Applying to PII or not

I remember once I got the Light Fellowship and got into the 3 programs I applied to, I was at a loss. My family wanted me to go to Yokohama because of its closeness to Tokyo, but I was sort of leaning towards Kanazawa. This is my advice and what I'd say are the good and the bad of PII.

Summary of basic feel of PII:
This is probably one of the best experiences I've had. The homestay program is definitely a large plus, and since all your classmates are university students, it's easy to connect. Class is useful for learning vocabulary and kanji, but I feel like I didn't pick up much grammar from class.

Number one advice:
This is a bit harsh, but I would say don't do PII or any serious Japanese program if you've only finished 1st year. The students here studied Nakama, which is just a rote grammar-learning textbook, very similar to JSL (except apparently little emphasis on speaking). I also really loved 2nd year Japanese at Yale and you're missing out on a lot if you don't have Maruyama-sensei and Seto-sensei. Only 1 year of Japanese doesn't seem like enough preparation for talking to the average Japanese person or even one's host family. I met many people here who still have to rely on whispering English in the Rifare building.
On the other hand, I feel like 3rd year Japanese had a huge degree of benefits. First, our materials, Spirited Away first semester and a collection of Japanese cultural texts (rakugo, haiku, manga, essays about English teaching in Japan) second semester were all very interesting and are material you could not get at Yale. Our class was closer to a literature class than a language class. Many 3rd year students felt the 'click' of almost-fluency and I found myself enjoying discussing deep topics with my host family such as religion, school, gender roles, etc.
Surprisingly the majority of students (2/3 about) only finished first year before coming here. 3/6 Yalies had finished first year, while the other half had finished 2nd year.

Good parts about PII:
- Kanazawa is the best possible city EVER. It has several historical landmarks easily accessible by bus, but also has the feel of a bustling city so you never get bored and can always find fun, inexpensive shopping, karaoke, or arcading. I would say it's probably more manageable than Yokohama and more interesting than Hakodate, though I haven't actually been to either.
- You make really close friends here! I met some really awesome people from many different universities. We can have nice, deep conversations in both Japanese and English.
- The homestay program is awesome. It's not as scary as it sounds, living in another family's home. You get to really bond and understand Japanese life.
- Classes are not so crazy (if you don't go overboard) and teach you a lot of Kanji. I would say I know over 1000 kanji now, and a lot of useful vocab too. Homework and studying took me about 1-2 hours a day 1st semester and 15min-1 hour a day second semester. However, some students go crazy and do up to 5 hours a day, while others do it all the day it's due.

Bad parts about PII:
- It seems the homestay program can really differ depending on the person. There are expected problems like students unsatisfied with food or with communication problems. However, the hugest obstacle is that the families really vary in location. Some students had 2 hour train commutes and didn't even live in Kanazawa. On the other end of the spectrum, there were students who lived a walkable distance from Rifare and could use their bus passes to go to hot spots like Korinbo and Kenrokuen for free. Luckily I was in the latter group. If you get the Yuki family in Tenjin-machi next year, YOU ARE LUCKY. They're the best ever!!! Hehe.
- The classes can get tedious. I found Spirited Away especially annoying, with its literature class-like overanalysis of everything. However I loved second semester with its exciting discussions and fun presentations.

Let me know if you have any questions!

Last post?

Who knows - this may be my last post! Dun dun dunnn. Unfortunately I'm on a sucky Mac again and can't upload photos, boo.

I've had an awesome time in Japan. I've never done a study-alone program like this before, never even for summer camp as a kid. But now I realize doing things alone isn't so scary, and it's not hard at all to find friends anywhere. My boyfriend's coming up to Kanazawa the day after tomorrow and after PII we're going to travel over to Tokyo (staying in Asakusa) for about a week. Unfortunately I probably won't have internet access there so you won't hear from me until I get back, August 6.

