学校は素晴らしい! ※ School is wonderful!

みなさん、こんばんは！最近、南山大学で授業を始めました。学校は思ったとおりに楽しくて面白かったです！今まで、授業はうまくいっています。毎日、午前中日本語のクラスを取ります。あとで、日本の経済と国際関係と書道の授業を取ります。南山はUNCと違って、とても小さいです。入っているクラスで、一番学生が多いのは全員２５人ぐらいです。アメリカでよく二百人以上のクラスを取る学生に取って、南山に来るのは大きい変化です。先生も同級生も面白くて、優しい人です。そして、もちろん大好きな日本語の授業を楽しんでいます。
名古屋に着いた時から今まで、僕が名古屋の生活に慣れてきました。それで、最近の自分について面白い観察を教えたいと思います。

※メロンパンを初めて食べたのがきっかけで、コンビニパンが大好きになりました。この頃食べすぎるかもしれません。あ、太ってはいけません！0-0 （自分に「明日走ろうかな。。。」）

※地下鉄で、空いている席はいっぱいあるのに、僕は気がつかず必ず立ちます。なんでそうするかわかりません。　（＞＜）

※生物学を勉強したいです。日本語を学ぶのはいいですが、生物学も心の中に大切にします。生物学の考え方と勉強し方は日本語のと違いますね。どこかの生物学クラスに入ったら、クラスがよく楽しめると思います。それで、近くの名古屋大学でボランティアとして、遺伝学ラボラトリーで働く事をしたいです。

※日本の店が大好きになりました。思ったとおりに、日本のファッションと美学は一般的にとてもかっこいいと思います。でも、店の綺麗さで感動しています。

※僕の日本語がよわいです！！　よく間違えてしまいますから、ちょっと恥ずかしいですが、色々な友達も知らない人も我慢してくれますから、嬉しいです！そして、いい先生の授業に入れてよかったですね！頑張ります！

※もっと倹しくなってきました。日本は、食べ物が高いですから毎日気をつけます。自分で料理するようになっています。そういえば、初めて自分で大好きな鍋を作りました！やっぱり簡単な日本料理が出来るかもしれませんね！

※探検するのが大好きです。お金をかからないし、写真がたくさん取れます。この頃、天気はよく曇りです。そして、多くの名古屋の建物が綺麗だと言えませんが、なかなかよく見たら、ここでしか見つけられない綺麗な事はいっぱいあるとすぐ気がつきます。冬なのに、あるところで花が咲いています。近所の人たちの庭は小さいですが、はっきりよく世話をされています。混んでいる場所で、色々な日本語の発音し方を聞いて、面白い表現も聞くのを楽しみます。高いおかの上から、キラキラな山も港が全部で見えます。雨の日にも、宣伝の反射は美しいです。


自分で歩いている時に、「アメリカにいる友達と家族と先生がここに来たら、日本についてどう思うかな？好きかな？」とよく考えています。国にいるみなさんが会いに来てほしいです！色々な日本の事を教えたいですが、ブログであまり意味が強くないと思います。でも、この写真を見たら、わかるかもしれませんね。では、寒い天気で気をつけてくださいね！じゃ、またね。

 栄の近くにある庭　Inside a hidden garden close to Sakae-downtown.

 名古屋の栄 Sakae in Nagoya.

 名古屋の栄 Sakae in Nagoya.

 熱田神具 Atsuta Shrine

南山大学から見える名古屋！ The city as viewed from Nanzan U. !

Good evening from Nagoya. I have recently started classes at Nanzan University, and school is more interesting and fun than I had imagined! So far classes are all going well. My teachers and classmates are interesting people and generally very nice. I am in Japanese classes all morning each day, and afterwards on some days I study Japanese foreign policy, economics, and calligraphy. I am also starting a semester-long independent research project on traditional Japanese aesthetic and how it shapes modern design here. So I am very thrilled about all of that. Also, Nanzan is much, MUCH smaller than the classes I am used to taking at UNC (some with over 200 people). My biggest class here at Nanzan is only 25 students. It's a huge change for me. But even so, I am really enjoying my studies and all of the participation opportunity I could ever wish for!

