21 years and 7 days

Sorry it's been a week since I last updated (on my 21st birthday). It's only been 2 weeks but it feels like I've been here for much longer.

I finally bought a mobile phone on my birthday. When the salesperson at au was putting in freebies (2GB microSD card, tissues), Ross strategically mentioned that it was my birthday so the salesperson got really excited, "oh I'm so sorry I didn't realise! Congratulations!..." (in Japanese of course) and gave me an extra freebie (a tissue box cover). It was pouring with rain and we wanted to go somewhere for a cheap dinner. We walked by a sushi restaurant so we thought we could have a look at the menu and check out the prices. As soon as we walked in I saw it was a 回転すし (sushi on a conveyor belt) and everything was 105 yen! I screamed with joy inside my mind. The quality was obviously very mediocre, and the マグロ (raw tuna) was untouchable as it looked more like a plastic slice of a transparent red pepper. Anyway we had fun with ordering things on a touch screen and seeing our order coming out onto the conveyor belt.







This is the Toshiba "biblio" phone I bought. It's quite pricey (60,000 yen) but I really wanted it and thought I could buy it for myself as a birthday present. The contract is about 2,000 yen per month, but because I'm also paying for my phone in instalments it's now 7,000 per month. Although now I'm quite sure that I've gone over the e-mail/internet limit and might be paying an extra 4,400 yen this month...there goes my scholarship! The phone is really cool though, it has an electronic dictionary, camera, wi-fi, touch screen and a QWERTY keyboard. I can even watch TV on it (so do many other Japanese mobile phones) for free.


So as I mentioned in the last entry it was raining on my birthday, but it wasn't till later in the evening that the typhoon landed. Very strong winds and heavy rain, although I'm pretty much used to the rain anyway (similar to Manchester). The wind was howling so loud throughout the night that I couldn't get much sleep. Even though there was a typhoon, the dormitory was like a party house, everyone enjoyed themselves with chatter, alcohol and gams as if we knew classes would be cancelled the next morning. I spent a couple of hours in my neighbour Jana's room chatting to a Croatian, a Slovenian, a Czech, a Romanian and 2 Bulgarians.

I also received a few birthday presents from different parts of the world. This is why I like living in this dormitory, it's a like mini-UN and it reminds me a little of GYLC. Fiona from Macau got me some Cantonese snacks and a magnet writting in both Chinese and Portuguese. Elena gave me a handkerchief with roses and "Bulgaria" embroidered on it. My Vietnamese neighbour gave me a little embroidered pouch. The madeleine cake in the top right corner is from Ross.

The next day we found out that the orientation stuff in the morning was cancelled. The weather was gloriously warm and beautiful that you couldn't see any signs of a typhoon aftermath. After lunch we had a library orientation, then afterwards we just couldn't help ourselves but to go out into town.

On Friday I played badminton with Jan, Fiona and Tommy - I hadn't play for ages! It felt good although it was just hitting the shuttlecock and nothing too tiring. I'm looking forward to this Friday's session already.

Later that night there was a huge party going on on the ground floor of the 会館. There were all the 留学生 and many Japanese students who live on (and off) campus. It was so chaotic I couldn't recognise 90% of the people. Jan got drunk over 2 cans of beers (can't believe he's actually Belgian); Ivan got his head shaved (privately, not publicly); and apparently there were some young Japanese girls (first years, only 18) who were trolling and hitting on the gaijin guys. According to Daniel, they just went up to him and asked if he had a girlfriend; he said "yes" and they just left and went on to find the next guy.

While the party was still going on I went down to the front gate to pick up Rachel and Cayley, who arrived at the university at 1am. Over the weekend we went out to Umeda, Nanba and Kyoto, and we met up with John and Paulina. Did all sort of Japanese things - karaoke, okonomiyaki, izakaya, Geisha-spotting in Gion, and had green tea in Kyoto.






After the extravagance over the weekend, I'm now struggling with expenses. The food and ingredients here are simply too expensive. I've been living on cafeteria food and okonomiyaki. Okonomiyaki is easy to make, tasty, and it's cheap. The food in the cafeteria is pretty good but they have too much deep-fried stuff there.

Tomorrow I have to go to the post office and pay 8,600 yen for internet for 1.5 months. Maybe I'll have to survive on bananas and instant noodles for the next 2 weeks until I get my scholarship. (Even then I'll have to pay 2 months' rent, mobile phone bill and 4,000 yen for a 2-day university trip to Wakanyama). I hope I won't have to use my UK bank account and pay those extra charges to get cash from a Japanese ATM.

A short photo tour of the university:

the bus stop outside the university (there's also one inside the campus)

the west gate

箕面留学生会館2号館

箕面留学生会館1号館

the kitchen on my floor - too small for 20 girls and doesn't have an oven!

just another day.

Somebody is another year older.

My 21st birthday happens to be a miserably cloudy, rainy day. I have a 3-hour placement test this afternoon, and after that a medical check-up at a hospital nearby (I hate peeing in a pot).

