Sakura Season

April is known as sakura (cherry blossoms) season in Japan.

As a result, parks and promenades are abuzz with locals and tourists alike enjoying the beauty of the newly bloomed sakura. Along with these beautiful flowers comes a series of sakura flavored items - from mochi (sweet Japanese rice cake) to ice cream - even McDonald's has their seasonal sakura burger (no flowers - just chicken teriyaki).

Japanese women don their kimonos and go with friends and family to take photos by the sakura, while college students and companies gather for sakura parties - known as hanami, under the trees, where party goers socialize, eat, and drink. The oft-referred to Japanese proverb: "Hana yori dango" (literally translated: "flowers less than dumplings") suggests hanami parties tend to focus more on the food and drink rather than the cherry blossoms. I was lucky to attend a Doshisha University club hanami last week - and indeed, more focus was paid to the plum wine and snacks than the blooming flowers.

Yesterday, friends and I traversed Philosopher's Walk, a path between two famous temples, Gingaku-ji and Nanzen-ji, named for a deceased Kyoto University Philosophy professor who used the path for his daily constitutional. Known as one of the most picturesque sakura spots in Kyoto, it more than fulfilled our expectations. Here, it truly was cherry blossoms before food and drink - all the trees along the canal were in full bloom, and it was quite the sight to behold.

The New And The Old

Today, my host mom and I discussed the two major aspects of Japanese culture: cutting edge modernity to ancient history. From the latest electronics to the most fashionable (and unfashionable) new clothes trends, Japan is constantly among the leaders of the world's advancement. At the same time, because of its isolation and rich history, Japan has a unique and substantial ancient culture.

Friends and I visited Bic Camera (pronounced: Be-ku ka-meh-rah), an electronics superstore in Kyoto. It is seven stories packed with videogames, tvs, computers, cameras, household appliances, etc. - literally any electronic you could think of can be found there. What really intrigued me was the modernity of the Japanese brand products - from 3D point-and-shoots to foldable tablets (think Nintendo DS but sleeker and touch screen) - Japanese electronics definitely seem ahead of American electronics.

Immediately afterwards, we headed to a series of temples and gardens only a few blocks away from the electronics store.

This contrast - from new to old, within only a few blocks - continues to amaze me on a daily basis. Japan (and Kyoto especially) is filled with pagodas and Shinto shrines, ancient Japanese architecture and geishas - along with modern buildings, talking bathtubs and taxis that open the door for you. Definitely a city of its own kind, Kyoto constantly intrigues me.

We were entranced by an awesome (and oddly, hidden) fountain in Kyoto Station - a small example among many of Japan's hi-tech and creative culture.

The Kiyota Family!

It's been exactly a week now that I've been living with my host family, and I already feel like part of the family.

They live in a nearby prefecture of Kyoto - called Shiga - in a western style home with small Japanese accents (for instance, a giant shoe closet at the entrance to the family's shoes - since wearing shoes in any Japanese home is entirely unacceptable). My commute to school is roughly 1 hour door to door. It consists of a 15 minute bike ride (a highly popular mode of transportation in Japan), 20 minute train ride, and 20 minute subway ride. While at first nervous about making my way to and from school without getting terribly lost, I already feel like a local riding the trains after only a week. Furthermore, my Japanese vocabulary has expanded to include "Kono densha wa (nani tokoro) he ikimasuka?" (Does this train go to (some place)?)

My host family consists of a dad, mom, and two younger sisters (aged 13 and 16). My host dad currently works for LSI in Tokyo, so he only comes home once a month for a single weekend - like most Japanese businessmen he works late hours and hardly sees his family (Japanese businessmen traditionally work from 9 AM to 11 PM/12 AM). Despite his busy schedule, he still takes time out of his day to email or text me and make sure I'm doing well. My host mom (not pictured - she was taking the picture!) is spunky, fun, and tres fashionable. I can already tell we're going to be best friends - we've already made plans to go shopping and watch Gossip Girl (the newest season starts soon in Japan - dubbed of course!) I am also lucky to have two younger sisters - Karen and Rei. Timid but sweet, we laugh over Japanese and English language mishaps and more.

Our evenings are filled with conversation and laughter - through mixed Japanese-English (Jenglish??) we are able to have in depth conversations from everything ranging from geshia to religion, the economy and divorce. Because of my host dad's previous job, they lived in Vermont for a brief 6 month period, and as a result, their ability to speak English - matched with my ability to speak Japanese - results in the perfect mixture that is mutually beneficial for both parties in improving our language abilities. I definitely find myself lucky to have been matched with such a terrific host family - can't wait to get to know them better!