Anyways, since my arrival I have noticed some amusing changes about myself lately as I adapt to life on the far eastern side...

• I love the bread here. Of all foods to choose from here, I am set on convenience-store bread, especially melon bread (which contains no melon but is shaped like one.)  It's inexpensive, flaky, yeast-y, mildly sweet, soft, and surprisingly high-quality (like most food here). The local melon bread industry may have gotten a revenue boost from me in my first few days here, but now I'm (trying) to maintain my Melon-bread Consumption Average to about one per week... so that I don't start looking like a melon bread.

• In the subways, even when there are plenty of free seats, I just stand the whole way without noticing until my legs hurt. I don't know why I do that. Maybe my book is too interesting.

•I miss studying biology,  a lot. The type of thinking and mental discipline required by biology is simply different from that needed for Japanese. I love Japanese, but biology is my major, and I really treasure it. I'm blessed that I was able to choose a major that I really love. Somedays I think about climbing through a window into some other school's biology class and just listening in. It would probably be fun. Anyhow, I have contacted the nearby Nagoya University to see if I could possibly take up a volunteer position in their lab. We'll see what I hear back from them about that slim chance!

•I like walking through Japanese shops, big and small. I always liked Japanese aesthetics, but I have been impressed with the subtlety and originality in which stores display various goods here. In less flowery language, I am a chronic window shopper. Probably my favorite store so far is the stationary store above Nagoya train station - pictures to come.

•My Japanese is weak. But I can get by through life here without English... at the mercy of patient strangers and friends who help me along and must try hard not to laugh at my grammatical follies. Thankfully my Japanese class is wonderful, so I look forward to trying hard in that one!

•I have become very economical these days, because things are pricey here, especially food! For instance, I am getting started with cooking most meals at home. I was happy to successfully make my first Korean hotpot the other day! Maybe I can cook a little Asian cuisine after all!

•I like to explore a lot because a) it's free and b) I can take pictures when I explore. I also enjoy my long-distance running forays into the nearby neighborhoods, which are explorations themselves. In these winter days, the skies are often grey and the wind is cold. Also, I can't exactly say that most of Nagoya's industrial-style buildings are beautiful. Plenty of them are just ugly. But that doesn't matter to me so much at all, because when I look closer I can see that there is beauty all around. I can see winter flowers blooming in secret parks, and the precious little potted gardens fill my neighborhood's quiet nooks and crannies with greenery. Even on rainy days, the brilliant signs and billboards reflect off the shining pavement to make a sparkling watercolor.

•Finally, when I am walking alone, I find myself imagining what it would be like if all the special people I knew at home were here with me in Japan and what they would think of this country. Would they like it? I don't know. There are so many things about Japan that I want to show you, but it's a bit challenging for me to do so in a blog. I am hoping that the photos I have added will help fill in the gaps.

Talk to you later! Take care in the cold weather.

