Winter

I had a feeling that I might slip into the habit of not writing in my blog, and I invariably did.

Much has past since my last posts, including a trip to Kansai, Korea, the United States (including both California and New York), Tokyo and Hokkaido.

I am currently writing this blog from the decidedly bland city of Tsukuba, in Ibaraki-ken. This place is roughly an hour away from Tokyo, and I have come here to stay at a fellow Fulbrighter's (who is unfortunately absent) place while I wait for Fulbright Alum Nick Hatt to arrive in Tokyo for a short vacation. I have snuck into the campus's computer lab, and using my friend's password and ID, have been able to log in.

Writing after such a long time is a daunting task, and if I were to follow the writing style of my previous posts, I would most likely be writing for days. In order to mediate this issue, I will write some short fact-based posts which will focus on my trips.

Kansai - Thanksgiving in Kobe was my first Thanksgiving away from my family, and accordingly had some big shoes to fill. It was, however, a resounding success, with 12 Fulbrighters gathering, each bringing a local speciality (I brought Fukuoka's famous Hakata Ramen) and sitting down for some great food, drink and conversation. It was a great chance to catch up with (almost) everyone and learn about their lifestyles in their respective cities. This was followed up by a quick trip to visit my host-family in Osaka, who in true Kansai fashion greeted me with the phrase "You again?" It was nice to catch up with them as well, and see my host-sister-in-law, who is pregnant and expecting a child this Spring.

(South) Korea - This was an intensely interesting experience. Having studied China and Japan, I guessed that Korea would be a cultural amalgam of the two. This was the case in some ways, but not in others. Korea does indeed carry its own unique culture, very separate from China and Japan. One interesting, albeit immediately apparent difference is the fact that metal chopsticks are used there, as opposed to wood in China and Japan. Food is also very different, with scissors many times used chop meat. Happening on a small work-based party led me to infer that corporate relations are somewhat similar to Japan in that after work drinks are obligatory. The city of Seoul had the shiny skyscrapers to rival Tokyo, but also backstreet markets that resembled what can be found in China. The experience was topped with the exchange rate, with the Yen strong throughout the world and the Won weak throughout. I found myself eating more than I could remember, which was great with all of the amazing Korean food. I would like to visit, once more, however, when my Korean friend is there. That way I will be able to meet and chat with more Koreans, which was the one activity I was not able to engage in as much as I would have liked.

United States of America - This was an interesting trip in that it forced me to be introspective. Before touching down on the SFO tarmac, I had decided that I might want to stay in Japan for a number of years before returning to the States. This trip would be a big test as to see if I would change my mind after 2 weeks enjoying the many luxuries of the States. Seeing my friends was great, while seeing high school acquaintances struggling in the now crippled economy was awkward at best. Through the trip I realized that I do have a deep appreciation for my family and friends, and of course I had the feeling that it would be nice to see them more. I did not, however, have any feelings of wanting to move back to the States after my Fulbright year. I am not finished with Japan. A last side note - I went to New York City for the first time, gathering with some of my closest friends for a week beginning with New Year's Eve celebrations. I liked New York more than I expected. People were nicer and more approachable than one might think after watching television and film set in the area.

Tokyo - I returned to Tokyo last week (plane tickets and two nights accommodation provided by the good people at the Japan-U.S. Educational Commission) to have the mid-year conference. They chose to have the mid-year conference earlier than previous years, hoping it would serve as an impetus for more focused research. Most of the conversations, interestingly enough, focused on our daily lives rather than our (lack of) research. I have a feeling many Fulbrighters spend the first semester focusing on classes, fitting in socially, and the Japanese language and focus on research during the second semester. This will definitely be my case. It was good to catch up with Fulbrighters and see how they have progressed. I also had a chance to speak with some Fulbright alumni and get an idea of what my post-Fulbright options are.

