Formailites and the End of Orientation

Hi again everyone!

So this past week I was super busy with attending orientation at Ritsumeikan. Orientation consisted of taking a placement test, touring Ritsumeikan's campus, a welcome party, opening a bank account, and various other things. The study abroad students even had the opportunity to experience a 7.0 earthquake in an earthquake simulator that was brought to campus. Very amusing and helpful. Seeing and participating in it reminded me of when my dad, sister, and I were in Japan together and that earthquake in Niigata occurred, the one that my dad claimed to feel the tremors from.

To celebrate the end of orientation and the beginning of the new semester we had a party on Sunday. There was so much food! Everyone was required to make something and bring it to the party. I ended up making mac-and-cheese from scratch which actually didn't turn out so bad. I was quite pleased with myself.

Though it turned out ok, I had a really hard time thinking what to make. One of my friends suggested to me to make something that was from Pittsburgh. Obviously, I wasn't able to do that because most of Pittsburgh's famous dishes use lunch meat and that is few and far in between here in Japan. However realizing all of this made me see how much of a Pittsburgher I really am. For example, I realize how much things like lunch meat are a staple to my diet, almost like how rice is to a Japanese person. It is really interesting how food can say endless things about a culture.

Moving away from food and my own cultural realizations, I wanted to bring up something I have noticed about the way Japanese is spoken here at the I-House. Now, I don't know if this is because formality in Japanese has been beaten into my head by my sensei at Pitt, but I have come to realize that when people don't speak formally at first it bothers me. For example, there are people in this dorm who I have just met and already they start using informal speech. For example saying sentences like "Kore taberu?" rather than "Kore tabemasu ka?" Which both mean "will you eat this?" but the latter is more polite. Even the SKP buddies, who are Japanese, speak to me this way. Because I am not yet close with many of the people here, I expect them to speak politely to me and then I doing so in return. Until I become closer with them, this is how it should be.

Perhaps I am being too serious. But what can I say? This is how people at Pitt are trained when it comes to Japanese; you have to be polite and use polite speech often. Also, many Japanese people I have talked with told me that they like the formal language used by Pitt's Japanese students (as compared to students at CMU or another university that teaches Japanese) and how culturally appropriate it is.

Anyways, that is the end of my rant about formalities in Japanese. Next entry will be about the first day of school!!

オリビア
9/27/2010

"WELCOME ようこそ日本へ"

"WELCOME ようこそ日本へ
君が今ここにいること
とびきりの運命に
心からありがとう"

--Dear WOMAN- SMAP

So I am finally back in Japan! It is good to be here again. On my first full day here I was able to call my host father and he happily welcomed me back to Japan. It made me feel at home.

Speaking of which, I have noticed that Japan has lost its intional shock factor, if you will. For example, the fact that I can't read the signs doesn't suprise me like it did in the past. Regardless, I am still pretty illiterate. Hopefully that will change this year.


I am all moved into my dorm and I am slowly in the process of making it feel like home. I want to decorate it a bit more and hang some posters here and there.



I saw Ritsumeikan University for the first time in three years. It was pretty crazy. The exteior of the buildings seems diffrent from what I remembered. I am so happy to finally be here. I received my ID card which makes me an official student! Speaking of which, today was the first day of orientation and I took my placement test. Hopefully I did well. Also, we had a welcome party with all of the Buddies (the Japanese students who will help us through out our experience at Rits) and I had the oppertunity to speak lots of Japanese and become friends with them. Maybe we will all go out to Karaoke on Friday.



Changing topics, this past weekend was wonderful. I did a bit of sight seeing with my lovely. We visited Ryoanji, which is famous for its peaceful and ascetically pleasing stone garden. I would love to see it in the winter, too.



We also stopped by Kinkakuji. I still can't believe this was my second time there. Who would've thought I would be back there again. Kinkakuji is a hot spot for tourists and it was overwhelming seeing so many foreigners there. The outside of the pagoda is laced with a gold foil material (I believe so at least).



So that is really all the updates I have for now. Classes begin next week. I am looking forward to studying Japanese intensely again. :D

オリビア
9/21/2010

"Let me show you the way to the New World"

"Let me show you the way to the way
to the new world
Now feel the winds blow
to your heart
I will take you right now
where the scene grows
Hold on to your seats
to the new world"

--Intercode- w-inds.

Hello everyone,

Tomorrow morning I will depart for Japan. It is kind of mind blowing. As I reflect back on the path I have walked, I can't belive that I have finally reached my grandest dream.

I think back to the time when I was sixteen, the first time I was in Japan. I was young, excited, and even a little naive. There were things I admit I didn't understand, simply because I didn't have the maturity to wrap my mind around it: What Japan was to me, Japan's history, what it meant to me to be there, how pathetic my language skills truly were, and how much this experience would shape me.

Now, at the age of twenty, I will have the fortune of returning to Japan for the third time in my life. Looking at how much I have changed since I was sixteen, both mentally and physically, I really want to look at Japan as "twenty year old Olivia" and see it as a new world all over again; to look for the things I may have missed as a sixteen year old or just couldn't comprehend.

Taking what I have learned about myself and Japan from my first experience will allow me to appreciate this year abroad even more. Living this dream that I have wanted for so long and the opportunity to make my language skills better are all goals I retained from that time.

Changing subjects, I know that my leave will be super hard on my family. I am trying to stay strong as the three of them seem to show signs of melancholy. However, I need to go to Japan. I need to do this for myself and for my language skills. I am thankful that they understand that and that the support me. They have really helped me achieve my dreams.

I am ready to go. Finally, everything that I have dreamed of is coming to be, and I can't be more thankful. Thank you to my family and all of the people who have watched, aided, and grown with me on this journey. I will make the most of this experience, I can promise you that. You will not be disappointed.

See you from the other side,
オリビア
9/13/2010