洗濯は涼しい空気で翻ります ※ Laundry Flutters in the Cool Air

みなさん、こんにちは。ちょっと長い間に書かなくてごめんなさい。日本にいるので、名古屋から挨拶を送ります。まだ、着いたから一週間経っていませんが、もう日本の生活に慣れています。とてもきれいで便利な近所に住んでいます。寮の隣にモールと美しいお寺もあるし、地下鉄に近いし、とてもいい所だと思います。それに、近所の近くの川のそばでジョギングと散歩が道に迷わずできています。住むところはいいですが、もっと素晴らしいのはもう会った人達です。寮に住んでいる人達と今まで会った南山学生達は、みんなで親切でいいひとみたいです。名古屋で色々な所で案内したり、僕とご飯を食べたり、日本語も教えたりしてくれます。こんな人々に会えて嬉しいです。オリエンテイションは、先週の金曜日から今週の水曜日までなので、授業は今週の金曜日に始まります。その後で、色々な同級生にあうのを楽しみにしています。そして、もちろん日本語の勉強を続けるのは楽しみです！（^_^）
それに、恵里ちゃんにも会えています！相変わらずの恵里ちゃんは、学校でよく頑張っています。そして、忙しいですが、名古屋の名所に連れて行って、案内してくれています。素晴らしい家族も伊勢神宮に連れて行ってくれました。それで僕は本当に嬉しい彼です！
今まで、色々な日本の特徴が好きになりました。まず、ほとんどどこでも安全の感じをします。よく一人で歩いたり、自転車を運転したりしている十歳ぐらいの子供をみます。そんなことが、名古屋のように大きいアメリカの町であまり見えません。歩道も地下鉄も建物も、全部きれいです。アメリカ人として、本当に感動しています。食べ物も美味しいし、人々も一般的に優しいし、この頃日本が大好きです。
もちろん完璧ではないです。ねだんは思ったより高いです。そして、電気代金は高いので、寒いのにヒーターは家であまり使われていません。でも、ちょっと甘やかされているアメリカ人なので、重い服を着て、慣れます。：）
とにかく、今まで日本が大好きですが、一番好きなことは、平和の感じです。名古屋の賑やかな道は写真で混沌みたいですが、実は静かなところもいっぱいあります。例えば、僕の近所ですね。家を出ると、次の角でまっすぐに行くと構大きくて、こんでいるモールに今すぐ入ります。それで無印良品とかスーパーとかで何でも買えます。代わりに、左に曲がって、少し歩いて、丘を登ったら全然静かな林とお寺にすぐ来ます。あの丘のうえから、夕日の赤い光で、下の賑やかな近所は綺麗の映画みたいです。あまり特別なお寺ではないですが、こんな小さくて平和の所が大好きです。名古屋でいっぱいあるそうですから、探し続けます。
この晴れの日曜日に、始めて洗濯しました。今、洗濯はベランダーで翻っています。とても日本らしいイメージなので、窓の外の洗濯を見ると「わー、ついに日本にいる！」と考えます。
今週、新しい授業に入るので、色々な面白い経験があるはずです。後で、それについて書くのを楽しみにしています。じゃ、また後で！

