a gift, and then said a quick prayer.
After all that it was late, and I was hungry. My friend Maiko had come (also wearing a yukata) and we got frappe (shaved ice with flavor), frozen pineapple on a stick, and popoyaki (like a warm, chewy graham cracker). We stood with my students to watch the fireworks, which were beautiful despite the clouds.
There are a lot of things about Japan that I'm going to miss, but it's experiences like this (and the people that make them happen) that I'm going to miss most.

Swim team sobetsukai (farewell party)

Saturday night I had my farewell nomikai with the swim team. My friend Kaoru had everyone sign a swim towel for me, and also gave me a Maki cap. After dinner (and drinking), we went to karaoke (until about 2 am). By far the best part was when I sang 'my heart will go on' with a friend. Twice.