Hokkaido - Just a few days ago I got back from a trip to the frigid northern island of Hokkaido. There are two fellows residing there, one living in Sapporo - the largest city on the island, and one in Iwamizawa, a tiny town in the snowy countryside. Sapporo was hosting the annual Snow Festival, so I was able to see a great many snow and ice sculptures. There was some sort of international snow sculpture competition going on which begged the question "Where are the Mexicans and Malaysians building their snow sculpting skills?" As a large festival, the festival grounds were complete with international cuisine. I delighted in some Indian and Turkish food, which seemed to be selling well, while the stand with traditional Russian fare looked lonely and isolated. Going to the back country allowed me to engage in a few activities which I never would have sought out on my own, namely cross-country skiing and snow-shoeing. We were also able to find a Sapporo Izakaya (Japanese style of bar) welcoming its customers with 30 minute all-you-can-drink specials for 300 yen (roughly 3 dollars) a person. This is simply unheard of. Additionally Japanese cuisine was available for the outlandish price of 300 yen. Kimchi pork, fried chicken breast, over-sized Onigiri - all 300 yen! The place was almost too cheap, with each of us coming up with more and more ridiculous explanations.

Well I am sure I have bored you all enough with my relentless trip-based stories. I will stop directly after talking about future plans. I have applied to a language school in Yokohama and will hear my results in March. If I were to obtain funding, I think it might be a good decision. I am also looking at jobs, and plan on going to some large Job Fairs in Tokyo in June and July. Lastly, through my research I hope to interview managers at large Japanese firms, and hopefully build relationships that could lead to job offers. Hopefully I will not be homeless come September!

Max

November

My last blog was about a month ago, and it is now already approaching mid-November.

I wonder where to begin. This past month has been relatively tough for a multitude of reasons. I had an interview with an investment management company based in the states that I had been interested in for a few years, but unfortunately after two interviews they decided to go with someone else.

For the first week after this occurred, I literally looked at grad schools, fellowships and job opportunities until 6:00AM every day. I was also frustrated with my lack of consistent friends, and instead of trying to meet with people, sat in my room on my computer and felt sorry for myself. I distinctly remember the lowest point I reached: Lying on my stomach on my thin futon in my spartan apartment, I realized that if I somehow choked on a sandwich (this is especially strange as I haven't been able to obtain many choke-inducing-size sandwiches out here) and died, no one would find out for an estimated two weeks. Looking back on that moment I can laugh, but at the time it was fairly depressing. I quickly realized that this was an unhealthy pattern, and not very useful for that matter, and was eventually (in about 4 days) able to ween myself off of that habit.


I decided to focus more on relaxing, having fun and meeting people, and I'm pretty sure that I have been successful in that regard.

I took a trip out to Kansai to see my old home stay family. I went by night bus for the first time in Japan and had an "interesting experience." I of course didn't know exactly how they worked, so I tried to nap while bright lights were blaring at my face, then after an hour gave up and tried to read. As soon as I started reading they turned all of the lights off. I ended up laughing myself to sleep, and now I fortunately have learned the order of things. My home stay family is doing well despite the fact that my home stay father has recently been stricken with a severe case of stomach cancer. He has lost a considerable amount of weight, but always seems to be in good spirits when I see him. It was nice to spend time with them and get a few home-cooked Japanese meals under my belt. On the same trip I also had the opportunity to see two other Fulbright fellows, both in Kyoto. It was comforting to hear that they were going through the same types of struggles, and we exchanged advice. One of the fellows also gave me some cooking tips, which proved to be invaluable.

In regards to cooking - one of the what I like to call "grown-up skills" that I sorely lack, I have been improving rapidly. Most of this comes from necessity, but I have recently become proficient at cooking a few, admittedly simple, meals. I really had no idea how inexpensive it can be. Fortunately I live near an almost criminally cheap supermarket, and am able to purchase chicken breast for something to the tune of a dollar-fifty. Combine that with some vegetables, fruits and rice and you have nutritionally complete yet thrifty meal on your hands. The Yakiniku Tare - or basically sauce for cooking meat - has seemed like (and I'm stealing this quote from a Japanese friend) "something that came down from heaven" as it quickly adds flavor to any bland recipe I can imagine.

In Fukuoka I have recently met a lot of people, and have been slowly realizing that having a variety of friends, as opposed to sticking with just one group, can be an advantageous position to be in. I've been hanging out with undergrads from places like Sri Lanka, Bulgaria, Korea and China, as well as first year masters students from Japan. This way, a decent amount of time I'm speaking Japanese, while still learning about cultures other than the US and Japan, which keeps conversations fresh and interesting.