Hello everyone, and sorry it's been a while since I last wrote. Greetings from Nagoya. It hasn't been quite a week since my arrival here, but I am getting used to my life in Japan already. I live in a beautiful and very convenient neighborhood. There is a mall and a park very close to my dormitory. And I can even go running along the canal next to the neighborhood, without getting (too) lost along the way. Indeed, my accommodations are great, but even better are the people that I have met so far. My house-mates and fellow students that I've met are really wonderful. They've shown me around to different parts of the city, grabbed food with me and even helped me with my Japanese. So I am really grateful to be in a supportive community like this one, with a lot of talented people from here and there around the world. Alas, orientation at Nanzan University continues from last Friday through this coming Wednesday, and my classes don't start until Friday; so my strictly academic experience has not yet really begun. But when classes do commence, I can't wait to meet more classmates from Japan and around the world. And of course I'm looking forward to my Japanese studies! :)
On top of all that, I am getting to meet up with dear Eri these days! Of course, she is very busy with her studies; but she has taken a lot of time to show me around her home-city, and even to a beautiful shrine in the countryside on a day-trip with her kind family! So I am a very lucky guy because of that.
So far, I've come to admire a lot about Japan. First, almost everywhere feels very safe. I regularly see children who look to be about 10  running errands on foot and bicycle alone around this huge city. I can't say that I would see that at home, even in little downtown Raleigh. Also, the sidewalks, subways, and buildings are meticulously clean. Everyone is (generally) very courteous and helpful (speaking in Japanese), and the food is so far superb. I am really liking Japan right now!
But of course, no place is perfect at all. I'm definitely in the honeymoon phase of my study abroad   period right now, and I know that my "rose-tinted glasses" through which I am seeing Japan will eventually turn clear. Even now, I can see that Japan is an extremely expensive place to live, and everyone must be really cautious about spending here (a mere apple costs a dollar, which is expensive compared to NC). I am still figuring out how to best spend on food and other necessities, and I definitely miss the reasonable stores back home. Also, the nation is in a power crisis in the wake of the 2011 Tohoku disaster, so we cannot use much heating or lighting in the house. In my life, I've been spoiled with plenty of heating through every winter, so it will be a good experience for me to go with a little less for a while.
Anyways, I am really loving Nagoya so far. I think my favorite thing so far is a special feeling of peace that I find in various places. If you look at a picture of a busy Nagoya street, it might look chaotic. Indeed, the traffic and glittering signage in some places are both beautiful and overwhelming. But this city is interwoven with countless little peaceful havens all around. My neighborhood is a good example of this idea. If you leave the dorm and go straight at the street corner, you enter almost immediately into a bustling multi-story mall. But if instead you take a left, walk for a few blocks, and climb a nearby hill, you will find an old Shinto shrine and graveyard tucked away in a grove of elegant hardwoods. From the top of that high hill, the crowded neighborhood below looks like a huge silent film. Drying laundry flutters in the cool afternoon breeze, bathed in the soft orange light of the setting sun. Car headlights twinkle on the distant highway, and bullet trains streak soundlessly across a bridge on the horizon. I can see a lot of beauty from this quiet place, and the great thing is that these spots seem to pop up pretty often through out Nagoya. So, I will keep finding and enjoying them.
On this sunny morning, I finished my first round of laundry in Japan. Now my own laundry is wavering in a cool breeze on the veranda. Since dryers aren't common in Japan, this image of drying laundry outdoors is everywhere here. When I see my own clothes out there on the veranda, I remember that I'm in Japan, and that gives me a very warm feeling.
This week, my classes begin, and with that I expect a lot of interesting new experiences. I look forward to telling you about them later on! :)

寮の近くのモールと道です。The mall and big thoroughfare right next to my dorm.

近所のそばにある川（近所は左にあります）。The canal that runs next to my neighborhood (which is on the left).

寮の人達と焼肉を始めてたべました！My dormmates and I went out to a yaki-niku restaurant, where we cooked our own meat and vegetables over hot coals on the table!

恵里ちゃんにも会えます！ I can also meet up with dear Eri!

近所にあるお寺の扉　The gate to the shrine in my neighborhood

丘の上から見える自分の近所　My neighborhood, as seen from the top of the hill

生活のトトロみたい人達に感謝を伝える事 Thanking the Totoro's in My Life

１０年前に１０歳の僕は兄弟達と「となりのトトロ」を時々見ていました。私達は「トトロ」はいいキャラクターだとすぐわかりました。それに、トトロは目が大きくて面白い顔を見せたので、子供として大好きでした。でも、僕は初めて見た後であの話の背景の日本文化に大変勉強になりました。きれいな日本の田舎とか礼儀正しいキャラクターとかで何だか感動しました。それからも、アメリカ人の中学生として自分に「日本はどんな国かな」と考えていました。今もそうです。
やっぱり、あの「トトロ」を見た後で高校と大学で日本語を勉強して、色々な日本の特徴に感動されました。しかし、「日本がわかる」と心からぜんぜん言えません。多分、決してそんなことが言えませんが、頑張って、ちょっとだけ日本のことがわかるようになれたら、とても嬉しいです。今朝、初めて有名な成田空港に飛行機に乗ってすぐ日本に着きます。この留学経験の一番の目的は、子供の時から聞いている質問をちょっと答えてみることです。
でも、あの質問の答えを探しに行く前に、たくさんの人達に「ありがとう」と言わなければいけません。実は僕の生活で、トトロのように、色々な方で手伝ってくれる人達はいっぱいいますよ。まず、家族です。トトロが不思議な森の鍵をあげるように、父と母と始め、家族は僕にこの留学経験と大学の勉強をさせてくれます。でも教育のことだけじゃなくて、生活のほとんど全部のいいことは親と兄弟達のお陰様でありますね。「ありがとうございます」と言っては十分ではないです。
それから、先生達です。日本語の先生のお陰様でここまで日本語が習えました。高校生の時から今まで、日本語の勉強はずっと楽しみでした。何度も間違えをしてしまいましたけれど、いつも親切なトトロのように我慢して、日本語の練習のチャンスをいっぱいくださいました。あの先生たちに、いつもありがとうございます。そして、生物学を専攻している学生として化学の先生にも「ありがとう」といいたいです。あの先生たちは、僕が日本の留学プログラムで化学の勉強ができないとわかるんですが、僕は日本の勉強も大切にするもわかりますから、日本で留学させてくださっています。本当にありがとうございます。
最後に、友達です。僕の友達は宝です。いつもひらめきと励ましをくれています。こんな友達で嬉しくて明るくて面白い生活ができています。僕が迷っているところにニコニコしている友達がトトロのように、すぐ来て僕を元気にしてくれます。僕の日本語でちょっと伝えにくいですが、生活のトトロ見たい人に感謝をたくさん表したいです。
それで、日本に行きます。着いた後ですぐ書くのを楽しみにしています。