Anyways I've decided I'm going to break this up into smaller posts of advice for other students thinking about doing the Light Fellowship or going to PII. I've done so much that I can't really summarize it all. But to talk about my week, my host family got me a pressure-point massage (WHOPPEEEE) and I went to my mom's girl scout meeting, which was really cool. We also did last-minute touring of Kanazawa spots I missed, like the Maeda clan cemetary and Daijyouji (or something?) Temple.

Furukawaya Alan tobikomu kawazujyanai

No one will get the haiku title but it was a fun inside joke in class. So only two weeks left! I'm finding myself missing Kanazawa already and not really missing America. Oh wells! It's still just as fun. I guess since I'm doing such a 'short' program, I'm not feelilng the drop that we mentioned at the light fellowship meeting.

The most awesome thing I did last week was go to temple holiday (O-bon I think?) at a nearby temple. The temple was very beautiful with lots of gold and red. I went with my family and we each got paper lanterns with a candle inside. At the end of the chanting with yummy incense, we went outside and laid down the lanterns in front of the mini buddhas my family had carved ten years ago. I then became friends with these two little girls who I later discovered were the daughters of the temple's monk! I got invited in to have special tea, and I got a tour of the temple from their father. They were very sweet and cute and introduced me to everyone. It's strange to imagine living in such a huge temple one's whole life. I wish I could switch my life into one like that for a day. I also got into the Hokuriku newspaper! Lucky me!

Tomorrow's the in-class speech contest and everyone's unexcited about it. I think many of us want to intentionally do badly so we're not chosen for the real speech contest...

This is me and my host mom at the temple.

Apple pizza

This weekend was awesome! I was at such a loss of what to do because it's hard to contact everyone. Most people don't have a cellphone here and lots of people don't have internet. But it ended up being fun regardless!

On Friday, I went shopping with some friends and I, the geek that I am, bought the DS & Wii magazine. On Saturday, I had waterslide noodles (nagashi somen)! Well, basically, noodles that go down a bamboo waterslide that you have to catch and put in your soup. I then played Pokemon way too much with Matthew. Later that day, I went out with my host family to look for Tanabata (7/7 holiday) celebrations but all we found were hosts and hostess, who were still really fun to look at. Then on Sunday, I went to the Ishikawa zoo with Cristina and her host mom. SO CUTE. I wish I had brought my camera. But I DID bring it to this awesome pizza place where we had apple pizza (on the right!)

I'm having such an awesome time here and I really hope I can try for a year-long fellowship in the next couple of years! There are so many aspects of Japan that I love so much. I wonder what it is exactly? I love the tiny everyday things like the food, the music, the tv dramas. I also really value the sense of pride Japanese people all seem to have. I feel like many Americans lose it, or don't prioritize things correctly. But this could because my life in America consisted of being in a magnet bubble in a high school where everyone else was shortsighted and ended up with babies or murders or gang memberships while the bubble went onto Ivy Leagues. Whereas my life in Japan is in a program of top-ranked schools, with caring approved host families. I'd probably feel different if I grew up here, and probably feel suppressed and controlled. That's why my mom left Japan. But then I, as Wilma, could have never had a normal life in Japan because I'd always look like a foreigner so I'd always be treated differently. People automatically speak English to me here, though I understand why. In a ways I really like the homogeneity because then at the end of the day, you can't tell the difference between a billionaire and a convenience store worker.

These are sort of controversial ideas though! I'm sure most people woudn't agree that homogeneity is the solution to racism. But though ultimately, imagine 1000 years in the future when everyone's of mixed race and you don't have to bubble what you are into a scantron anymore and have that affect where you go. Anyways fun stuff. I hope this posts answers your question mom. Until next time!

Oh and I've allowed commenting for everyone. So anyone, feel free to comment!

Back and with my photos

So we went on our Naka-yasumi and it was really fun. We were uber-tourists and were able to pack in tons of stuff for just three days. As in:

Thursday - Arrive at Osaka, Den-den town, Pokemon Center, Umeda shopping center, Famous restaurant supplies store area, okonomiyaki, huge ferris wheel, Dotomburi, 130 yen sushi, Purikura, meeting Cristina's awesome friend.

