The last post

It has been 6 weeks now that I have come back to Germany. And as I had already sensed in my last weeks in Japan – my stay in Japan has become a distant memory. It does not feel real any more. Sometimes I even wonder if I have really been there. Adjustment to one’s life at home really takes on fast.

Are there things that I am happy about, now that I am home? Yes, there are certain things I can do that I could not when I was in Japan:

-see masculine men: apparently, in Japan “masculine men” can be an oxymoron. They are skinny, they are shy, they are delicate, they are obsessed with fashion and hairstyles, they pluck their eyebrows, and I could swear, some of them wear make up! To prove my point: I wore a jersey top with a waterfall neckline that I got many compliments on. I never told anybody that I got it from a men’s fashion store… (Wait, or does this anecdote put ME in a bad light?)

-eat an apple in public: in Japan you never see people eat an apple on the streets. If you do, people will notice you  – have you ever seen people in Germany bite into a tomato while walking down the street?

-work at my desk without freezing to death: Kaikan room was a refrigerator during the winter months

-not feeling isolated when being alone: although Japanese people are polite and helpful, I never felt like I belonged to the society. I could never really understand their thinking. Being alone in Kaikan felt like being alone in the world. Here in Germany I do not feel lonely when being alone because I feel like part of this society.

-Hear “no” once in a while: in Japan it is really hard to guess from their faces and their words what they really want. They do not say no directly, you have to really pay attention to grasp their subtle hints of their real thoughts.

-buy cheap fruit and vegetables: the prices for these commodities are a little bit higher in Japan, and it adds up, when you like to cook fresh meals

-not feeling lost when travelling: finally I can read all the signs at the stations, on the streets, in the shops, …

-something I have been obsessing about the longer I stayed in Japan – eat German bread! The first -thing I bought after I stepped off the airplane and felt German ground under my feet: ein belegtes Mehrkornbrötchen (whole wheat bread roll with topping) – I never tasted anything that good for a long time!

not feel like a bum, when wearing jeans and a T-shirt: if the guys are fashionable in Japan, then the girls are fashion gods. It seems like they are dressed to enter a fashion contest every day, short skirts, high heels, perfect make up, perfect hair, never jeans!

- Throwing away garbage without being intellectually challenged.

There are also other things that I noticed when I came back to Germany. I feel so small! The furniture is bigger and higher, the people are all hovering over me again, even the toilet seats are higher!

And the worst of all: the cold unfriendly German faces. After half a year in Japan, where the staff in supermarkets, stores, and konbinis has been sucking up to you and kissed the ground that you have been walking on, and you want to e.g. buy bread at a German bakery - you will feel like you just asked prison staff to open the door of your cell.

All in all, when I came back I noticed that I had not been missing much during my stay in Japan. Walking down the aisles in the German supermarkets, seeing my room at home, and walking down the city – nothing has changed. I have not thought about these places at all during my stay abroad and had not been imagining them, so nothing seemed changed for me.

But I also know that when thinking back I tend to forget the “bad stuff”. There have been moments when I wanted to go back home, when I have been missing my family and friends, when I had felt lonely, when I had cursed all the Japanese for their non existent English skills and their weird behaviour. Especially the first weeks have been tough. I did not like Oita at all. I guess it is called culture shock. After a while we adapted and the exhilarating feeling of discovering new things took over. All in all, it has been a wonderful adventure and I am so happy that I did it.

One day in Taipei

On the way back from Japan to Germany we changed planes in Taipei again. Unfortunately, my plan to stay in Taipei once again did not work out due to lack of time and money. Looking back I am even glad that it had not worked out, because I had been such an emotional mess, that I could not have enjoyed it anyways.

But as we had 12 hours between the changing flights in Taipei, we wanted to go into the city and visit a German friend, who works in Taipei. It was February 16th when we landed in Taipei, exactly in the week of Chinese New Year. This is the most important holiday in Taiwan, and people get together with their families in order to celebrate - one whole week! If you consider that our Taiwanese friends (or work machines) usually work 14 hours per day, it seems even more extraordinary, that they take off one whole week!

It was really nice to see Taipei again. The humid air, the smell of the city instantly reminded me of our 4 days in Taipei last September and happy memories came back to my mind. Unfortunately, it rained all day!We intended to go to the most famous dumpling restaurant in Taipei, but unfortunately, when we got there, people were already standing in line in the rain in front of the restaurant to get in. It was not even lunch time! Our friend said, that next time we should reserve a table before going.