Ten years ago I occasionally watched Hayao Miyazaki's film My Neighbor Totoro with my family. My interest in Japan began with that movie. As a child I was delighted with Totoro, an umbrella-toting, rain-loving, forest-inhabiting giant with plate-sized eyes who was generous, patient, and kind in  any circumstance. After watching the movie several times, I gradually became more fascinated with background features of the story, such as the rural Japanese setting and the cast's exquisite politeness. From that point forward, I wondered to myself "What kind of country is Japan?"
After first seeing Totoro and proceeding into Japanese classes in high school and college, I've been deeply impressed by various things I've learned about Japan. Yet after these years of studying Japanese language and culture, of course I cannot say something like "Me, I know Japan." Actually, I will never be able to say something like that truthfully. But if I try hard and eventually come to understand just a little bit about Japan, I think I will be very happy. This morning, I'll board my first Tokyo-bound flight ever and arrive in Japan. In this study abroad experience, my utmost goal is to answer (at least to some degree) the question I've been asking myself for ten years: what kind of country is Japan?
Before I go off searching for that answer, there are a lot of people that I've got to thank. As a matter of fact, there are a whole bunch of people in my life who resemble the ever-loving Totoro. First comes my family who, starting with my parents, grant me this chance to study abroad with my university education; just as Totoro gives the key to unlock the magical camphor forest. But my family goes beyond providing education and straight to providing every sweet thing in my life, so no "Thank-you" can really suffice for them. Especially I am grateful for my parents, who first taught me the joy of pure, scholarly inquiry.
Then come my teachers. I have studied Japanese since my junior year of high school, and I can say confidently that it has been a joy all along. Well, at least it's been a joy for me as a student, but maybe not for my poor instructors. Even though I made (and make) countless mistakes, my Japanese professors have guided me with the patience of a true Totoro, and have furnished me with generous opportunities for me to practice. I am always indebted to them! And, as a biology major I owe huge thanks to the UNC science faculty. These professors know that I cannot take science classes in Japan through the available exchange programs, yet they are allowing and even encouraging my pursuit abroad because they know the importance it has to me and my education as a whole. Thank you truly for that.
Finally come my friends. In my troubling times, they materialize and come to my aid, whether that involves making an international video-call or running for miles around town or geeking out about biology or watching obscure Japanese dramas with me. It's a little hard to express in writing, but I am so thankful for all of these real-life Totoros who surround me and make my life bright, happy, and *very* interesting. But I would like to express great thanks for all of them on this early morning.
Now, I will go grab my bags and leave for Japan. I look forward to writing to you soon after my arrival.

P.S. If you haven't seen Miyazaki's Totoro, you probably should. But watch with caution; you might end up going to Japan like me!