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Life
of an exchange student at a Japanese university
Settling
down at a new home
By Nora Roberts
(Exchange
student in Japan - continued from previous page)
We met four young Japanese men in yellow uniforms during our walk yesterday. They stopped for about five minutes to
pat the dog and crawl on the floor like dogs themselves. They were friendly and funny. But strange! My host mother
(Hitomi) was worried.
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When I got here yesterday morning, we ate home-made cheesecake. Then for lunch we had spaghetti with tomato, onion and shellfish similar to mussels (popular here, but I still don't know what they are). After we visited Grandma in hospital, we went to the supermarket (they go three times a week) and had sushi for dinner at one of those
conveyor belt sushi
restaurants. The
plates cost between $1.20 and $4.20 each. Good news, I have survived drinking
miso soup and
green
tea. I may live to drink them again.
One thing I am very very happy about is that at the
cherry blossom festival there will be plentiful
takoyaki (octopus dumplings - much more delicious than they sound). I haven't had
takoyaki since I was in Bali last January. |
 I am so tall!! And heavy. When I walk up the stairs (which are NARROW!!), they creak. I walk around in flat shoes with my host Mum and Chikako, and feel like a basketball player. One thing's for sure, I will not be blending in here in Himeji.
Last night we watched a local important high school baseball final on TV. They take the games very seriously. The team that lost sported at least 6 crying senior high school students (boys!!). It was so strange for me to see! After the game, we watched Felicity dubbed in Japanese while I showed Chikako the earrings Sarah made for me to sell here. I will sell them in Kobe, or at the Himeji markets. Chikako bought a pair for herself, and another to give to her boyfriend's 21 year old sister on the Gold Coast. So the first pairs have been sold!
My host sister is going out to watch The Two Towers. It costs around $14 for adults (same as in Australia). I've seen it, so I'm staying home with Okaasan (Mum). She works part time at a dentist's office, sometimes working only mornings, and sometimes having whole days off.
At the house, there is a beautiful and quite large garden (no grass) complete with plum saplings and
bonsai
trees. Chikako tells me that her grandfather has a rice field, so they never have to buy rice, and there is a huge raw rice fridge in the entrance to accommodate one year's worth (where the doggy lives tied to a string - not in the fridge, in the entrance. My host Mum loves flowers, and she has a flower bed behind the house that is open to the road. It has daffodils, jonquils, narcissus, and others. She grows tulips in large pots.
 We have a traditional Japanese bathroom, but the toilet is Western style (with all the Japanese technology). Amazing that the house is in such good condition considering its age! There is a Japanese video player, a DVD player, fridge and freezer with drawers instead of western-style, traditional Japanese artwork and weave work. There are at least two huge stereos (ONE IN MY
ROOM!!!) and many pairs of shoes in little shoe towers at the door.
I wish I had
boots, I am always so cold! I need to buy some warmer stuff to wear on the long uphill ride to university. This includes ear muffs, gloves, and a beanie.
The radio (Kiss FM) plays a lot of English songs. Not from England, but in English. Sometimes by American artists. Sometimes Japanese.
Related link: Orientation
day at the university |