I even went to my first official American football game in Japan. Just this past Sunday I went to a Kyushu University game, where they played Kyushu Sangyou University. I was told Kyushu University had a good team for the Kyushu area, but I didn't expect what I saw. Kyushu University absolutely destroyed their opponent, 44 - 0. The level of play was much higher than what I saw at Kansai Gaidai when I studied abroad there my sophomore year. The most interesting thing about the game: Kyushu University's team nickname - The Palookas - a name that truly strikes fear into opponents hearts. In case you didn't know (I sure as heck didn't), a Palooka, according to the American Heritage Dictionary is 1.) "Sports - An incompetent or easily defeated athlete, especially a prizefighter." or 2.) "Slang - A stupid or clumsy person."
Wow.

On the academic side of things, I have been focusing on my coursework, and more specifically my Japanese language courses. They are proving to be useful, and there has been a decent amount of cross-over between my Japanese language classes and my economics and management classes conducted in Japanese. It's always a great feeling to understand a word that you just learned an hour earlier in a different class. I have recently learned, however strange it may sound, that I need to study the USA more. In class I am frequently asked about my position or thoughts on certain historical and recent events in or regarding the states, and I in turn frequently have no idea how to respond.

I have downloaded a flashcard program on my computer which has helped me absorb material much more quickly than in the past. It allows me to test myself on recently learned Japanese vocabulary, characters and phrases every night, and this constant review has proven invaluable. In case anyone is interested, it's called "anki" (which means "memorization" in Japanese - but the program can be used for just about anything) and is available for free at: ichi2.net/anki/

My research has been slow to start. I have recently received some tips as far as preliminary research materials from my adviser, but I haven't put them to work yet. I have a feeling that I'll start digging into them soon, but I don't expect anything substantial to come about until next semester, which I feel is an understandable and acceptable time-line. In my research proposal I wrote that I'd focus on Japanese language and economics coursework during my first semester, and focus on research my second semester, and it's looking like it will turn out that way.

Lastly - Trips!
I recently went on my first Kyushu excursion with fellow Oberlin Alumnus Tom Newhall, over to a shrine in a town called Usa, in the neighboring prefecture of Oita. It was a nice, although short trip (basically one afternoon and evening) but it left me hungry for more. I'm planning on going back to Kansai later in the month for a large Fulbright fellow gathering for thanksgiving, which should prove to be "splendid." I think 12 of the 15 fellows are coming down, and I'm very much looking forward to seeing everybody and exchanging tales and insights. Also: on December 5th I'm flying to Seoul to meet up with my freshman roommate John Hugens, which I'm also very excited about. I've never been to, nor seriously studied Korea, so it will be interesting to compare the country to both Japan and China. A 5 day trip with free lodgings, free tour guide (John, if it wasn't obvious), and a exchange rate that's laughably in my favor - to say it simply, should be "fun."

Ok, well I hope everyone is doing well!

Max

October Begins

It is now October and much has happened since my last post. 

First off I should acknowledge an anecdote that I had to omit from my last post. An interesting thing about the way in which Fulbright pays each Fulbrighter in Japan, is that it is in cash. One envelope. This is because without this cash, and without a bank account (which is virtually impossible to have without a valid Alien Registration Card) we would all quickly fall into unfortunate circumstances (i.e. unable to eat, sleep, etc.). This is not very interesting, but the amount of cash that I was carrying is. I had the rough equivalent of almost $7,000 in yen in an envelope on my person for about a week. In almost any other country I would have been constantly terrified, but with my satisfaction with the (relatively) low crime rate in Japan, I wasn't too worried. At one point, I had to go to the local bank to set up my account with Hashimoto, and he witnessed the ridiculous amount of money I had. He literally began to shake in fear, and yelled out "怖い!" (scary). The only people that would carry such cash in Japan are likely to be criminals that Hashimoto had seen in movies and comic books in his childhood. Interesting to say the least.

 I moved into my new apartment by myself successfully, for which I was happy. Afterwards I set out to fill it up with things both necessary and unnecessary. I ended up buying a futon and sheets, but because a taxi would have been roughly $30, I decided to take my new sleep station on the train with me. This required me walking a total of about an hour carrying a full futon in one hand and a comically large plastic bag full of sheets, blankets and a pillow in the other. It definitely warranted some stares. While riding the train, I attempted to sit with the futon on my lap, which was a failure. The image must have been pretty laughable. One would have only been able to see a large futon on my lap, with my fingers wrapped around the corners, and nothing but a tuft of hair emerging from the top of the futon. An elderly woman eventually peeked around the corner of the futon to see me and exclaimed, "大変だね!" (that's gotta be tough, huh). She allowed me to set the futon down on the floor between us and later offered her friends and I cookies. I was smiling the whole time. 

