#katrinagoestoasia

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Kikaijima Pictures

Since my phone was mysteriously destroyed two days before returning to the US, I lost all of my pictures and videos from the entirety of my trip. It was hard traveling internationally without technology or music for the long flight, but losing my pictures has had a longer lasting effect. Here is a collection of the pictures with the most meaning during my one month long internship that I could collect from various places and friends (big thanks to Nobu-san!).

One of my first days on the island I was invited to Sabani, the local late-night spot. I briefly learned the sanshin (a cousin of the shamisen) and fulfilled a PR mission for the Institute. It’s a really beautiful instrument and the singing style is so distinctive!

I also tried out the drum that goes with eisa ( エイサー) style of dancing native to the southern islands of Japan. The friend assisting me has studied the style since she was a little kid.

As part of a weekly English class, I once tried to explain my complicated organic chemistry research to a few of my new friends. It would have been near impossible for me to explain it in Japanese, as I’ve never studied the vocabulary required to do so; it was also to teach the students science-based English.

During a tour of the island’s garbage sorting center I got this snap of dark-toned glass bottles. The preferred alcohol of the island (for this color of glass) is fairly obvious; the same was true for the clear sake bottles.

My silhouette against a backdrop of Sugira Beach, a very fun beach (the best one on the island?) and the location of the yearly OTO Matsuri. The weather was consistently and undeniably gorgeous.

My first snorkeling experience with the Institute team! The water was much warmer than I had imagined, but I’ve only ever know the mostly frigid waters of inland lakes. This protected coral cove was far warmer than Lake Superior ever gets.

During the OTO Matsuri’s concert I participated in a style of free dancing that quite imitates the movement of water and is common to Kikaijima and the Okinawan islands. I’m dancing along with Professor Watanabe, President of the KIKAI Institute for Coral Reef Sciences. Look closely... the number of people watching (or taking pictures) from the background is exceedingly entertaining.

Fish are friends. Say hello to Nemo!

A beautiful sunset over Sugira Beach after a long day of SUP.

The most dear and central people to my time on Kikai. Thank you for taking care of me!!

A double birthday celebration commenced with an homemade ice cream sundae served in a giant clam shell and decorated with as many sweet snacks we could find at the grocery store. It was a successful surprise but melted immediately.

One of the days I helped out with English classes at the island’s (only) high school. The kids were shy but fun.

A yukata given to me by my neighbor grandma (谷本さんお祖母さん) when she very graciously took me to a small neighborhood on the other side of the island to attend their small festival (上嘉鉄の六月灯). I was literally the only person in the entire place wearing traditional clothing, and even though they had already finished the dancing portion of the evening to enjoy their picnic-like food and drink, everyone got up for a few more rounds of dancing. I was even photographed for the local newspaper...

A moment of reflection during paddle boarding in the mostly protected area of Sugira Beach. SUP ( サップ) derives from the English “stand-up paddle boarding.” Waves can be seen entering the cove between some rocky formations on the right side of the picture.

My two favorite little bros on the island, Tsuda-kun and Shin-chan, are following their passion for coral very seriously!

My college-aged peers during the Institute’s Science Camp for kids. The campers came from all across Japan to learn about coral, the ocean, and the environment, while these friends spent their college summer break roasting in the sun and roasting in the kitchen (to prepare meals for everyone). They also tolerated my exhausted Japanese after full days of working and insufficient sleep.

A portrait with the song- and dance-leading grandmas of the small neighborhood festival in Kamikatetsu. They are the literal living records of the island; without them, many of the traditions I experienced would be lost. (My neighbor grandma, 谷本さんお祖母さん, is in the pink and black outfit).

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Pictures Days 6-10

Since my phone was destroyed two days before returning to the US, I lost all of my pictures and videos from the entirety of my trip. Below is a collection of the best of what I could scrounge up.