 

Last time, when Fabian and I were still scared newcomers in exotic Asia, we had not dared to use the subway. But this time, now having become Asian experts and strengthened through adventurous travelling in Japan, we did it. We used the subway!

For lunch, after searching half the city in pouring rain for a decent restaurant (many were closed because of the holidays), we found a nice restaurant for shabu shabu. It can be compared to nabe in Japan. It is a hot pot with boiling broth on the table, where everybody puts his ingredients in and cooks it. Delicious! When our friend said, "this is a restaurant with a higher standard", Fabian and I worriedly felt our wallets, thinking about how much money we had. When the bill came, each of us had to pay... Guess how much! 7 Euros! Taiwan is a heaven for gourmets! ^^

The Taipei 101 clouded

 

Inside the 101

 

At the end of the day - of course we had to conduct empirical research on cultural differences between Japanese and Taiwanese crane machines. Our result: the Taiwanese machines cheat the customers! The crane fingers are too loose!

He also showed us his fancy apartment. I was impressed! I could describe you in many words how expensive his apartment looked, how pretty the furniture was, how high the rent is, but I think this picture of the kitchen tells already everything:

This single hotplate says: "I do not need to cook. I only go out for eating."

;)

I enjoyed this day in Taipei very much. 

Thank you for the wonderful day in Taipei! I had so much fun!

Yufuin

At the beginning of February we made a trip to Yufuin.  It is a small town, which is a 1 hour train ride from Oita. It was the last trip that we organized, motivated by the oncoming goodbye from Marion, our fellow Paderborn student, 2 days from then. I and Fabian were the last 2 Germans to leave Oita one week after Marion.

I am writing this post at my German desk. All I write down now are memories from three weeks ago. I remember it to be a good and fun trip. It is sad to think of Yufuin now, which seems so unreal now that I breathe German air.

We went to the mountain first, in order to hike a little bit. We only wanted to go up a small hill, take some pictures and then head back to the town. But what looked like a small hill, which we could walk up in our pretty city shoes, turned out to be rather a Mount Everest!

 

Our humble aim was to walk up the small cute hill to the left. On the right is Yufuin mountain, where some of our fellow students climbed up - it took them 4 hours to go up! 

On the way up the "small" hill we slowly realized that it was much steeper and much more exhausting than expected to "walk" up. I sometimes even had to cling to the trees in order to pull me up the hill.

On half of the way to the top - panting, sweating, swearing - we declared it to be our mountain top. So, "finally there"! Haha. We were 8 people when we started to hike, and when we arrived we were only 7. Haha. 

But we were of good humour. The fact that we mastered the mountain (according to our own definition) motivated us so much that we had the energy to joke around. 

Hungry after the exercise we tried to find a restaurant where we could eat. We could not decide and ended up in a not so pretty shop where they sold Ramen noodles. But we were hungry and had no money. 

Voilà. Tonkatsu Ramen. One weird thing about Ramen is that it makes you crave something sweet after having eaten it. It also makes you hungry pretty soon. 

We walked around Yufuin and wondered why a friend of ours had declared this city to be his favorite in Japan. It was boring, nothing to see, and not spectacular at all. Then we remembered another friend telling us about a pretty lake. We asked some locals for directions and were guided to this street. 

Beautiful and charming Yufuin. Suddenly we saw masses of people, many small and cute shops, charming houses... So that's why our friend loves Yufuin so much! There were so many shops that tempted us to go in. But as we wanted to see the lake by sunlight, we heaviheartedly had to drag each other along to find the lake. We only hoped that this "lake" would be worth it!

And there it was. Worth the renouncement. 

Some hungry animals begged for food. The size of the children made us wonder, if the duck would mistake the kids for a snack.

 A beautiful day and beautiful people.

On the way back from the lake, we finally could free our desire and explore the shops. This is one of the most famous in Yufuin. It is for merchandise products from the Japanese anime studio Ghibli. They produced movies like Chihiros Reise in Zauberland and Das wandelnde Schloss.

And they produced the anime "My neighbour Totoro" (1988). It is very famous in Japan, and also amongst Japan-lovers around the world. This big stuffed thing is Totoro. 

