What has changed?

My thoughts on the roads here have changed a lot since I have spent so much time on them. I first thought they were too narrow and too difficult, but as I said in an earlier blog the people seem to be very considerate of others and it is really quite easy to commute around the towns on bikes, in cars, walking, or however you are going to your destination. The whole time I have been here I still have not seen one accident. I have seen where an accident has happened but never witnessed one. That is very good because in Utah I see them at least once a week.That is where the roads are twice as wide the cars are sometimes three to six times bigger that the average ones here. I think because the roads are so narrow it makes people better drivers because they have to focus constantly because there is no room for an error. if you swerve you could run into a house or a person or into a ditch that may consume the whole car. I bike around all the time now and I am never worried about being hit by a car. I figure as long as I obey the rules and use common sense I will not get hit.

I have also changed my opinion about what crowded really is. When I took this picture I remember thinking how many people were there. If you look at the picture you can see huge spaces all over. I know many people are polite and will avoid being in your picture but as you can see the space is too wide for that to have been going on. So what I thought was crowded is nothing to what I think is crowded now. For example if I have to stand on the train because all the seats are full that is not crowded it just means there are people on the train. BUT if I have to stand on the train and I have to spoon with some older lady that may be a little too crowded. I can always tell when a place is too crowded by the fact that there always seems to be an older woman to lean on me and rest like I am a wall. I find it very interesting! If I am sitting they normally don't sit by me unless there is only one seat, but if it is standing time it doesn't really matter how much space is on the train they seem to lean against me. That is now my "If it is crowded or not" gauge.

I am finally ok with the wildlife in Japan!

First off I had a really hard time getting used to how different the animalls are around Japan. I first met this husband and wife in Tennouji. The male's name is Hiroshi and the woman's name is Haruhi. We quickly became friends having a similar interest in foods and humor. They too are foreigners which is another thing we could talk about. They find living in Japan a little strange as many people want to have photos with them for no reason other than to take a picture with some strange characters. I relate to that very much.

I thought it was a little hard to get used to the transportation in Japan at first because if you aren't taking the normal cars, bus, bike, or train than you are stuck with the remaining option. A slow and not so comfortable ride by Zousan. Zousan is happy as long as you don't kick him and give him some treats. Right now you can see he is raising his trunk to see how hot it will be and if he should drink more water before we leave the shade. Zousan is no dummy!

Dogs are a common pet in Japan. There aren't normally ones big enough for full grown foreign males to sit on, but I managed to find one.

I have also gotten used to watching where I am walking. This is a little kamesan that I found pretty far away from water. I was really surprised that I did not step on him. I actually thought it was a toy, but it was the real deal. since my being more careful with my walking I find all kinds of weird things now. It seems that people love to lose strange items all over the paths that I travel.

<----Lastly I got used to this guy. His name is Kabasan and he is another foreigner. In his homeland he was very territorial but here in Japan he has learned how to get along with people and even give rides for a living. In his homeland, he told me that "if someone tried to jump on my back I would have bite them in half. The Japanese people have really taught me how to control my anger". I was surprised to hear him say that but grateful because I needed a ride to the hotel.

This whole time in Japan has taught me many weird and wonderful things about myself and others. I think I will really miss all my new friends when I HAVE TO return to Utah. I will come back to Japan as soon as possible though!

More trouble in Japan

Wherever I go in Japan I always see somethingabout kidnapping or chikans. Around my neighborhood I always see little yellow flags with a scared big headed kid on it. The meaning of the flag is the owner of that house is willing to help people in need. The reason I chose this is because of the police involvement with this situation. http://mdn.mainichi.jp/national/news/20080424p2a00m0na024000c.html This is a link to a site showing how recently in Tokyo two men were arrested for kidnapping and they were caught and are now going to be serving life sentences. Another case in Nagoya http://mdn.mainichi.jp/national/news/20080503p2a00m0na006000c.html is a little strange to me. I can't believe this still happens. But a woman was trying to help someone and he tried to kidnap her at knife point. I am not sure how people can do that in day time but I think there needs to be more people willing to help. Even though the posts are up saying people will help I still haven't heard about how someone actually stopped people from getting hurt or anything.