"Bi-chan"

Today, we were split into groups of 6 and asked to visit different major sites throughout Kyoto. My group was assigned the controversial Kyoto station and Kyoto Tower. Controversial among locals for its extremely modern architecture, the Kyoto station is roughly 5 floors of public transportation, eateries, stores, and more. Across the street is the Kyoto tower, a terrific lookout over the greater Kyoto area. From the skydeck, we observed the stark juxtaposition of modern structures next to traditional Japanese style buildings.

My group consisted of 5 boys and myself. In contrast to most of the other abroad programs, the Stanford Kyoto program has overwhelming majority of boys: with a ratio of 28:8, us girls are highly outnumbered. As a result, I have found myself often surrounded by guys (although this isn't much of a change of pace from Mechanical Engineering). The guys in the program have kindly nicknamed me "Bi-chan." Japanese lacks the V sound, and as a result, my name has transformed from Vivian -> Bibian. Furthermore, a term of endearment or closeness is the addition of "chan" to the end of your name. Thus, "Bi-chan" was born. Despite my attempts to reject this nickname, its popularity has only spread further through the program, and I now find myself responding to it.

Blessings & Public Restrooms

Kyoto, the old imperial capital of Japan, is known for its rich, ancient culture and religion. In Japan, culture and religion are intertwined, and today, we visited both a Shinto shrine (Heian Jingu - above) and a Buddhist temple (Nanzenji).

At Heian Jingu, known for its torii - one of the largest in Japan (see below, left), we had the opportunity to take part in a ceremony called "gokito," which consisted of a priest reciting an incantation asking for good health and success in our studies on our behalf. The "gokito" ritual is a regular part of Japanese life - often occurring before a construction project begins, a wedding takes place, or child is born. At the conclusion of the ceremony, we are each offered a small amount of sake to drink, and a prayer for good luck written on a small piece of paper which we are supposed to keep nearby. Afterwards, we visited Nanzenji, an ancient Buddhist temple established in 1291 (below, right).

It was at Heian Jingu that I had my first encounter with Japanese public restrooms. While modern in nature (it is typical for most Japanese toilets to have bidets built in), and ceramic in structure, Japanese toilets have one defining feature that sets them apart from American toilets: they are in the ground. Lucky for us, there was an informational flier posted at the front of the bathroom, indicating how to properly use the toilet. Also lucky for us - there is usually at least one "western-style" toilet in every bathroom. However, not as fortunately - Japanese public restrooms do not carry toilet paper! You are expected to bring your own, or purchase some for your use there.

Arrived!

"I feel like I'm getting on a plane, getting off in a foreign country, and I don't know what's happening next."


The above quotation was said by my friend, just before he headed off to his abroad program. I believe his words correctly sum up my own experience heading to Japan. During the past few weeks, through packing and preparing, heading to the airport, and even boarding my first flight, I could not believe I was actually going to Japan. It was not until I boarded the shuttle, headed for my hotel, did it finally set in that I was in JAPAN. I thought to myself, "What have I gotten myself into, WHY did I decide it would be a good idea to sign up for a 6 month program to Japan - a nation where I feel so unfamiliar with the culture and language that Japanese class might as well be a Chinese class." 


But, those thoughts quickly melted away as I took in my surroundings. My travel buddy (another Stanford student) and I decided at SFO that as we leave behind America, we would leave behind English. While at first, this meant minimal talking, my Japanese-fluent buddy taught me many phrases and words along the way - and I must say my comfort level with Japan has indeed improved over the past 24 hours. From onomatopoeias like 'dokidoki' (nervous - the sound of your heart beating) to handy phrases 'motto ukuri hanashite kudasai' (please repeat, slowly) my vocab has definitely improved for the more useful. 


Tonight, a group of us explored the area surrounding our hotel - stumbling across a maze of shops and eatery stalls which we quickly lost ourselves in. Doing a 'tour de food' we tried octopus ball soup (あげたくやき), traditional rice balls with various things inside (おにげり), soba noodles and fried chicken (やきそば／かれあげ), and even boba! We finished out our night after wandering into a giant arcade - filled with all kinds of Japanese arcade games. Of course, we couldn't resist entering a Japanese photo booth - for those of you unfamiliar with these - they can whiten your skin, enlarge your eyes, and pretty much animate you to become the next Japanese anime star. It was a fantastic night - only the first of many more to come!


So excited to begin my 6 month adventure in Japan! いしょう！ (Let's go!)