After price checking at some discount stores and recycle shops (basically a used-goods dealer), I opted to try to buy some goods from a fellow foreigner that I found through the website for a local magazine aimed at the foreigner community. I scored a great deal on a TV and a refrigerator. I payed about half of what I would have paid at the local recycle shop. The person's internet alias was "Joh Axel" and he didn't communicate very well over the internet in written English. We set up a time to meet at my apartment building, and at one point he asked for my room number just in case I was late. I started to get a little "sketched out," thinking that he was most likely a large, scary Germanic ("Joh Axel") man trying to mug me. I told him that I would meet him outside. We met in the dark of the evening, and my terrifying German mugger ended up being a middle aged South Asian professor type. He seemed surprised, if not scared of me, barely spoke, and drove off as fast as possible after receiving payment. 

Note: the TV and fridge work great to this day! (knock on wood)

 I bought a used bike, which became my gateway to the city, and allowed me to save on public transportation fares. By bike, I live roughly 4 minutes away from my new gym, which is a 1 minute bike ride from my campus. In short, I live in a very convenient location.

Two former Oberlin students from my Japanese classes joined me last weekend on a few nights on the town. John Hugens, who is teaching English in Seoul, South Korea, and Tom Newhall, who is teaching English in a small nearby town met with me in Fukuoka on the same day. Tom, who has lived in the area for over a year, ended up being the tour guide to my new home town. Highlights of the weekend included meeting my first Azerbaijani, Kazakh, and Russian from Vladivostok. I have found, especially with Europeans, that being American can be a delicate situation. I have utilized a skill that I like to call "sarcasm," which seems to be an effective tool in disarming them. Saying things like, "Well, us Americans only discovered foreign countries 5 years ago, so you people are pretty new to us," generally generates laughs. Knowing how to say "Hello, my name is _____,"* in Kazakh also works well to build international relations. 

I joined a few classes and plan on joining more. The courses for Kyushu University's junior year study abroad program (i.e. conducted in English) were not necessarily the most intellectually stimulating meetings I have ever participated in. Therefore, I might only take one, which focuses on the political economy of east Asia. Otherwise I am currently enrolled in a International Trade focused seminar, as well as a management seminar, both in the graduate school of economics, the latter conducted in English. This week I will try out some finance-oriented undergrad courses (in Japanese). I also took my Japanese language placement tests last week, and as expected placed into exactly one level lower than my desired level for every course. Hopefully I will be able to worm my way into higher level courses, which I have been able to do successfully in the past. So I will probably be taking something to the tune of 7 classes this semester. The good news is that most only meet once a week, and as I am auditing these courses I don't have to stress too much about grades (although I undoubtedly will). 

My advisor continues to surprise me with his support as he is constantly setting me up with professors with related interests, telling me about job fairs for Kyushu University students, and basically helping me with absolutely everything. I have lucked out yet again!

I have been stressing about job prospects after a interview (with a transnational investment management firm) set for November was dropped after the recent, ehem, events within the world financial market(s). As I have until September 2009 to look for a job, I realize that it's irrational to worry, but I still need to convince myself of this fact. 

Otherwise I'm just ready to get into the groove of things. Today I bought my first book written in Japanese which is (other than a whopping 231 pages), interestingly enough a semi autobiographical story set in China, written by an accomplished American author. Additionally, I bought a rice cooker, pots, plates, and utensils, so I have the necessarily tools to try and teach myself how to cook proficiently. We'll see how it goes, you may have a young Wolfgang Puck on your hands (doubtful)!

Hope all is well everyone! 

Max

*"Hello, my name is ____" in Kazakh sounds something like "Salaam, manym atym ___." Try it out the next day you meet a Kazakh!

Starting Off

Hey everyone,

I am currently sitting in my "Weekly Mansion" (which is basically an furnished apartment one can rent for a relatively short period of time) after a nice day. Now that I have a chance to breathe I can update you all on recent events. 

