Darlo's World

So yesterday I woke up with an odd shaking and feeling of wobbliness. I’d originally put it down to me just being plain old knackered (seeing as it was about ten to seven in the morning), but it wasn’t until I went down for breakfast I was told what had really happened.

At roughly that time an earthquake occured in the Fukui Prefecture, and we felt it here in Osaka. Some people at Uni (living in Kobe) also felt the quake. Not a big one mind you, in fact with a lot of people sleeping through it and what appeared to be no mention of it on the news, you’d be forgiven for thinking that this never happened. But it did, my first earthquake in Japan and it barely made me budge. Not like the one in Leeds last year. So far I’m two-for-two then.

As part of my Education & Culture class, yesterday we went to a Japanese high school to both ask and be asked questions by students, and also to observe a homeroom period. The only times I’ve seen a Japanese school prior to this were from media resources, and of course they were fictional. Films such as Battle Royale and anime such as Myself, Yourself and Azumanga Daioh, had given me some insight and prior knowledge of what they might be like, but given this comparison you could also claim that you can tell what London’s like just from watching Eastenders.

The school building itself was ironically very reminiscent to those titles mentioned and I found myself liking the building and atmosphere more and more as time went by. It was rustic, there were cracks in the white, (well … dingy grey) walls, and due to a lack of a central heating system it was frickin’ cold, but they were some of the aspects I found quite indearing. Though truth be told I was thankful when we ended up in the AV room and found that it was warm.

Throughout the time there I spoke to four groups of 3-4 students in different environments. The first group took myself and another Konan student for a short tour of the site. Due to us having only ten minutes or so, I can honestly say that it was shorter than a stereotypical Japanese mini-skirt. However in that brief look around we did get to see areas such as the lunch room, sports ground (no grass of course, just gravel … goodluck there football goalies) and some of the class rooms also.

Everyone then re-assembled for a short period of general chatter. As well as finding out the opinions of the high-schoolers about their schools, I also learned a few things about my fellow Konan student.

The next stage of the visit was to break into other groups where we’d be interviewed individually by groups of three students about our experiences in Japan. During my interview sessions with the two groups I came to realise how little I’ve actually accomplished since landing in Japan, especially in comparison to things I’d wanted to. However, this is also countered by doing things that non of the other 留学生 (ryuugakusei, exchange students) have done, like the Okamoto to Juso walk for instance.

The final conversation was in a room with refreshments (woohoo! Fanta and biscuits!) where we chatted with three more students, only this time I was joined by another two Konan students. Again this conversation was quite open so we talked about whatever things popped into our heads. Unfortunately my dead goldfish in a sieve type memory means I can’t remember a lot of the conversation, but I do remember that we discussed that they liked, and were rather proud of, their uniforms, the fact that they’d all been to Taiwan … oh wait, that was the first group … and that there are some teachers they don’t like.

When compared to the UK, Japanese schools are very different, and since the visit I had the liberty of reading a little bit more about them. Unfortunately the only things I read were how they differed from North American schools, but from what I can tell one of the main differences is the number of years of compulsory education. In the UK, starting with infant school (or primary school if your infant & primary school years are combined) you have 11 years of compulsory education, with the option to leave (and hopefully get a job) when you’re 16, unless you were born later in the academic year. However, in Japan you don’t have to start school until you’re six years old, with the option of leaving at the age when British students begin their final year, giving just 9 years of compulsory learning.

Wanting to save myself a tidy 180 yen (£1.33) I chose to walk from the school to Okamoto train station, and put that money to my food on Sunday. The walk took longer than expected by about half an hour or so, but oddly enough I arrived home at the same time as if I’d have stopped in Konan’s Ajisai room until it’s closure at around six.

I’ll end this by saying that I didn’t sleep much last night. I was compelled to watch the end of Higurashi No Naki Koro Ni (Kai) (about 10 episodes I think), which kept me out of bed until about one. By which time I was in such a state of awesomely smily happy joy that even though I went to bed I kept running through various aspects of the story in my mind. Seriously folks, if you must watch any series for the sheer experience, this is the one. Won’t spoil any of it by saying what happens, so maybe I’ll write a review one day.

