６月３０日（火）

Today didn't start out rainy, but as you can see, it ended up that way! Right now in Japan it's 梅雨 (tsuyu, the rainy season).

In the afternoon I brought Masao a bagel from Costco and Philadelphia cream cheese from Top World since he had never tried a bagel with cream cheese before. He REALLY liked it and said he wanted to go back to Costco for more bagels. Success! One of his clients was there and she told me that cream cheese had only come to Japan recently. I don't remember seeing it here two years ago, so maybe it's even new since then. Next is peanut butter?

I studied at Masao's workplace and Dave showed up, so we studied for our test together. He told me there was a place near Hirakata City Hall called Hirakata Sun Plaza where teachers on staff help you with your studies. It's a free service and I don't need a Foreign Resident Card. We're going to try that tomorrow to get some help before the JLPT.

It was raining when we had to leave for the evening, but on the way home we went to すき家 (Sukiya, a donburi restaurant with the image of being for salarymen) and had チース牛丼 (a beef and rice bowl with cheese) with tabasco sauce. It tasted like carbs and victory.

As you can see, I got absolutely drenched on the way home! I was riding my bike, and I don't trust myself holding an umbrella and steering like all the talented Japanese people do, so I became a victim to the elements. Great adventure!

Travel tips:

7. Be prepared for rain during the rainy season in Japan. Bring a raincoat or buy a cheap rain parka at a コンビニ (konbini, convenience store) if you're in Japan during the rainy season, especially if you need to ride a bike and don't want to carry an umbrella at the same time. It's also good to bring plastic bags with you so you can put your belongings in those. Don't be like me!

(All names used in this blog are pseudonyms.)

６月２９日（月）

picture: 飲み放題！

In the morning I put out the 燃えるゴミ (moeru gomi, burnable trash) and bummed around the house until Masao called me out to have lunch at a Chinese ramen restaurant with some of his friends and employees. One of them explained a recent news story about a cat who was hanging out at an abandoned rail station, and even though the rail line was about to close down due to lack of use, people would ride the line recently just to see the cat watch the train go by. It was a 三毛猫 (mikeneko, calico cat) whose name was たま (tama, which translates to "ball"). She explained to me that the name たま is very common for cats in Japan, I guess kind of like "fluffy" is assumed to be a common cat's name in the US. The cat died a few days ago, and now there's a memorial for it in the station.

I ate 西川ラーメン (nishikawa ramen? I don't remember) with the others, which is a Chinese spicy ramen, and it was super good. One of the people I went with was another American, Dave, who also plans to take the JLPT:N2 level test, just like me. We spoke in Japanese even when it was just a conversation between the two of us. I always think it's pretty great when I find another foreigner who will speak Japanese with me even when our communication would be smoother in English. He lives close to me, so on test day (JULY 5!) we are going to go to our test site together.

After lunch I went to see my 後輩 (kouhai, younger student) from Bennington College at 関西外国語大学 (kansai gaikokugo daigaku, Kansai Gaidai University). It was his last full day in Japan. He likes to play ultimate frisbee, and I was happy to see a good crowd of Japanese and foreign students had gathered to play with him one last time. We all played ultimate frisbee together, skilled and unskilled alike, and it was a lot of fun. Some of other of his friends showed up to give him a T-shirt they had written a bunch of inside jokes on for him. It was really great to see he had been doing so well in Japan. One friend of his was an Okinawan and she spoke with me about base protest in Okinawa. She says she understands opposition to the bases, but the people who are too outspoken about it and are always railing on about it start to bother her. There's such a range of opinions about these issues, and I'm always eager to hear the opinions of native Okinawans above all others, of course.

In the evening I returned to Masao's work and he answered some of my questions about the exercises in my 読解 (dokkai, reading comprehension) textbook. I stayed there pretty late and he asked if I wanted to go out drinking, so we went to 飲み放題 (nomihoudai, all you can drink) at a place called 土間土間 (Doma Doma) and we spoke mainly English and taught each other some new expressions and caught up. For example 大人の味 (otona no aji, which translates literally to "adult taste") is used for bitter things like coffee and beer, and 子供の味 (kodomo no aji, "childish taste") means sweet things or things children like to eat. Drinking completed, I got home at about 4 in the morning.

Culture note: Japan is serious about separating garbage, and they do a really great job recycling most things. In my area 燃えるゴミ(moeru gomi, burnable garbage) goes out on Monday and Thursday, プラゴミ (pura gomi, plastic garbage) goes out on Tuesday, and  缶と瓶 (kan to bin, cans and glass bottles) get picked up on alternating Fridays. One Sunday each month is for カルトン (karuton, cartons). It's a great system. When you're in public, though, like in front of a convenience store, there's usually just one bin for ペットボトル (petto botoru, plastic bottles), one bin for cans and glass, and one bin for everything else. So even though residential pickups are very efficient, public trash cans are less strict.

(All names used in this blog are pseudonyms.)

６月２８日（日）

picture: the Terminator in Korean Town

In the early afternoon I met Etsushi again at Tsuruhashi Station and we walked to コリアンタウン (Korean Town). We got a little lost in some narrow, winding shopping streets lined with older shops. Etsushi said the little streets were like a 迷路 (meiro, labyrinth). When we got to Korean Town there were a lot of street vendors. Korean Town itself was fairly small, a couple of blocks long, but there were many food and shopping options regardless of space. I tried a chicken skewer that I can't remember the name of and a Korean rice and vegetable dish called pibinpa for the first time. Also, we found the Terminator! ... with kimchi and daikon

After that we went to a little coffee shop Salon de Amanto near Osaka Station and I ordered an 天人コーヒー (amanto coffee, which I misread as tenjin coffee because life is hard).