I flew into Tokyo on September 17th and immediately met another Fulbrighter (from Colorado College) at Narita Airport. We were able to go to the hotel together and get to know each other a little on the way, which made things smoother and (thankfully) less introspective. Orientation began the next day. 

Orientation was a fairly smooth and enjoyable process. I met the other 14 Fulbrighters and the head of Fulbright in Japan, Mr. Saterwhite, as well as the extremely helpful office staff. Everyone was nice, and to my surprise, not pretentious in the least. Although orientation was only a few days long, I felt like I got to know everyone to a decent extent. 

My adviser was kind enough to make the trip up to Tokyo to meet me, and we were able to chat for a time. He is extremely friendly and fluent in English, which is great. I don't, however, believe I will be spending too much time with him, and he seems to have assigned me a tutor in his place.

Side Note: Of the 14 other Japan Fulbrights, no one is doing an economics project, and only one is living on the island of Kyushu. Two are living in the frigid north of Hokkaido, three in the Kansai area, one in Shikoku and there rest all over Honshu (the big main island). Two are actually in Tsukuba, which is only about 45 minutes away from Tokyo. 

On Sunday I took a flight to my new home of Fukuoka, Kyushu and was greeted by a Mr. Hashimoto, a first year economics masters student. Fukuoka is an interesting place, if for nothing else, because of it's airport, which is located almost directly in the middle of the city. Planes are constantly flying down into the city, and Jumbo-jets flying extremely close to high rises is an image down-right startling to an American such as myself. I definitely haven't gotten used to it yet, but I do enjoy it as an interesting novelty of sorts. 

He took me to my weekly mansion and we chatted on the way. Going for roughly 95% English (during orientation) to 100% Japanese was an abrupt change, but it was smoother than I thought. Hashimoto was appreciative of the fact that I didn't have too many problems with my Japanese, because he confessed that he'd been practicing English phrases all day. We had an adventure finding the weekly mansion. It took us about one hour of driving around the same neighborhood, while Hashimoto feverishly tried to get the real estate agent to concisely explain where the heck the place was. It ended up being on a street so narrow that cars dare not enter. After that he showed me a little bit of Kyushu University and I met some of the other masters students. 

The Hakozaki campus of Kyushu University (KyuDai) is a strange site. It contains the Faculty of Letters, Economics, and Law, which is great because pretty much all of my interests as far as classes go are divided into these three areas. The campus is very old, with rusting, almost communist-esque buildings, and pleasant, verdant foliage spilling down into the (long ago) paved streets. The Law buildings are roughly 5 years old, and serve as a stark contrast to the economics buildings, which might be the oldest. I kind of like it, it's different from any campus I've ever been to. 

There were a decent amount of foreign students, although all were from Asia (so far 3 Chinese, 1 Indonesian), and EVERYONE seemed to be new to meeting Japanese speakers of the Caucasian variety. I tried out a little bit of mandarin with the Chinese students, which was a nice chance to get the cobwebs out. 

Yesterday I went to find an apartment with Hashimoto and my tutor, a 3rd year Economics PhD candidate named Hara. We chatted with the real estate agents for a while, and finally went to 3 different places that fit the bill. Unfortunately none of the 3 were perfect. One was extremely new, had free high-speed (光ファイバー, which is faster than almost anything in the states) internet, a loft for visitors, but no view and pretty far from the coin laundry place I'm planning to use. The next one was terrible. The third had an INCREDIBLE view, seemed spacious, was extremely close to the coin laundry place, but I would have to figure out internet access (which can be a pain), and it didn't have a loft. It was a toss up between number 1 and number 3, and I ended up going with number 3. So if anybody visits, they won't get their own personal loft, but they will get a great view and a more central location. 

Today I played softball with Hashimoto and a bunch of other grad students, which was embarrassing because I think people expected me to be good and I was not in the least. I think it's been almost 16 years since I seriously played anything close to softball, and although I wasn't terrrrriiiiiiibbbbbbllllleeeee I definitely didn't meet up to the expectations. Afterwards we went to lunch and now I came back to my place. 

Classes start in a few weeks, and I move into my apartment in about 5 days. I'm excited to get everything set up so I can start my life over here. 

Tootles,

Max