OKAYAMA:

KURASHIKI:

HIROSHIMA:

FUKUOKA:

KAGOSHIMA:

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Day 10

Our second day in Kagoshima started with a ferry ride to the very nearby Sakurajima. It is an active volcano, and during the entirety of our stay it has been shrouded in rain clouds. It is Japan’s rainy season, after all. What we wanted to do the most was just take the ferry over there and back, so we didn’t spend much time on the island. Plus, it was extremely humid and kept raining on and off. We peeked into a shrine right next to the ferry port and stopped at a rest stop (道の駅) to cool down and get a snack. It was a short but enjoyable mini excursion.

Next, we met Megumi-san, one of my old coworkers from my internship at EF Education First two years ago, and her family just after we returned from Sakurajima by boat. Her husband and daughter Yoh came to pick us up. The three of them graciously planned to take us on a drive around Kagoshima-- and they really did! We started with a lunch of fresh bonito fish (かつお) from a place on the ocean about an hour south of Kagoshima City. It was so delicious and fun to share various dishes.

We next drove a little more south to get to a black sand “onsen” (砂むし温泉) in a town called Ibusuki (指宿). It was crazy! They buried us in the steaming black sand just for 10-15 minutes. It was quite hot, so I had to release my arms and toes to cool down a little past halfway through. Next, we drove even further south to visit the southernmost train station in Japan! Our gracious hosts took pictures with us and let us hold their child. Little Yoh is so cute... but she’s very serious in most pictures!

We next took a looping route back to the city. They had hoped for beautiful views of the towns below, but due to heavy mist we spent an hour driving through the mountains seeing nothing but white all around. Once we made it back to Kagoshima City we went to a certain little store to get some shirokuma kakigori, a very famous shaved ice dish. It has a mix of fruits and plenty of sweetened condensed milk.

The Sasaki family were such nice hosts to the two of us! It was so much fun to see their newish hometown and meet their baby girl.

When we got back to the hotel we browsed Netflix a little bit and enjoyed some snacks because we ate so much at lunch and the kakigori was quite large. Today was a really great way to end our time in Kagoshima and the whole Kansai trip. It was so much fun to go from place to place with Kyla and try to get to the heart of each location in just one day.

Thank you for following along! Until next time, Kansai~ bye bye!

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Day 7

We woke up early to get on the Shinkansen from Okayama (we rode the Sakura) to Hiroshima. Since we wanted to ride the soonest available train, we quick grabbed something from the コンビニ (convenience store) and stood in line for the unreserved cars. The line was a little long so we weren’t sure if we’d be able to sit down but we made it happen. We were expecting the ride to take an hour (which it would have on a Kodama train) but it only took half an hour, so we got off quickly and brought our bags to our accommodation (Nest Hotel).

We’ve realized that it’s best to go to the tourist-heavy, historical landmarks of a city first because they usually close quite early, so we set out right away for Hiroshima Castle. It was of high quality! The small number of museum items and model house-type displays on each floor gave physical context to the pictures and animations explaining the creation and destruction of the castle. It was also educational to see the pictures from before and after the atomic bomb, but I’m glad they showed the long process of rebuilding it too.

Naturally, we walked to the Peace Memorial Park next. Seeing the remains of the Atomic Bomb Dome (原爆ドーム) was both astonishing and shocking. Next year will be 75 years since American forces dropped the atomic bomb on Hiroshima (and Nagasaki shortly after). Since I studied a little of the history of Hiroshima in a few of my classes at St. Olaf, I got emotional thinking about the destruction and suffering of the people in those days. This was our most serious and meaningful moment on the trip. Especially as an American, especially now, as we approach the 75th anniversary of the bombing, I think this was and remains to be a crucially important place to visit.

But a cute interaction with some of middle schoolers visiting on a school trip brightened the moment. They looked at us shyly, wondering what we were doing, but were very happy when we offered to take a picture of their group. They gave us their point-and-shoot camera and giggled their thanks. We assumed they were completing a school task to take pictures in front of certain landmarks or things.