Yufuin turned out be one of my favorite cities in Japan. It is a very charming and beautiful town. I wish we have had more time to explore the small individual shops and boutiques there. 

Goodbye Oita! Thank you Oita! See you again!

This is a post I wrote one week ago. And now it is even more relevant. Andora's speech becomes truer with every minute that goes by... Thank you for your honest words.



The time has come. It is time to say goodbye. These days have been filled with goodbyes to fellow students, farewell get-togethers, nostalgia, tears, emotions, promises to see each other again, ... everythings that makes a goodbye a goodbye.

Slowly and sadly, it has crept into our lives. Who knew it would come so soon? Who knew it would be so emotional?

It started with the offical farewell parties at the universities last Friday. The official farewell party started out as, well, an official farewell party. Some officials gave some speeches (in Japanese, so I did not understand anything), people were standing around, pictures were taken, it was a weird atmosphere, because everywhere tables were in the way and everybody was standing in the middle of nowhere. It felt like an unorganized, boring official event and I was already thinking about leaving. But then Andora, our friend from Indonesia, who started as an international student one year before us and had now finished his studies in Oita, held his speech. It was the first heart moving moment of this event, that gave the farewell party its first emotional touch. The first glimpse of an honest goodbye swept through the room and left nobody untouched.

 

Here is Andora's speech:

"As I am standing now to deliver a speech, I just remembered some moments in my past. Two years ago, I was one of you guys here, joining the group of both Japanese and international students and listening to Johan, my Swedish friend’s speech. At that time, I was thinking that it would be great if someday I can give a speech during my farewell. So as today, in my second farewell party in Oita university, I wanna give my credits to all my friends, teachers, the international office staffs, and to all people without whom I won’t have such a great and wonderful experiences in Oita.

To be honest, my first experience in Oita was not very favorable - I had a bunch of complaints - : why the Japanese hardly speak english, or why Oita was so small and quiet and doesn’t that much awesome and spectacular as, let say, Tokyo, - and so on and so forth. However, as the day passed, I got used to my new environment, started to learn the Japanese language, created new friends, and slowly began to enjoy this place.

I still keep in touch with some of my fellow friends who had already leaved Oita and returned back to their country. Among these people, some were really enjoyed their time here, and some who didn’t seem enjoying it during their stay. However, they all have the same messages. -They are dying missing this place so much -. So I wonder how much I will miss this place, as much as I believe you guys will, after we are back in our home country.

As for my final words, I would like to say have a safe return trip, and good luck for your study back there in your home country. I sincerely hope all the very best for your future. There is a time to meet, and unfortunately there is also a time to say good bye, but I believe that the friendship that everyone gets here will last. I sincerely wish that we can meet again somewhere, sometime, somehow.

Thank you very much everyone. "

Yet another surprise was to come when Koji, our Japanese friend, sang goodbye songs accompanied by a live band. The songs were the accompanyment to a surprise picture show with many pictures of all the international students that they took during this semester. We were surprised whenever we saw our faces on the huge screen. The photos showed funny moments, significant moments, relaxed moments, excited moments, moments with friends... It was there that I realized how many things we have seen, been through, experienced together. While watching this slide show as a summary of this semester it suddenly dawned on us, how many new friends and experiences we have made - and that now the end of it is coming. The room was darkened so that everybody could watch the big screen with the picture show, but I could see students being so moved that they cried with their friends.

This official farewell party was followed by a second farewell party (this time only students in the student dorm) and a privately organized farewell party of the Kaikan people in an izakaya. The night ended in the morning in a karaoke bar. A dawning goodbye mobilizes everybody's desire to spend more time with each other. Now comes a typical period of time when everybody realized how little time is left together and is eager to do something. It is a good opportunity to create more fun memories.

I have not slept one second. The mere thought of having to leave this place makes me want to panick. I have never felt this way before. It is really strange.

I know I will be in Germany soon and then there will only be memories of this place, like a distant dream.

I never thought that I had gotten so attached to this place and the people in it. The end always seemed so far away and now that it is there, it seems so extremely sudden and real. One week ago I was ready to leave, I would have left without shedding a tear. Now I wonder, maybe it was an illusion.

