Cal - Rotary Exchange Student in Japan Courtesy of LiveJournal.com

A lot happened last week. The biggest thing was the Rotary trip to Taiwan from Friday to Sunday. The days before that were kind of just preparation. I had to wrap a few things up before I left, like reaching the 500 kanji point (out of about 2000). I've been studying kanji during the classes I don't understand, so I get about 90 minutes of studying every day. I still have to review the kanji I've learned before moving on, but I now consider myself a quarter literate! I also finished Kafka on the Shore. I enjoyed reading it in its original language. About halfway through, reading became less of a struggle as I got used to reading in Japanese. It was really fun. I think I got more from reading it this time because I've gained so many experiences since I first read it two years ago. I could relate with the characters a lot more. The ending made me tear up a bit, but I was at school, so I figured it wouldn't do to cry in front of my class for what would seem like no reason, hahaha. It took me a whole two months to read Kafka on the Shore, and I think my next book is going to be another Murakami novel, this time one I haven't read. It's called Hard-Boiled Wonderland and the End of the World. I'd have to say Murakami Haruki is one of my favorite authors. I like his style, and all his novels seem to convey a certain realistic type of loneliness, in spite of all the emotions and character interaction throughout his work. He also always seems to set his pieces in the real world, but there are usually pseudo-surrealistic elements as well that are integral to the plot. He knows how to keep things interesting, I'll give him that. Anyway, Taiwan. It as a pretty busy vacation! Friday morning, I had to get up at 3:30 AM to catch a 4:20 bus to Narita Airport, where everyone from our group gathered. Of course, that means Mrs. Shoda had to get up too so she could give me a ride to the station. I really thank her for getting up so early on a weekend! In our group, I think there were nine or ten people. Me, Meg, and Amelia, the exchange students. Mr. Iwasaki, my former host father. Mr. Kawabori, Meg's host dad and current President of Kiryu South Rotary Club. Mr. Kogure, Amelia's former host dad and had of the Youth Exchange Committee. Mr. Nakamura, a friend of Mr. Iwasaki. Mrs. Kawada, the owner of Kiryu Travel Agency and a member of Kiryu South Rotary Club (the whole trip was set up through her company. Pretty neat). Mr. Oshima. I'm not sure where he's from, but I got along with him pretty well. Mr. Ijima, the exchange student counselor. He's probably the best counselor ever because he's wicked laid-back and pretty funny. So yea, that's 10 people in total. We got to Taiwan around 2 PM. We first went to the hotel to drop off our luggage. It was really grand and regal. I was pretty excited because it would be my first time alone in a hotel room. Of course, Meg and Amelia and Mr. Ijima were all within two doors of me, but I like that solitary feeling of being alone in a room that's not my own. I like thinking about all the people who have stayed in my room, whether on vacation or resting during a long journey home, etc. That sort of thing. After resting a bit, we were all taken to this Rotary dinner party, the entire point of the trip, actually. I guess it was the 20th anniversary of Rotary in Taiwan, so that's a pretty big deal. It was probably the coolest Rotary event I've been to. They had cool music and lights and there was a decent presentation/dance by some kids dressed in one of those traditional Chinese dragons. It was really neat. The grown-ups had a really good time. They drank a lot, hahaa. But it was fun because they were so friendly and talkative. And their English really semms to come out. A lot of Japanese people I've met seem almost fluent in English; they're just too shy to use it when they're sober. The Taiwanese Rotary members gave everyone so many souvenirs! I'd say I took back twice as much stuff to Japan as I came with. The gifts ranged from fresh fruit and sweets to sunglasses and ocarinas to fresh eel! I was pretty happy because I like all those things, hahaha. Unfortunately, I didn't really like the food at the dinner. It just didn't really agree with me. In face, I barely ate anything the whole trip except for bananas and rice! Oh, and the breakfasts at the hotel. After the party, we all went back to the hotel. Most of the Japanese Rotary members who were staying with us in the hotel went out after bringing us to our rooms. I hung out with Meg and Amelia until about midnight. We ordered room service. The hot cocoa was good, but the chicken wings only came with ketchup... no hot sauce or anything. Kind disappointing for $300. Taiwan dollars, that is. It was closer to US$8, which is still kind of expensive. I was excited that upon returning to America, I could tell people that I've bought a $25 Snickers bar before, leaving out the fact that it was Taiwan money. Wait, hot cocoa and chicken wings? That's kind of a weird combination. But nothing else looked that good on the menu, hahaha. Anyway, we also checked out Taiwanese TV, which had a lot of Japanese stuff. It was pretty fun, but I was exhausted. So going bed back in my room was nice. We had to get up at about seven the next day for sightseeing, too. Saturday morning, we toured this museum full of relics and paintings from Chinese and Taiwanese culture. It was pretty cool, and this one guy from Taiwan Rotary explained a lot to me. I thought the paintings had a pretty cool style. For lunch, we went to this restaurant outside of Taipei. I didn't really like it, but I tried to eat what I did like since the Taiwanese (and Chinese) style is to have several dishes on the table that you take food from. So I was able to pick and choose. My stomach kind of hurt, though. Meg and Amelia were worried because I drank tap water, but it was at the hotel. So I think it was alright. After lunch, we climbed this mountain up to a temple. It was a much poorer area than Taipei, but it seemed more real. It seems like rich areas like Taipei have thrown away their traditional culture in favor of tourism and modern stuff like big buildings. Speaking of big buildings, after the temple, we had free time in the 101 building in Taipei. I think there's a taller one in Malaysia or Saudia Arabia now, but they said it was the tallest building in the world (not counting towers) with 101 stories. It also has the fastest elevator in the world, which brought us to the top in a mere 42 seconds! I've now been to the top of the CNET Tower in Toronto, Tokyo Tower in Japan, and the 101 building in Taiwan. I'm going to try to go to the Empire State Building the summer I get back to America. I really like seeing the view from the tops of tall buildings. I also like the journey to the top, like in the case where we walked up the stairs of Tokyo Tower. There are so many times when I sit and reflect on everything that's happened so far and think about what lies ahead. The tops of tall buildings are good places to do those things while enjoying a good view of the world. You can read the rest of the posting here: Courtesy of LiveJournal Click to Open Web Page