We stopped for lunch at a slightly cowboy-themed beef place (as in ハンバーガーステーキ) and then walked through one of those covered shopping streets, stopping for a bit to take overly kawaii purikura pictures. The outcome always makes me laugh and putting decorations on the pictures is fun so I’m always tempted to stop in when I see purikura booths…

We next took the bus to Shukkeien, a very pretty traditional garden. I never seem to tire of gardens! It featured a sizable pond with many large koi and a huge half-circle bridge across the middle; we sacrificed another 100 yen to feed them. It was so nice to walk around the lake, cross bridges, and take pictures! I even got to use a student discount card to buy something from the cafe. Pro tip: always bring your student ID to Japan. The discounts are plentiful.

We stopped back at the hotel to move our bags into our hotel, watched a little TV, and figured out if we could get massages or not... It ended up that only Kyla would get one, which was fine with me. I desired to sit in the room and simply relax for an hour. We ate dinner at a little local place while we were out (ramen + karaage), walked around a covered shopping area, and bought cute fruit tarts and cakes from a little local shop for a late night dessert.

By the end of the day we decided that this hotel was our favorite out of all of the hotels we choose for this trip, even though we still have two left. It is very cute, has great amenities, and is extremely photographic (pictures coming later). We ended our stay in Hiroshima in our very aesthetic hotel room with some matcha latte and the local sweets we purchased earlier. It was the perfect moment of relaxation after a busy week. Ah, life is good.

See you tomorrow in Kyushu!!

[katrinatravelsthroughasia]

Day 6

We made our way from Osaka to Okayama in the morning via the Hikari Shinkansen. It’s fun to speed past rural areas and small towns and imagine the life people live there. During the planning of our trip, we actually decided to spend a day in this town (and the very close Kurashiki) upon recommendation by one of our Japanese professors. I also heard a confirming, positive comment from another friend, so we decided to just go for it without knowing much about the place.

As soon as we arrived we dropped our bags off at the hotel and took a local train to Kurashiki to find both a place to eat lunch and the Bikan Historical Quarter. We quickly found a curry place (I got omu-curry and Kyla got chicken katsu-curry) before wandering down a covered shopping street. We were lured into a leather shop by the earthy scent and stayed to buy things we can’t fit in our suitcases… like a rectangular, bright mustard colored purse.

We finally made it to the Bikan Historical Quarter and enjoyed wandering the old streets. All of the houses and shops were in very good condition, and many sold appealing items. We found ourselves in a garden (新渓園) of historical significance, and greatly enjoyed the bubbling water and a shaded veranda for a while. I would have liked to have stayed longer (I actually would have liked to have lived there) but there are always too many things to see and do so we eventually moved on. We also crossed a river with traditional boats before briefly stopping to get some shaved ice (かき氷) to cool down.

On our way in earlier in the day we found a shrine that we wanted to stop at on the way out. So, after the shaved ice, we took off for Achi Shrine (阿知神社). In the process of getting to it we walked along a curving street with a uniform old timey feel to it. It was cute to see the interaction between the locals there, and Kyla really liked the vibe. However, we were headed in the wrong direction so we backtracked a little bit to climb the many steep steps to visit the shrine on a hill. We didn’t spend long, but stayed for long enough to appreciate the view of Kurashiki and the shrine itself.

 When we got back to Okayama we officially checked in and took a short rest in the hotel room. Because it was getting late, we had to hurry to Korakuen Garden (後楽園), the beautiful property of a very rich, powerful, and long dead noble man, and enjoyed a quick tour of the grounds during the golden hour before their closing. We ate a quick dinner of ramen, then took the tram to a department store next to our hotel to look around Uniqlo and Tokyu Hands-- we didn’t actually buy anything, though. To end the day we enjoyed the hostel’s onsen until we turned pink. Until tomorrow!