Oh and in other news I finally found my student ID … in my bag.

Today a friend and I made a trip down to Kyoto where a free Japanese Culture Experience day was being held by the Kyoto Prefecture International Centre. Obviously in dorm-life we don’t get to experience a lot of Japanese traditions, and the fact that it was free was extra icing on the cake. This was only my second time in Kyoto and we went by JR (instead of Hankyu) which meant I got to see another part of the city.

Available for visitors was the opportunity to join in with 8 different activities; 源氏物語 (Genji Monogatari, The Tale of Genji), 書道 (Shodou, Japanese Calligraphy), 着付け (Kitsuke, Kimono Dressing), 華道 (Kadou, Flower Arrangement), 香道 (Koudou, Incense Ceremony), 茶道 (Sadou, Tea Ceremony), 邦楽 (Hougaku, Traditional Japanese Music), Woodblock Printing and an interesting looking game that involved throwing fans at a bell. Though we didn’t try everything, we did try a lot including Sadou (something I can finally tick from my ‘to do list‘.

After having a ramen lunch, we headed for a wander around the area at some shops. One of the shopping centres appeared to be closing down for a refit, so the shops had generous discounts offered. Unfortunately this discount wasn’t enough to pry any money from my cold, long fingers. Kyoto itself seems to have a certain charm about it that is different to Osaka and Kobe. It seems to match the ‘city-ness’ of Osaka with the relaxed attitude of Kobe. That isn’t to say that I prefer Kyoto to Osaka of course, Osaka’ll always be my number one (sorry Telford).

We arrived back at JR Kyoto Station and found a local map. We’d decided to return via Hankyu (as it was a lot cheaper and more convenient at the Osaka end), so for a while we were ‘umming and ahhing’ about what we could look at in the area and end up near the right train station. The amount of time we spent there and also the fact that we were pointing (almost insanely) at the map must have looked very suspicious (looking back I’d say it definately was) and we were soon joined by two members of the local police asking us if we were ok.

Calmly the police officers explained who they were and asked us who we were. We explained that we were exchange students and that we hadn’t decided on where to go yet (in a combination of English and Japanese … their English was really good). Before arriving in Japan we’d been told that Japanese police officers can stop you and ask to see your 外国人登録証明書 (gaikokujintourokushoumeisho, alien registration card) or passport (if in Japan under 90 days). This was again told to us by Konan when we arrived, so obviously I always keep it with me.

As I expected we were asked for ours. We gave them over and stood waiting, quite nervous mind you. It wasn’t just that the police were talking to us, it was another country’s police force with different understandings of situations and anything lost in translation could have done more harm than good. However the officers too kept calm and we were on our way moments after. The police even made a suggestion of a nice place to go.

Now the thing is, I’ve read lots of people’s accounts of dealing with similar situations and they appear to have all gone tits up. This is mainly because the person being questioned appears insulted to have been ‘singled-out’. This lead to arsey remarks, sarcastic comments and really bad handling of the event because from the get-go the ‘questionee’ felt like the victim and didn’t co-operate fully. But folks the simple thing is, if you just co-operate with the police whilst they do their job, it’ll be over with in moments. Unless of course you have something to hide. My advice if it happens to you is don’t dick about, don’t play the ‘victim of international hatred’, just give your card, stay calm and polite, then be on your way.

Moving story back to the ‘will I won’t I’ scenario on going to Gifu. I’ve been putting away some yennies every now and then and have decided I’m going to just bite down on my pride and go by train. I know how much I really wanted to walk, but if I’m going to go at all I’m not going to be able to go on foot, not with the time I have left anyway. So whenever I get some free time, probably in May before flying back home, I’ll be heading to Shirakawa.

On that note I re-watched season one of ひぐらしのなく頃に (Higurashi no naku koro ni) to gear myself up for it (at the same time introducing the series to one of my dorm mates) and must again complement it’s storytelling and art styles. Yes there’s extreme graphic violence and torture scenes but on this scape it works … really well. Last night I went to sleep considering different parts of the series and how they work with and off each other, and when I woke up I realised I was still contemplating. This didn’t help my sleep at all though, I was pretty knackered on the way to Kyoto.