Happy Fourth of July!

I hope everyone enjoys this July 4th, wherever you are in the world!

Holiday Photopost Roundup

There are some very overdue photos I hadn’t gotten around to sharing yet! When Chris was here last December we had loads of fun! Here is some evidence of our shenanigans:

(Oh, and I dog-sat Yoyo too!)

Homeless in Osaka for New Year’s 2010

During the mid afternoon of December 30th, a couple of friends and I decided to go to Osaka that evening.  We had all idly discussed it before, but no solid plans had been made, so it felt very spontaneous and exciting.  We caught an overnight train called the Kitaguni Express which runs from Niigata to Osaka, which was in itself quite an interesting experience for me.  Riding an overnight train full of sleeping passengers through snow blanketed countryside created an almost surreal atmosphere. Actually, our whole trip had that kind of a feeling.  We arrived in Osaka in the wee hours of the morning, and apparently a major cold front was moving through because it was actually snowing!  When I lived there for a year and it barely flurried once or twice.  Needless to say it was pretty cold this time.

We spent the day shopping, sightseeing, people-watching and enjoying each other’s company.  I always have found people-watching to be interesting in Japan, but after living in farmland for these last few months, being in Osaka with the fashionable and metropolitan citizens striding by held a renewed thrill.  Eventually, after much striving and repeated failures, we managed to purchase tickets to the Universal Studios Japan Countdown 2010 Party from a Lawson in Umeda.  After getting the tickets, we had a fantastic dinner at Cafe La Boheme (the sister restaurant located one floor below my beloved Monsoon).  They also had a great deal going on for New Years’ that we would have gone for if that ticket situation had not resolved itself (Yes, of course I  made sure that we all split a Gorgonzola Honey Pizza with our meal, for those who I’ve exposed to this restaurant before).  After dinner we headed to Osaka Station and joined the mob of 20 somethings also en route to USJ.

When we arrived at the stop for the theme park, a massive, unbelievable wind picked up and we had to plough through the air just to reach the gates. It was made even more dreamlike by the fact that the park itself and the area surrounding it pretty much look like a movie set.  USJ was packed, and we froze our butts off there for a few hours before enjoying the countdown.  By then, while we still had a couple hours during which the park was open, we turned tail and sough warmer ground.  Apparently every other patron had the same idea though so it wasn’t the quickest exit ever, and unfortunately the crowd’s bodily proximity did not keep anyone warm.

From there we went to a Big Echo karaoke place and got a room for “all night” – pretty much meaningless at this point in the am.  My intention was that we do a little karaoke and then sleep in the private rooms we were paying for, but after warming up my friends to the new experience of japanese karaoke, they both became rather addicted.  We were there for about four hours, and I slept for about three of those, but my companions stayed up singing the entire time! It was great to see someone enjoy it, because usually when I introduce people to karaoke I get a much more lukewarm response.  After the karaoke time ended around 5:30 am, we rode on the HEP 5 ferris wheel over the night view of Osaka.  The only things open in the whole complex were the ferris wheel and the 7th floor Starbucks, where were bought drinks, rested and enjoyed free warmth for about an hour.  Then we gathered our things, and headed yet again to the train station.

We were using something called the 青春１８切符 (Seishun 18 Kippu) to travel at a discount, which limited us to local trains.  A trip that takes about 5 hours by bullet train ultimately took us around 14 hours by local trains only.  We transfered almost a dozen different times, and by the time we were back in Niigata prefecture we found out from a station employee that heavy snowstorms had reduced the already reduced holiday train schedule.  In fact, some of our trains were also late and went at below normal speed due to high winds. That man who we spoke to about the delays searched for a way to get us to our station, and actually called a special train for us (a single car train that was no longer supposed to run that evening).  We still only managed to get as far as Muikamachi, two stations from our destination.  We then took a taxi, which was tricky initially because it was a bit far and the driver wasn’t confident he knew the way, and then because of the roads being yet again snowed over.  Our final turn towards the campus barely looked passable by car.  We made it back to our rooms, with tremendous feelings of both fulfillment and relief.

It was a great experience.

Happy New Year! Have a great 2010.
明けましておめでとうございます。今年もどうぞ宜しくお願いします。

New Year’s 2010 photoset

Gift Ideas for your Exchange Student

I have been trying to mail a huge stack of Christmas and New Years cards for two weeks now, but the school shop is consistently out of stamps and I haven’t made it to a post office yet. They’re going to be late, although I managed to squeeze three or four out of the country.  I have also received a couple of Christmas cards, all of which were early (and cute).  This is provoking an early New Year’s resolution to get xmas letters prepared early in 2010. We’ll see.

Students really love to get mail.  Really, doesn’t everyone like to get something that is not a bill, even if it is only a couple of lines? We don’t send letters for correspondence much anymore these days, even though a physical note holds so much more emotional gravity than an email or tweet, at the cost of a stamp.  Well, for exchange students this is even more important, especially if it is the student’s first time living or even traveling in a foreign country.

After being on the receiving end of two Christmases abroad as a student, and a few years as a student, I have had an interesting perspective on the whole long-distance gift giving thing.  I’d like to provide some pointers for anyone with a friend or loved one abroad over a holiday or birthday.  Some of these will also apply to those going to school away from home, even if they’re still living within the country.

Something that reminds your student of home, be it related to their family, an inside joke, domestic snacks or the critical ingredient in a national food.  Even small decorations for a holiday to brighten up her or his living space will likely be appreciated.  Bear in mind that whatever you send, the recipient is going to then be stuck with unless it is something consumable (food, bath products, incense).  That means that they’re either going to pay to ship it home, lug it back themselves, or pass it on before they leave.  I personally found that those gifts I could use or share with my classmates were often the best appreciated gifts, even though they were not always the most expensive for the gift giver to provide.

In the case of food, it is best to send items with a moderate shelf life.  Also, the item doesn’t absolutely need to be something from home, if it is something that your recipient cannot acquire in their home abroad.  When I was living in Osaka my family would sometimes send me chips and salsa – something from Mexico cuisine rather than my own, but my most beloved snack, and one that I could only acquire with great difficulty (& great expense) at the time.  But also, something that is easily shared can be great – the exchange students in my apartment building in 2006 would get together for what amounted to a multi-cultural pot luck, each cooking or providing snacks from their respective native countries (the Swedes in my experience aren’t terribly impressed with grits 笑).

Long Distance Gift Suggestions:

• non-perishable foods
• electronic gift cards (ex. amazon, but make sure it will work where they are)
• gifts that don’t require shipment (for example, humane gifts!)
• native-language reading material (if they are in a county that speaks something else)
• a card – consider including a cash gift, even if only to be saved by the student
• flowers! (easily ordered online for local delivery)

The bottom line for giving to someone abroad is practicality.  In my opinion it is best to send things that will be useful, and are of a reasonable enough size to ship in terms both of bulk and shipping cost.  Also, be cognizant of the length of their stay – if they will not be staying for long, and you have a bigger gift idea you may want to give their gift upon their return. Also, if they’re staying for a long time, some otherwise impractical gifts might become useful and appreciated, such as household items. My grandmother once sent me a one-egg pan – and I used it for one year before passing it on to another student prior to the end of my exchange.

Happy giving! Remember that they’ll probably be happy to get anything at all!