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Day 2

I woke up just before 5am and decided that I couldn’t sleep anymore, so I packed a small bag and set off on a nice long walk from Sugamo to Shibuya. Walking continuously, it would maybe take an hour or two? Since I stopped to look at things, it took me just until 9am or so. I grabbed a snack from the convenient store for breakfast and wandered south and west until I chanced upon a temple called Gokokuji (護国寺). Since it was still very early in the morning, many grandmas and grandpas were simultaneously fulfilling their pious duties and getting some morning exercise. One guy stopped to ask me where I’m from and when I’d arrived in Japan; the kind of person who just wants to practice introducing themselves in English. I’m happy to say hello to those nice kinds of people. Admittedly, there are less of those people in Japan who are willing to take that chance and practice a foreign language than in other countries. But if I use my Japanese, I can help them get started and try to meet them somewhere in the middle.

I seem to walk quite fast, even early in the morning, so I decided to walk a little slower. I passed through cute neighborhoods (with many cats) and ended up in Shin-Okubo, the Korea town, way too early to do anything interesting there. So I sat in a convenience store for some ice cream to cool down and installed my SIM card.

Later in the day I ran back to the hostel to rest a bit and grab a quick lunch before going to Shibuya to visit the EF office on Alfie’s last day there. It was so much fun to see my old co-workers (and even help them out with a little work) even thought I interned there two years ago. It was such a positive experience that I can still comfortably drop-in, totally unexpected, and be welcomed warmly.

I ended the day with a quick, late dinner at Yoshinoya and greeted Kyla at the hostel. Tomorrow we leave the city to really start our adventure. See you there!

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Pictures: Days 1-5

TOKYO: 

KYOTO:

OSAKA:

If you can’t tell from the pictures, the two things I do when I travel are: see places and eat good food. If I can accomplish that, life it good.

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DAY50

DAY50 17/7/18 11:58 PM From Andrew: I woke up at the buttcrack of dawn, for no apparent reason. A few SAO (Sword Art Online, a popular anime) episodes later and the kid woke up. A flurry of packing got us out the door around 7:30am. Apparently nothing opens until late during the week = no coffee for meeee. Instead we hiked up to a shrine (Taiyuin-byo Shrine) that we had already visited as KML didn't believe me. My backpack barely evaded theft outside a souvenir shop (not really) when I left it there as we walked to the shrine. After a saunter down the hill, we grabbed snacks from the conbini and hopped on the train back to Tokyo. Wifi on the travel was a godsend, leading to more SAO. Currently we are riding the Ginza Line towards the Sakura house and a future in Shinjuku. Soba and my ryokan await. Until the evening. 3:55 PM From Katrina: We stopped at Kita-Sando to drop off our bags and cool off for a bit, reapply deodorant, and have a quick lunch at a food truck right next to the share house. It was scrumptious. We then took the Fukutoshin line to Ikebukuro to fulfill Andrew's childhood dream of going to the Poke Center. He was slightly disappointed because it was kind of just a stuffed animal store. We walked around the mall for a bit more then bought some fried rice and gyoza as a snack. We're now on our way back to the share house to grab his things and I'll bring him to his ryokan (traditional Japanese inn) in Asakusa before we stop at Akihabara to experience even more geeky Japanese culture. 6:21 PM We transferred at Shibuya to take the Ginza line all the way back to Asakusa. I watched a show on Andrew's tablet and he read a book because the ride was so long. It took about half an hour. I showed him to his accommodation, Ryokan Asakusa Shigetsu. It's really awesome and aesthetically pleasing, with a very nice view. Plus, it's right in the middle of Kaminarimon (雷門), Nakamise (中��) and Sensoji Temple (浅草寺). I sat in his room for a while before I was contacted about one last fun meal with the big bosses in EF. I'm rushing back to Shibuya now to go out with them and enjoy a delicious meal in celebration of a internship well done. I guess we're some of the higher (if not highest?) quality interns they've had. I'm looking forward to a fantastic meal!! 12:13 AM We first went to the Park Hyatt hotel in Shinjuku to see the city view and the very bar in which they filmed Lost in Translation, a move from the 00's. I unfortunately haven't seen it. We then went through another hotel in Roppongi to reach a kushiyaki (deep friend things on a stick) place for some appetizers. It was scrumptious and we got some traditional desserts to wrap it up. After that we finally walked to out dinner spot, called Inakaya. Many famous people have visited multiple times over the last 11 or so years, and Sange has brought a few of the famous people pictured in their album of noteworthy customers. The ingredients were so beautifully displayed and so fresh and literally the best ones from today's choices. The cooks sat in the middle over the coals and very carefully cooked and cut all sorts of delicious things. It was better than anything. It's the reason why I enjoy Japanese cooking so much-- pure, high quality ingredients, simple but enhancing preparation that brings out the natural flavors, and a lot of fun while doing so. We parted late tonight and will reconvene with many more people tomorrow. Until tomorrow! Katrina

