Octopus? Or is it Octopi?
So I've finally figured out how to ask my host family how to use the internet, and when it was acceptable to do so...so I'll finally be able to update my blog daily hopefully, which is a big relief--it's been one of my only goals to keep and maintain a blog, so I'm glad that I'll finally be able to =P! Yesterday was a verrrrrrrrry exhausting day. There was a ton of walking, followed by some picture taking, that preceded yet more walking; needless to say by the time I got home, I was about to pass out.
This was to be our first day of classes, so Okaasan (literally 'mother' in Japanese, and the title by which us homestay students call the mothers in the families with whom we stay) was kind enough to come with me on the commute so that I wouldn't get lost. Going from their house to the bus stop was also a little confusing because in the neighborhoods in Japan the houses are very close together, and the streets resemble more alleys than actual streets. After a few turns I was already lost, but luckily Okaasan saw that and pointed out some landmarks (such as a tea shop and a cigarette vending machine...yes. They sell cigarettes in vending machines, haha. Along with beer =P) that would help me make my way home. Spoiler alert; I get lost on my way home =P. She also showed me how to read the bus schedule (which was VERY different from the bus schedule I was used to in New York during my mission), and which stops would help me recognize that I was getting close to home.
Once the bus came, we got on...and we didn't pay! Apparently in Japan you pay as you get off of the bus, not before...which was odd, haha. Anyways, we rode the bus for about 20 minutes until the stop closest to the church and disembarked at Kawaramachi Imedegawa and walked another 10 minutes to the church building. We got to the church building at 9:15am for our 3 hour class block that started at 9:30, but we were only the 2nd family to arrive! Apparently all the other families left a bit later than the should have, and we finally had everyone gathered around 10:15, which is very odd for Japan...Usually things run exactly on time, so my Okaasan was constantly commenting on how the other families shouldn't be being so flakey this early in the home-stay.
Luckily it was orientation day, and we only went over the nuts and bolts for our individual language classes (there are only 3 people on each level; so the classes are much more individualized) and the Japanese culture class that everyone takes together. The language classes are also tailored to the study abroad experience, and my homework definitely reflects that! I was assigned to read 20 minutes a day from any Japanese literature at my level, so I went with a few other study-abroaders to a book store and bought a Bleach manga. For only 100 yen. I was floored at not only how cheap the manga were, but how many manga there were! In any bookstore in America you might see anywhere from 2-6 bookshelves with translated manga...but I'm talking about an entire floor of a department dedicated to manga. A floor! =O
The other parts of my homework include keeping a journal in Japanese (10
sentence per day using as much vocab that we're learning as possible), writing
5-10 new words that we hear or read in a notebook per day, and each night we
need to formulate sentences using those terms and attempt to use the terms the
next day when talking to our host families or while we're out and about in
Kyoto. The last part of my homework is to read short stories in Japanese on
BYU's website each night and do a bunch of stuff with that. But I won't bore
you more than I have about my homework =P.
After classes were done for the day, we took an excursion together to Gion;
the historically preserved portion of Kyoto that has some of the oldest wooden
living structures that are national treasures of Japan; and maintained as such.
To get there we walked alongside the Kamogawa river for about 3.5 miles. There
were even some jumping stones to cross it in the shape of birds and turtles for
children to play on =P (And, yes. I did play on them). There were also a TON of
muskrat in the river playing around. Miller-sensei told us that they were
originally brought to Japan right before WWII to be farmed for their fur coats
to make gloves for their soldiers, but ever since then they have thrived in
Japan's marshy areas (such as Kyoto) becoming more of a pest than anything else
by completely destroying the dikes that are necessary for the rice patties to
hold the water that the rice grows out of. Damn rats =P. 
After getting to Gion, we walked a little bit more up to a Shrine on the
outskirts of the city (I forget its name >.<) to see formal Japanese
archery. Our director (Miller-sensei) used to practice traditional Japanese
archery at a Zen monastery when he was living in Japan and he really wanted us
to see Japanese students practicing it at the shrine. However, while talking to
the locals about his past with living in Japan and practicing archery they directed us to a place where someone would let all 14 of us try our hand at it ourselves! It was one of the most interesting things I've done yet! After all of that, we all were set loose to find our way back to our home-stay homes for the first time...and only 9 out of the 14 of us got lost, lol! I caught the right bus, and even got off at the right place, but when it came to navigating the neighborhood in close quarters...it was a little more of a problem. Luckily Okaasan was walking to the local convenience store (Konbini) at the time and saw me wandering around aimlessly...She had a quick laugh at my misfortune and walked with me back to the house =P.
For dinner we had Takoyaki. 'Tako' in Japanese means 'Octopus'. They are pretty much balls of egg batter with a piece of octopus tentacle cooked in the middle along with onion, pickled raddish, and cabbage. The ironic thing is that earlier that day I was talking with 2 of the other home-stay students about food we didn't want to eat...and octopi was the #1 on my list. Knock on wood, right? Anyways. It was amazing. Super delicious. Not to mention we made our own, so it was also a fun experience in generalHere are pictures of the entire process:
What I meant to say: Thank you for the meal! ごちそさまでした！(Gochisosama deshita)
What I actually said: I'm sorry for your loss (what you say at a funeral to the loved ones of the recently departed) ごちすうさまでした！(Goshuusosama deshita)
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