In the evening Etsushi went elsewhere and I decided to find my test site ahead of time so I don't follow my own time-honored tradition of losing my way to important events. Apparently doing this kind of preparation is called 下見 (shitami). Turns out I found the place, but got lost and way overshot the station on the way back. I was nearly back at the station when I finally asked a sweet family of three with their little boy for directions. The dad basically said "See the tracks? It's right there." Haha, foreigner fail.

(All names used in this blog are pseudonyms.)

６月２７日（土）

In the morning I did some studying for the Japanese Language Proficiency Test (JLPT), and in the afternoon I went to watch Masao and one of his employees, Katsuo, play badminton together. They taught be a little bit but I am 下手臭う(hetakusou, really bad at it)!

After some more study I met two old friends, Tetsuya and Erica, and we went to an izakaya (Japanese-style bar) to drink and eat. I found that Kirin makes a dark beer（キリン一番：黒生）that is actually pretty good (pictured above). It was great to see them again!

(All names used in this blog are pseudonyms.)

６月２６日（金）

I unpacked in the morning, and in the afternoon Masao took me to Costco. Among other things we bought bagels, which he said he had never tried. That sounds crazy to an American! We ate hotdogs afterward and had conversations about how to state a hotdog in a bun versus a hotdog on its own and how to count hotdogs properly in Japanese and English. That sounds simple but it's surprisingly complicated!

For example, in Japanese, if you want one hotdog in a bun you would count it 一つ (hitotsu), but if you want one out of the bun you'd count it 一本 (ippon). 一個 (ikko) might also be an ok way to count one in a bun.

In the evening I went with Masao and one of his employees, Sayano, to a yakitori (fried chicken) place, and we ate dinner and engaged in some good-natured racist jokes, mainly in English because my brain had turned to mush. Later we ate cake, took stupid pictures, and engaged in more friendly racism. Masao turned to me on his third piece of cake and said with a sad look in his eyes "I'm becoming American." I told him soon he'd be fat like me.

Travel tips:
5. Ask questions about stupid things if you don't know. You won't end up looking dumb, and if you don't learn you might look ignorant later.
6. Try not to let stereotypes offend you. Play along and make fun of them.

(All names used in this blog are pseudonyms.)

６月２５日（木）

(picture: beer and sake vending machine, Hirakata)

In the morning I headed out from my house to find Softbank and prepay a card for my old Japanese phone that I brought back with me. The old location I used to go to had closed, so I showed up at my old friend and former housemate, Masao's, workplace on foot unannounced. He runs his own business so this wasn't too much of a problem, I hope! He kindly offered to take me to the next closest Softbank, and I met one of his employees who showed up. At Softbank, the staff couldn't get me a prepaid card without a 在留カード (zairyuu kaado, Foreign Resident Card) and as a tourist I was not issued one, so Masao allowed me to put the phone in his name. I was really glad to have him there to help me.

In the evening I was able to get my rent paid, and my organizer friend lent me a bicycle. I went back to Masao's work to give him some prickly pear candy I'd brought from Arizona. He thought it was too sweet and I don't think he liked it, but he was polite about it, anyway.

I have been really bad so far about giving my old friends and new acquaintances the gifts I brought from the USA, but it's best to do when you first see them again. From here on I will try to do better! The items I chose were souvenir pens from Hollywood, prickly pear candy from Arizona, "navajo" green tea from Arizona, prickly pear honey from Arizona, and one goofy Arizona shot glass.

Travel tips:
2. (repeat) Be considerate, and people will have your back when you need them.
3. You need a foreign resident card（在留カード）or a really awesome Japanese friend to get a prepaid phone in Japan. Apparently it's an anti-terrorism measure, according to my landloard's husband.
4. When you travel to Japan, bring kitschy gifts, preferably from your home region or famous places in your country of residence. Give them to new or old friends. Edibles are best because people don't feel obligated to wear or display them. On the other hand, magnets or small trinkets can also make good gifts. One thing to keep in mind though is that Japanese people culturally are very conscious of space and try to avoid hoarding, so giving things that can be eaten or used is usually best.

(All names used in this blog are pseudonyms.)

６月２４日（水：Arrival Day!）

My first day in Japan was stressful but turned out fine. Upon arrival I stupidly forgot to turn my data roaming off on my American phone, so assuming I had connected to the internet (I was pretty tired and not thinking clearly, obviously) I used Facebook on my phone to send messages to my friend, Etsushi, who was waiting for me in the airport. One of the first text messages I got was an alert from AT&T saying I had racked up over $100 worth of phone charges. So of course I panicked and turned my phone off.

Passing immigration took over an hour of waiting in line due to other foreign flights coming in at the same time. After I made Etsushi wait about 45 minutes I finally saw him. I was speaking English to him at first and he was sort of surprised, probably because I had always insisted on speaking Japanese two years ago. Good friend that he is he made me switch to Japanese, treated me to some great curry rice in the airport, laughed at me as I struggled to remember Japanese, and helped me get to Kyobashi on the trains. I was too late to meet another friend, Ted, who organizes with my landlord and was going to hand me the key to the share house I'm renting, but he left the key for me.

Everything did turn out fine because my father saved me by purchasing a cheap international package for my phone that negated the charges, and I talked to my landlord the next day to finalize a contract and pay the rent.

I learned that being a considerate neighbor will help you a lot. My landlady discounted me rent and internet use charge, which apparently is because I was an easy neighbor before and she's happy to have me back. Ted was also kind enough to lend me a bicycle that I can use in Hirakata, and provide me with some comfortable summer bedding. So I'm all set!

Travel tips:
1. Turn your data roaming off before you arrive in a foreign country, and keep your phone in airplane mode if you're in doubt!
2. Be considerate, and people will have your back when you need them.

(All names used in this blog are pseudonyms.)