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DAY53

DAY53 17/7/21 9:21 PM The veeery last day at the EF Tokyo office. I feel like I both just started this internship and have been working since forever. There something about the Shibuya office that's very bright and fun; but it also could be because the people who work there exactly embody those same traits. I met with a friend who just graduated from St. Olaf for lunch. We got noodles and had a good time catching up, and it's really quite a miracle that we ended up being able to meet and that we were able to find each other in person in time. We got some mango juice drinks after, and then parted ways because I had to run a shopping errand for Alfie. As per usual, is was the sunburn-in-15-minutes kind of weather and I sweated my way around Shibuya. I returned to an office full of Friday feels and happy voices. I finished my work, cleaned up, and had some final fun moments with my sadly temporary coworkers. My family come shortly before dinner and talked to some people on the office. Before leaving, Andy and I were thanked and formally said goodbye to. It was a kind of sad moment and really reminded me of when I first arrived. With the fam we went out to Shibuya Center Gai to see the crossing, the night life, and have some awesome Shabu Shabu. My time is almost up. Only 9 days left. Goodnight Tokyo! Katrina

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DAY47

DAY47 17/7/15 11:38 AM Today my brother arrives in Tokyo! It's his first time in Asia and I'm not really sure how much he really knows about Japan, so I'm really looking forward to his reactions and what things he wants to do. I'm going to make a stop in Shibuya's Hikarie to try out the Korean bento boxes (도시락) that were recommended to me by some of the UD team girls. It's nice to shake it up every once in a while and go for some food from a nearby country. I'm never really in the mood to have Western food, though. I think my body reacts better to the stuff that is in Asian cooking. 8:35 PM I've just finished a full day of things with Andrew! We walked around Harajuku, Ometesando and eventually Shibuya, and then took the train back to Shinjuku to walk the area and find a place in Shinjuku's Golden Gai (新宿ゴルデン街) for dinner. We got ramen at a restaurant called Nagi, which had a very interesting rendition of the noodle dish. The soup base was very dark and concentrated, the noodles were wavy and thick, and they had a few of the wide, flat kind of noodle thrown in. I really enjoy eating dishes with eggs while with Andrew because he doesn't like them, so I always get to eat his. I think I ate about twice as much as him, probably partly because he was messed up from the across-the-globe flight. But still... he's twice my size... and I still ate more... I then went with my bro to his capsule hotel, which actually wasn't extremely small at all, and returned on my own to the share house to get ready for our trip to Nikko tomorrow. See you in the morning! Katrina