Friday - Kyoto! Kiyomizudera and the love rock (sadly the famous waters were closed for construction), Kinkakujo (gold leaf castle), famous food market, really gross Yakiniku, lots of yummy free mochi and shopping for friends and host family, dessert restaurant.

Saturday - Universal Studios Japan (ET, Terminator, Spiderman, the one rollercoaster, Waterworld show, Jurassic Park, Jaws, one more thing I forget), lots of shopping, Chinese food with Cristina's friends, Dotomburi bar, very bad porno cooking on TV.


It was a very fulfilling nakayasumi! But one thing I realized - there is such a thing as a Japanese ghetto! I always saw Japan as all pristine and perfect but wow. There were almost-naked homeless people sleeping outside our hotel. And you had to pay to shower there. Very creepy experience. So bad that one of my friends paid to stay in a capsule hotel despite having had already paid for this one. I'm really glad I went with so many people! You get to really get to know people, though some relationships got worse too. Overall I enjoyed it all. With things like the crummy hotel, you're with friends and it's so bad that it gets fun pointing out the creepiness. One guy in the elevator said (in Japanese) [wow I didn't know females stayed here too]. Grr can't find the quotes on this keyboard. Anyways off to Book off with my buddies now! Hope you're all doing well. I can do skype if anyone so desires!

Geh this mac sucks!

Wahh sadly looks like I can't add photos since I'm using a sucky Mac. Next time! I'm about halfway through the program but I'm still really enjoying it. Today will be the first day I don't go out and do something new. I feel like going home early today and relaxing. I haven't done that yet so maybe it counts. I also need to study for the final on Wednesday. Then the next day, I'm heading off to Osaka for naka-yasumi. I wonder if I'll be able to update my blog before I come back? We'll see! I'm happy I ended up not bringing a laptop but sometimes it can be a little inconvenient. I hung out with my family a lot this week and we ate lots of good food. They also met my host family. It was interesting seeing my two worlds unite but not as weird as I expected. Yesterday I went to this manga university class thing for my little sister who loves drawing. It was really cool and we met a famous artist! Yayyy. I feel like the ultimate tourist, I'm feeling constantly satisfied. Soon I'm gonna make zouri (flip flopish shoes) out of towels with my host mom. Exciting! But now to go study and relax at home. Hope everyone else is enjoying their times abroad! I hope my family has a safe trip back to Tokyo and then America!

So uncreative with titles

So instead of going to Noto with everyone in PII, I ended up going to Tokyo for my grandfather's memorial service. Unfortunately I only met him once or twice in my life since he was pretty old and living in Japan. It was nice seeing my family though I'm also going to see them today because they're coming to Kanazawa for a week! Here are my sister, my mom, and me all dressed up for it. Very fancy french food and we met the Japanese empress's sister! I had to give a quick speech in Japanese. I think everyone enjoyed it, despite the sad occasion.

The day before, I hung out with my friends trying on kimonos and doing tea ceremony with Elizabeth's host mom. Yay I got to have maccha tea yet again! That made me happy teehee. We then went to the beach, which was littered with trash. Elizabeth's host mom attributes it to young Japanese teens. My host family thinks it's trash washed up from Korea and China. Next time we go back, I'll check out the language on the packaging haha.

Yesterday we went to a Koto (Japanese harp) lesson. I wish I could buy one, but they seem so expensive! Zannen desune. I look so solemn in this photo haha. Right now everyone's planning for naka yasumi and I'm so lost!

I talked to Will last night over skype and it's interesting to see the difference between what people say about Japan and actual Japan. I feel Japan isn't so polite and un-straightforward despite what everyone says. Yesterday in class we practiced refusing offers. Americans always say it's always round-about, but the translation is almost exactly like what we say in English - "it's okay, how about another time?". And Americans also do a lot of the reading-emotions-off-one's-face thing. I think it's a key part of socialization.

Anyhoo hope you're all having fun! Happy father's day!