This picture was taken in a train station in Kyoto. I think it is crazy to see that they are cartoon drawings of such a serious problem. The only reason I noticed it was because my friend and I happen to stop right by it and I have a little attention span so I was looking at everything I could on my break from walking. If I hadn't stopeed though I would never have paid attention to a cartoon and consider it to be some important message. I am really curious of how many people pay attention to these warnings because of how they are displayed. This site(http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9B0DE6DE1139F933A1575AC0A961948260) says that 95 % of kidnappers are caught. But I didn't see how many kidnappings actually occur. There are not many for ransom though.

Clubs and circles in Japanese schools. Make yourself some friends!

Here is a look at club recruitment day. It is Sunday, but looks as busy as or even busier than a normal school day at Kansai. Clubs and circles are a little different from one another by clubs being a little more strict on their rules and circles are more linient. Club recruitment day is about showing people the different types of clubs or circles they can enter. A lot of them are free other than you may need to buy some clothes to train in or what not. So it is an easy way to make yourself some friends!

Foreign students are welcome to join clubs but they are treated a little different from Japanese Kansai students. An example of this is when I was asked today to join the track and field circle I asked what days they trained. They said "Everyday except Thursday and Sunday, but since you are a foreign student you can come when you want to." I like that schedule!

The real point of the clubs though is to bring people together and to teach them about working together.Of course there are clubs that will really train you too. It depends on what you are into. At least this is what I have learned from being in a circle. It is really just a interesting way to meet people in my opinion. One club today that wanted me to join said I could just come and talk with people and not even do what they were training for. Another said I could join the club and just go and drink with them.

Martial arts clubs are more strict with training. Again though they still hang out with each other outside of the training rooms.

I went around and asked peeople why they join the clubs and their first answer is to make friends and be social. Because your friends don't come with you from high school it is an easy way to be social with people and not be intrusive. It makes for a more enriching college experience.

Some sports in Japan

Skateboarding in Japan is not as popular as I thought it would be, but it is still here and you can often see people skateboarding in certain places. Skateboarding in Japan is even more difficult than in America. There are too many people out in the day time and at night places are limited with good lighting. Because skateboading is loud it is also harder to do at night. Sound travels through the neighborhoods so people are more likely to call the police or come out themselves and ask you to stop making so much noise.

There are skateparks in Japan, but mostly in the bigger cities and they are mostly in wharehouses at least according to Steve Cave at http://skateboard.about.com/cs/boardscience/a/sk8inJapan.htm.

A real big problem with skateboarding becoming popular here is the price of the boards, shoes, and anything else you want for skating are extremely expensive. From the stores I have been to things are generally twice as much as in America. Some of the shoe prices are almost three times as much, which puts them around 160 dollars. Shoes don't last long skateboarding and most people can't afford to get new ones at that price as often as you would need them.

If you skateboard in Japan be careful and mind the other people. The best itme is really at night and near larger train stations. Trains will cover the noise and the area should be well lit.

Soccer is a very popular sport in Japan. It is a good sport because everyone can play and you can play all over. You are always able to find a park near where you are in Japan. It is not as popular as baseball, but more people are involved in playing soccer not just watching. From the people I have talked to it seems that women are only a little less interested than men in this sport. This is very different from America where NOBODY seems to be interested in soccer. In Japan they know American Soccer teams and players names. Of course they know other countries teams as well and their own teams.

Christianity, its all good

This is a picture I took while strolling around waiting to see a movie in Shinjo, Kyoto around March 27th or so. I was actually very surprised to see this there. I was aware there were Christians in Japan but up to this point I had not seen anything relating to Christianity. Here is a link to a brief history of religion in Japan http://homepage3.nifty.com/su/Englishpage/History_Christianity.html.