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DAY32

DAY32 17/6/30 10:00 AM Wooooooow crazy. I got up early and did some train monkey business to get to the Sakura House office so I could pay for my last month of stay and set my check out date and time. I came into the office with a big sneeze right as Sange was reporting low numbers at the morning. It was quite (めちゃ) awkward. Onward to more video editing like a crazy person. 6:40 PM We just finished our English lesson. The kids were really fun to teach, even if their level was a little lower than it could be if they were practicing more, but I guess they're busy..... it's a valid excuse. It's always really fun to see the moment something clicks in the mind of a student, and even more exciting to test them and see success. We're on our way to see Nagisa put on her mini concert, and I think we're going to be quite late... hopefully she starts a little late and doesn't have it too short. She's a really cool kid and I want to show my support! After that we're planning on getting dinner. I'm already so hungry... 12:02 AM Nagisa's concert was a blast!! She played with her band in the beginning and by herself at the end and had some friends do some guest performances in the middle. It was so good. She has a really nice (and cute) voice and the songs she wrote all had really nice lyrics. I even bought her EP at the end. A lot of the EF staff and EF Ambassadors were there, which was really nice to see and be a part of. I went with the staff out to dinner afterwards, which was really quite delicious. There was so much food and it was so delicious, but we couldn't finish it all. I had a really fun time talking with Haruka, Daiki and Ami, who I sat with during dinner. I'm always learning something new in Japanese. I got home late again after having a really fun time. See you tomorrow! Katrina

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A Review of Kikaijima:

I’ve learned a lot and reflected extensively on my understanding and relationship with the environment during my time on Kikaijima. I spent 5 weeks on a sub-tropical coral island in southern Japan. I worked approximately 6 days a week to organize events, provide my English, and help out here and there at the KIKAI Institute for Coral Reef Sciences. The week before I started my internship I traveled down the southern part of Japan with a friend from college. We spent time in Tokyo, Kyoto, Osaka, Okayama (and nearby Kurashiki), Hiroshima, Fukuoka, and Kagoshima. During those 6 weeks, I became more comfortable and quick speaking Japanese, had fun, experienced the ocean more, and learned about coral, but I also spent a whole lot of time reflecting upon the natural environment and how human action is continuously degrading and polluting it.

There is a Japanese anime called “Barakamon” that takes place on a small, remote island in Japan called Fukue Island. I watched an episode or two a few years ago, and when I finalized my trip to Kikai all I could imagine was a lifestyle comparable to the anime. The kids are wild, non-standard dialect is prevalent, and the airport is so small that everyone immediately knows everyone who arrives. The main character deals with an empty, dirty house, a bath that doesn’t work, and random kids intruding in on his privacy. From an outsider’s perspective, that doesn’t sound so different from the experience I had on Kikai. The population of Kikaijima is approximately twice as much as the number of students at St. Olaf College, which I consider small.  I couldn’t turn on the hot water in the bath for a week and a half, and became very skilled at showering very quickly; however, it was a good way to cool down in the hot weather. I even fought with spiders, geckos and ants for control of the corners and crevices of the house. Regardless of those exterior struggles, after 5 weeks living in the Somachi/Shiomichi area of the island, I’ve become quite accustomed and quite fond of the little things, including the lack of ability to do much of anything in a small neighborhood on a small island. Going to the airport side always feels kind of exciting and liberating, but slowing life down a bit really changes your personal physical and mental health.

Being restricted or limited to such a location also allowed me to learn a lot about the land, ocean, flora and fauna of this place far from home, which only makes me more passionate about my study of the global environment. Humans are an inseparable part of the environment, but we are clearly distinct. No one creature treats the earth like we do, creating such huge chemical changes as to limit our future selves. It is a little depressing to think about it every day, but at the same time I’m learning more about our beautiful planet and experiencing parts of it that I’ve never seen before. It’s also astonishing to fully realize the extent of how similar and yet how different human experience within a location can be across the world. I think daily about how we, as a global society, can possibly attempt to prevent the worst damage caused by anthropogenic climate change and global warming. After I made presentations (in Japanese) about these topics, I now feel a little more comfortable using the vocabulary and communicating about a topic I only just (relatively) recently learned about in English. My short but intense month on Kikaijima forced me out of some comfort zones, pushed me to learn about completely new ideas, and allowed me to grow internally. Although this internship clearly is not a match for many people, it was a good one for me at this period of my life and has given me many lasting memories.