After the medical check-up I plan to go buy a keitai. Fiona already bought hers yesterday so she's going to help me with getting mine today. My next door neighbour from Croatia (can't spell her name :S) gave me tiramisu as a birthday present :)

In some ways this birthday is very unusual because I'm in a country outside of UK and Hong Kong; I'm with people I've only known for a week. And yet it seems like just another ordinary day because I'm not doing anything special and having any celebrations or parties. But I think it's quite interesting spending a birthday with people of several dozens of different nationalities, it's like a mini United Nations! and we all have one thing in common - we all speak (some) Japanese.

Essays...already!

Classes don't start 'till 13th October but we were already given homework to do! Had to write 2 essays over the weekend as part of the placement test; one about my expectations/aspirations about studying abroad in Japan, and one on a cultural/linguistic/historical topic. The personal one is obviously easier to write about, and the academic one I basically wrote a Japanese synopsis of my first year essay on the Jesuit missionaries in 16th century Japan.

日本の留学生活を期待すること
大学で日本研究を専攻しているので、日本に留学しに行くことの目的はまず最初に日本語を練習と勉強だ。どのように日本語が上手になる、あれは最も重要なことと思う。イギリスで二年間日本語を勉強したが、日本人と会話を練習する機会が少ないから、日本に到着したとたんによく勉強しないざるを得ない気分を感じる。一生懸命に新しい文法と語彙を習わずにいらない。日本語は得手になりたいから。大阪大学に着いた時、国際的な留学生会館がびっくりさせた。留学生たちは色々な国から来て日本語を勉強する。留学の一年間日本の文化に限らず、ヨーロッパ及びアジアなどの異文化も習える。さらに国籍を問わず頑張ったら誰も日本語をよく喋れることを示す。
日本語がよくなるように、日本人の学生に会って会話を練習するに越したことはない。大阪大学のサークルを参加するつもりだ。同じことに興味を持っている学生と大学の生活を楽しみたい。
大阪大学に来た前に関西でホームステイを二回した。関西に滞在した期間で関西の文化と方言に興味を持つようになった。お好み焼きとたこ焼きなどの料理はおいしし、人々は親切だし、関西弁は面白し、その結果大阪大学を選んだ。大阪大学で留学の期間で関西弁を習い始めたい。
その上に、日本と東アジアの隣国の国際関係に興味を持っている。特に日本と北朝鮮の政治的な関係は面白いと思う。先ほど鳩山総理大臣が率いられる内閣は結成された。新しい内閣と北朝鮮の神秘的な政府の関係は予測できないので面白いと思う。大阪府は在日朝鮮人と韓国人が多いと聞いたので、どのように両国の関係がそれらの生活に影響することを理解したい。そして日本のマスコミで北朝鮮をどのように描かれることも探求したい。来年イギリスに帰る時、本学で卒業論文を書かなければならない。日本と北朝鮮の関係をめぐって書くつもりので、大阪大学で留学の間に適切な研究をしたい。
留学とはよく勉強だが、暇だったら日本の色々な地域に見物に行きたい。関西以外の文化も知りたくて、なるべく日本をよく理解したいから。

日本の歴史について
今の日本には約１パーセントの人がキリスト教を信じる。日本のキリスト教は1549年に始まった。ザビエルは日本に初めてキリスト教を伝えた。
初めて日本に着いたアジア以外の人はポルトダル人だ。1543年ポルトガルの船は南九州に到着した。その後ポルトガルの海員と商人はマカオ経由で長崎に貿易しに行った。
薩摩の大名の許可を得て、1549年ザビエルは鹿児島に日本の最初の教会を設立した。そして、ザビエルは上京の時に地味な服を着けたし、贈り物を持って行かなかったし、あそこキリスト教を伝えられなかった。したがって、山口の大名を訪ねた時、盛装したザビエルはヨーロッパのみやげ物を贈った。その結果山口にキリストを伝えることの許可を得た。日本人の興味を引くように、ザビエルは聖職者のイメージを変えてあった。
1551年の末にザビエルが日本を去った。その後ほかの宣教師は日本に着いた。日本の風習に順応させるように、宣教師らは仏教風の説教をしたり、日本酒を聖餐式のワインの代わりに使った。その上、和風の教会を建たれた。
織田信長が京都を統制するようになった後、仏教徒を弱くするように信長がキリスト教を支えた。京都・大阪地域に教会を建つことを助けた。
いくつかの大名はキリスト教徒になったため、その大名の家来はキリスト教に改宗しずにはいらなかった。宣教師は学校を始まって、武家の息子にラテン語とポルトガル語、ヨーロッパの芸術とキリスト教を教えた。一団の学生はヨーロッパへ行って、ローマ教皇にお会いになった。
17世紀に日本のキリスト教徒は三十万人いた。同じ時に中国のキリスト教徒（リッチが中国人をキリスト教に改宗させた）は四百人いた。統計的に見ると日本の宣教師のほうが中国のより成功だったと分かる。
そして、豊臣秀吉と徳川家康がキリスト教徒と宣教師を迫害した。しかし、ある教徒が九州に居残る。統計的に日本の宣教師は改宗に成功したと言っても、キリスト教の原物を伝えなかった。それにもかかわらず、いくつかのキリスト教徒が迫害に耐えた。そして宗教の自由を回復した時にその教徒は説教することを再び続けた。