You often only know how much you  feel for something or someone when you are about to lose it. It sounds silly, but some weeks ago something happened that might have prepared me for this unexpected emotional attachment. I lost my sweater. It sounds trivial, and so was the sweater (I bought it for 8,49 Euros at a textile discounter and it was cheapest polyester or fleece) - so I thought. What I had not expected was this sadness that it was gone. Although its material worth was negligible, it dawned on me that I had started to become used to it and had started to, ok this sounds creepy but, ahem, love it. During these cold winter months it had become indispensible, I wore it every day over my regular clothes - when sitting at my desk, before going outside as a double layer, in the classroom, in the cafeteria,... So after it was gone I looked for it everywhere, I thought about it before going to sleep, it was the first thing I thought about when waking up! About a sweater! You can imagine how happy I was when I found it in one of the classrooms, I clung to it the whole day. Writing down this episode something just came to my mind what Professor Higgins says in My Fair Lady after he discovers that Eliza has left and his unexpected regret of it: "I've grown accustomed to her face."

What shall this teach me? I should have foreseen all this? I should have done everything to avoid the feeling of having too little time left? By hanging out with everybody more often? By spending all free time on activities? Actually, I am happy with how I spent my time the last weeks and it would have added more pressure if I have had all this thoughts in my head. I think. Gnah, I don't know!

I only know that this time I won't be as lucky as with the sweater.

Argh

No time! No time!

I have to leave in 2 days! I do not want to!

I am not prepared to say goodbye yet... :(

Two days ago I had a nightmare. I dreamt that I was in my room in Germany again. I was shocked, "how did I get here?!". And then I woke up and was so relieved that I was still in my Kaikan room in Oita...

Asosan

One of the largest volcano craters in the world is found here on Kyushu, "our" island: Asosan. This is where we went with the German Club. Although at that time I was so swamped with work as all the finals were coming up I took this day off to go. It was the first (and probably only) time that all the German Club members could go. Rei, Micchan, Hoho, and Lisa had organized three cars so that we could even invite more to go with us. We were joined by Hoon (Korea), Mike (USA), and John (USA).I forced all the sorrows about university obligations to the back of my mind, I was determined to enjoy this day!
So it seemed sarcastic that on the day that I had long fought with myself to take off, the car broke down on the middle of the way. My mind screamed, no, this cannot be! Was this my fate? One day off and a sabotaged trip? We were lucky, the car had broken down exactly in front of a gas station. The car was diagnosed and filled with some oil, and we were good to go!

 

The car broke down...

  

... just in front of a gas station. 

After drinking some oil it was good to go.

The weather was perfect. Not a single cloud in the sky and brilliant sunshine. We did not go to the crater itself, but went to another peak with a nice view.

  

 We arrived! Alive!

  

 Perfect weather, perfect view.

  

 The fun of the day was not primary the view of Asosan, but rather our group pictures...

  

All the girls from the German Club

  

 Money donated to a little Buddha statue.

 We were so hungry and tried to find some place to eat. We stumbled into this restaurant. Of course, it was one of the many buffets.In a big group the perfect meal is a buffet, because everybody will be satisfied. Everybody will get to pick the food he likes. And this buffet was a good one. It had many Japanese dishes. Only the dessert section never seems to match the Japanese theme: often it is cookies, pudding, ice cream, melted chocolate, cake,... Maybe this is because Japanese do not have many traditional desserts...

 

 

It was a perfect day. Thank you German Club!

Military base

Military bases in Japan. A delicate topic. The Japanese post-war constitution does not foresee Japan to have a military force. So we went on a field trip to a so-called "self-defense post" in Beppu. We could not take pictures there, except in some certain areas.
The soldiers and officers were really friendly. Somehow the whole field trip was a lot of fun. We could visit their training fields, have lunch with them, take group pictures and wear funny hats. 
Everything was perfectly organized. All the proceedings were exactly timed, everything went smoothly. From preparing chairs for the group pictures to getting everybody lunch quickly (with previous stop at a sink to wash your hands!) to organizing racks and tables where to put your jackets and bags...

 

Training field. The mountains are beautiful.

  

Having lunch with the soldiers.

  

Q&A

  

 A last group picture. When we came out of the building the chairs were already standing there in the middle of the place. The important people always sit in the front. The most important in the middle.