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8/6

So, by some mysterious forces (none of which are water, sand, or sun), my phone has died. Therefore, I’ve lost all of my photos and videos from the trip—both the tour through Kansai as well as everything from the island. I will have to ask friends and family to send back the photos I have sent to them in the hope of retrieving the most striving images. I have to travel without any assistance from maps, the ability to search the web, or find entertainment to kill time; a real challenge and bit of a bore. As for travel itself, I managed to get on the second (and last) flight of the day from Kikai to Kagoshima, arrived shortly after the typhoon, and then was able to continue on to Tokyo. I will update with pictures at a later date!

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8/3

Things have gotten crazy around the Institute. It feels like the population of Somachi/Shiomichi (the two neighborhoods where the Institute is located) has tripled since the campers (as well as a number of professors and some of the campers’ family members) have started arriving. The science camp will last for a week and a day after I leave, and then some of Professor Watanabe’s research students from Hokkaido University will come down for a boot camp-like experience. For once, this quiet “countryside” portion of the island has become a buzzing place brought under the attention of the police, firefighters, hospital staff, and a good portion of the islanders giving their time as volunteers to ensure the health and happiness of the campers. I’m excited to get to know the kids and get a taste of the camp before I leave the island. However, a typhoon (#9) is coming. It will interrupt my flight path to Kagoshima and therefore possibly to Tokyo. Although the island has been great fun, hopefully the typhoon doesn’t prevent me from leaving and cause me to miss my international flight.

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8/1

Something that bugs me about being a foreigner in Japan in the amount of compliments I receive on my Japanese. First, when I tell Americans that I’ve studied the language for four years they immediately ask me if I’m fluent. I don’t think anyone can be fluent in Japanese after studying at a normal pace for only 4 years. If I had studied in Japan for 4 years in a remote area under a strict teacher I could probably become quite close to fluent. But I think it’s close to impossible to do that out of the context of the place in which the language is spoken. To me, fluency includes an intense understanding of the culture behind a language, so it requires extended study of the people, cuisine, pop culture, history, and politics of a country in context to really become “fluent.” In my opinion, fluency is also being able to hold a conversation about anything people might talk about over dinner without any major hiccups. Even if someone knows nothing about calligraphy, they recognize the words “brush” and “ink,” but if my English brain hasn’t had the chance to ever make the connection between those items and the vocabulary used to describe them (like as shown on TV as a baby or in an experiential class in elementary school), then there’s no way I can discuss those topics easily and fluidly. So, when Japanese people tell me my Japanese is pera pera (an onomatopoeia that roughly translates to being fluent), I mean it when I say I’m not. In my opinion I’m still at the imitation stage of an elementary school student, simply with a much larger capacity for studying complicated topics and learning complex grammar patterns. So, no, I still have a long ways to go before I’m fluent, and yes, I will still make a lot of mistakes in all aspects of my use of the language between now and then.

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7/21

Last night I dressed up in a very pretty yukata (the summer, cotton version of a kimono), borrowed from the kind grandma that lives next door, to go to a matsuri in the shuraku called Kamikatetsu. I was the only person wearing a yukata (everyone else was in casual clothes) and they were enjoying a late night picnic. The sunsets pretty early in Japan, which is good with such hot weather in the summer. One of the uncles at the matsuri told me that I have a nice way of speaking (Japanese). It was the first time I’ve ever heard that from anyone!! I was so happy to hear it because I’ve always felt (and been told) that I have an American accent. I probably still had an accent, and he probably just meant that I sounded like I’d received a proper Japanese education (which I have, thanks to my hardworking professors). However, I still want to speak Japanese more clearly and with as little accent as possible. Sometimes I can actually feel my mouth forming the wrong shape and then can painfully hear the mispronunciation. It’s something which usually happens when I’m in a rush to explain something or at the end of a long day.