Since I noticed this bookstore I have also noticed a few other Christian places around Japan. I found a Christian elementary school in Korien. I read here (http://www.japan-guide.com/e/e2298.html) that from the beginning of Christianity in Japan it was mostly middle to upper class people that joined. It makes sense to me that in those times the more welathy would have the religion because other people would not have had time for work and religion.

One part of Christianity I have noticed that are widely celebrated in Japan are the holidays. For example Christmas or Saint Valentine's day. Saint Valentine's Day has also been modified in Japan to the White Day in March. (Valentine's day is for women to give chocolate to men and White Day is for men to return chocolate to women.)

This is a picture of one of my friends that is wearing a cross earing and a necklace with The Virgin Mary on it. These are not worn for the religion but for the fashion of them. Since I saw these and asked about them I have also noticed several other people wearing them.

I asked these people if they were Christian or Catholic and the answers have all been no. An interesting thing I learned was that some people had gone to Christian junior and high schools, but were not Christian at all. Where I am from I know of a Christian school and you had to be Christian or they wouldn't consider you to be allowed to attend.

I find it very interesting that these religions in Japan are so different from in America. I think it is very good to be open minded in this case and let be enrolled in their school and not be part of their religion.

The entertainment of relaxation by gardening.

These are some pictures of things I have noticed around my neighborhood. The reason I chose to take photos of these gardens is because gardening is very enteretaining to many people. These pictures are taken all within the range of around one block. There are several more, but I felt that I would be being too intrusive if I looked over people's fences into their private yards to take some photos.
This first photo is of a garden that to me looks entertaining in three different ways. First off the if you look at the house in the background you can see that it is an older style Japanese house, so someone had a good time planning the layout of this garden. To the right where the photo ends is a normal front door. This is just the view from the gate to walk through the garden.
Second, this garden is very well kept. If you look closely at the bushes they are trimmed very neatly. There is also the statues that have no dirt on them. They are cleaned regularly. If you look at the rocks in the middle of the path way you can see that the grass srrounding them doesn't cover them at all. some people do gardening just to have it look good but people with gardens this neat take some enjoyment from it.
The last bit of enjoyment that I see here is the fact that the owners look at it and can see how beautiful and relaxing it is. I was told by my old host family's mother that when she sits in her garden it brings a cettain calmness over her like a meditation. She can just stand or sit there and she can feel stress being lifted from her. Her garden was different from this one, but maybe the people can feel the same effect from theirs.
This next picture is of a house around the corner from the last one. It is a different style of garden which is obvious because most of these plants are in pots(the strangest plant is the big red one with lights and drinks in it). Where the plants are has little to do with the entertainment of the garden though. I looked at these plants to see what kinds of plants there were to compare with the garden at my house in America. These are only plants. What I mean by that is that the plants grown here are not for food or something like that. They are just grown for the fun of gardening. They are
still well kept all the same. I see the owner of this garden outside watering and maintaining them regularly.

This is another picture of a well kept garden. Again if you look at the hedges you can see that they get trimmed often to keep the lines even and neat looking. When I looked at this garden I of course had to notice this gate that is sometimes part of a garden. This could be considered part of the garden since there is a design on the gate and the handles to the gate have designs also. The design is of a lion's head. If you look closely though you can see that the left side is the exact same gate as the right. meaning the head is upside down. I did ask some people passing by if there was a reason and they said they had no idea. I think it is just because the design of the gate is cool so they got the same to make it wider. There is another garden type I would like to show a picture of but I couldn't find one in time, but is known as Zen Gardens. Here is a link to one that you can get a portable garden to calm your stresses http://www.zengarden.co.za/. But the one I really like is http://www.ppsimages.com/spj/pix_pages/07GARDENS/garden_04.html. This shows several pictures of different types of these fantastic gardens and other types as well. For me all kinds of gardens are good but they prodause diffferent feelings for me. These pictures I have of the gardens with plants make me feel calm and relaxed, but the rock gardens make me feel calm but very secure. I also think of being in an ocean.
I hope this sparks some interest for someone!