Omiyage

I have already mentioned the deathly sin of not bringing a souvenir to your family or friends (and everyone else you are obligated to) after having travelled somewhere. It is a HUGE industry! Japanese feel an inherent urge to buy something to bring home. So each and every small town has come up with its own specialty. This leads to really artificial niches sometimes.

This is an omiyage (souvenir) special for Miyajima Island (Hiroshima) that is still understandable. Although I wondered, why its specialty is maple leaves, when everywhere else in Japan you can also find maple trees:

 

This is a funny omiyage. I went to a sumo match, and then I could buy sumo cookies:

  

This is an omiyage, which I do not really find original. It is from the Miyajima Island, where some deer run around and where the famous shrine is - so ok, there are cookies with deer and shrine motives:

  

 And one day we went on a field trip to a nearby military base. Guess what kind of omiyage one can buy there:

  

 BOMB cookies!

I cannot find words for this...

I did not take a picture of this, but when we went to a Shrine on Enoshima Island we discovered cookies with a Buddha motive on it...

Can you see how desperate Japanese must be for omiyage?

Fabians birthday

 We celebrated Fabian's birthday in Kami Fusen.

  

 Kami Fusen interior

 

  

 At one point a (drunk) Japanese from the room next to us suddenly sat down with us, chatted, laughed, and drank with the guys. It was so fascinating to see an adult Japanese coming to us.  It is obviously only the effect from too much liquor, usually no Japanese wants to talk to us foreigners.

  

This is warm sake!

  

 Fabian ordered a bottle like above, and wanted 5 of these small cups to go with it, so that he could share with the guys. But somehow there was a misunderstanding, and instead of bringing 5 cups we were served 5 bottles!

Would you take your children with you when you went drinking in a bar? In Japan people do. When we were celebrating we suddenly saw kids running around. They played, laughed, and even came into our room and played tricks on our American fellow. They were pretty cheeky, like hitting him on the head and playing with his hair. And then they even sang with us Happy Birthday. I asked our Japanese friends, if it is normal that kids play in the izakaya and they said that when they were kids they have also been with their parents in izakayas. The playing kids contributed to a relaxed atmosphere. It was very relaxing and comfortable in our izakaya room. It felt more like a living room. 

  

 Kids were drawn to us - strange people from foreign countries

 Relaxed izakaya

Kami Fusen

My favorite izakaya in Oita: Kami Fusen. The first time I went there was with the German Club. It is a very cozy izakaya. The big tables are very convenient, when there is a large group because everybody can sit together in one room, rather than be split up at several small tables.
We were given goodbye presents from the others. We would not have expected this. Then we got a bad conscience that we had not brought any goodbye presents.
It is a delicate thing, the gift giving in Japan. There are sitations when you are obligated to bring gifts, like when you have travelled somewhere. Not bringing a  souvenir to family and friends is a no-go.

Kami Fusen

 

The typical izakaya evening. A whole lot is ordered and everybody shares the food and bill later.

 

 Tamago

 

Yakitori

Charlotte's Birthday

When our Korean friend Charlotte celebrated her birthday in Park Place, almost the whole Kaikan joined. When we rode the bus there it felt like being on a field trip. It was much fun scaring the other Japanese people on the bus by looking different and speaking in English to each other.
We went to a buffet, where Western and Japanese food was offered. And they played Disney songs in the restaurant. The interior was very charming, colorful, and cute. Japanese restaurants are very strong on the design part. And often they are affordable, too. Especially buffets, where you can eat and drink as much as you want, for about 11 Euros. I have seen many restaurants in Japan offering buffets and eat-drink-flatrates - like in the USA this form of flatrates are really common here. I do not always like it though. They usually encourage you to drink and eat too much and in the end you have trouble walking straight. And in Germany drinking flatrates are a delicate topic because of alcohol abuse. Change of subject: from alcohol abuse to us: we girls were especially attracted by a SOFT ICE MACHINE included in the buffet! So we could as much ice cream as we wanted! No need to mention that I felt kind of nauseous afterwards...

 

The bus is too low for Gerard (our representative from the Netherlands)

  

 Everybody came to celebrate Charlotte's birthday!

  

 A friend who is fond of Pachinko.

  

 A nice and relaxing walk after the birthday buffet. We went to explore the huge shopping complex and ended up here. We will make good wives. It was very nice though ^^