Birthday Party, Homestay

It's really hard to believe that I've been in Japan over a month now. A lot of it is almost starting to seem normal, which is even stranger than it was when it seemed so foreign.

On Wednesday of this week the SGE stn June and July. So, after class we went out to the picnic area behind the cafeteria and had beef, udents threw a party for the people who have Birthdays vegetables and rice. Beef is really good here, it's expensive, and it does taste different from most of the beef in the US, but it's delicious. So, we hung out and ate, talked with the Japanese students, and sung happy birthday 8 times. One of the students made a really tasty cake. It was really think pastry, almost like crepe layered with whipped cream and mandrin oranges. Definately different from an american cake, it was light and fluffy, but not very sweet at all. Actually, most sweets in Japan have much less sugar than in the US. Also, most of the really sweet stuff I've had is bean paste, rather than chocolate or sugar. It has a really interesting flavor/texture, I can't really describe it.

This weekend all of the US students in the program went for a homestay with a Japanese family. One other student and I stayed with the Hara family. They lived about 10 minutes away, near the other side of Kanazawa. Mr. Hara was a Chemist at Kanazawa University, and Ms. Hara was a pharmacist, although right now she's staying at home with the children. They had three kids, (from oldest to youngest) Kotaro, Yutaro, and Shitaro. While having similar names might seem wierd in the US, its not all that uncommon in Japanese families. They were 7, 5, and (I think) 1.5. The kids were really nice. They loved Pokemon, so I watched a couple episodes while I was there. A lot of the Pokemon names are different in Japanese, but Pikachu is still the same. A lot of Pokemon are actually named after gitaigo or giongo. These two are similar to onomonopia in English, but they also include sounds for many non-auditory senses. For example, toothed (like saws) is "gizagiza" and soft is "fuwafuwa". Pikachu is actually made us of "pika" the sound of electricity, and "chu" the sound of a mouse. The other American student staying with me (Xander) brought his DS, and the kids loved it. They hadn't seen the Pokemon game before, so they sat there watching him and shouting Pokemon names. We hung out with them most of Saturday afternoon, they were really easy to talk to since they use mostly simple words and grammar.
Today we went to the samurai district in Kanazawa, and to a traditional craft "village". The samurai district is half original houses, and half modern replicas of the old samurai housing in Kanazawa. The city actually has a lot of older buildings compared to Tokyo and many of the other cities, because Kanazawa had no major military target during WW2, so only about 5% of the city was ever damaged. The entire district has mud walls along the street, with tiled tops to stop the water from getting on them when it rains. We visited the Nomura house, which had a really amazing garden. They also had katanas, armor, and a bunch of other relics from the household.
The craft "village"/tourist attaction was also really amazing. Kanazawa is fairly famous in Japan for gold leaf. The village had a lot of arts and crafts stuff, and you were able to watch most of the gold leaf being produced. Because we were with young kids we made soba (Japanese noodles). I got to eat the soba I made once we were done, it was really tasty. After that we headed back to their house and made giyoza (the Japanese equivalent of potstickers). Those were also really good. After dinner we had to pack up and say goodbye.
Overall it was really amazing to spend the weekend with a Japanese family. I'd spent time with Nobu's family, but this was completely different. We spent much more time speaking in Japanese, and it was also very different to stay in their house, rather than in a different apartment. I think the most amazing thing to me was the way the children were treated. Japanese children are given a much longer leash. While we were out they were allowed to run around more or less unsupervised. They stayed within earshot, but they were often out of sight. At school Japanese children also have a lot more responsibility. From grade one they have to clean the room themselves, and during lunch they take turns serving the school lunch to their classmates.
So, three weeks into the program, three weeks left. We're gearing up on the final project (I don't think I've mentioned it much yet), and the work is piling on a little more. I can't wait to learn more.