Small Thing Number Eighteen: Get an International Driving Permit!

The age at which you can get a driver's license here in the US is 16, but it varies around the world. As it happens, there is something called an International Driving Permit that you are able to get if you are over the age of 18. While driving isn't really necessary in Japan like it is here in the US, there are still some places you can only get to by car. The program I applied to, Ojiya Study Abroad, has cars available for you to drive and since it is a smaller city it wouldn't be super scary to drive in. I'm used to driving in the city, I live near a fairly large one, but it's nothing like a lot of other places in the world.

An International Driving Permit is basically a translation of you driver's license so you can use your home country's driver's license in a foreign country. You have to get it in the same country your driver's license is from and it is only valid for one year. The only places you can get valid permits in America are AAA and AATA. Apparently there are scam places that make fake ones so stick to the big companies. You will need to send the application, two passport style photos signed on the back (I have some left over from getting my passport), a photocopy of the front and back of your driver's license, and the fee related with getting the permit. Links to the forms and more information can be found in the link above.

And of course if you want to drive in Japan, you will have to learn the rules of the road. Every country is a little different, so this is important to learn. Two big things that are different than driving in America is that in Japan you drive on the left side and you don't make right turns on red lights (or left turns because the lanes are on the opposite side in Japan). Some general information about driving in Japan can be found here and at one point I found the Japanese rules of the road in English, but I can't find it now.

Also, I should probably mention...

IT'S MY EIGHTEENTH BIRTHDAY WHOOOOOO!!!

Small Thing Number Seventeen: Use Your Japanese!

One of the most important parts of learning a language is using it. Considering I live in a country where English is the primary language and the next most popular language is Spanish, there aren't exactly a lot of opportunities for me to practice my Japanese naturally. However, quite a few of my nerdy friends know a little Japanese and there is of course my classmates from Japanese class.

Basically, use it as much as you can. I know very little so I can't use much, but I can use basic greetings and phrases pretty well. Another thing that ends up happening a lot is texting in half Japanese. Since you have more time to think about it, you can either write out full sentences in Japanese or just throw in Japanese words where you know them. For example, you could say "the おんがく on my phone is confusing 私のねこです," which is just "the music on my phone is confusing my cat."

All the people I text in half Japanese are better at the language than I am, so I often find myself having to look stuff up. However, it teaches me new phrases I wouldn't otherwise know. This method isn't for everyone because it can get a little confusing at times. I personally enjoy texting in half Japanese because it does help with repetition and getting used to actually using the language, both of which are necessary steps to learning. Still a lot of studying to do the normal way, though. Ugh second term is so much harder than first term...

More Fun with Google Translate

So one of the students in my Japanese class actually went to Japan recently and because he is an amazing human being he brought back Japanese candy for everyone. Because it is April there was sakura (cherry blossom) flavored candy so that was a special treat. I can't actually have the candy because of my allergies, but everything was nice to look at (he brought a BUNCH of stuff). The teacher said the boxes were nice and that we should keep them so I grabbed one, considering I couldn't actually eat the candy. The teacher had us all stand up and bow to thank him, which was probably one of the most enthusiastic bows I have ever seen in my class (we bow at the beginning of class, during group exercises, and at the end of class).

Here's what I picked out from the candy (which seems silly considering I can't eat it but hey it's nice to look at and I can find someone to give it to)

Isn't the cat candy adorable? We need this in the United States.

Also, because I have food allergies I have a habit of checking the ingredient lists on things. However, the ingredient label on this was entirely in Japanese.

I can read some of it but in general I have no idea what is written there. Since I had a bunch of Japanese right there, I decided to try out the camera function on the google translate app again. Apparently when you point your camera at something it will try to translate it immediately, so this appeared.

So yeah, a lot of it is nonsense, but the fact that it can turn it into English like that is really, really cool. Anyway, it was fun to play with!

Small Thing Number Sixteen: Look into Weather and Clothes!

You should always look into the weather of the place you are going no matter where you are going and no matter how long you will be there. Sometimes you can just google what the weather is like but that won't always work. From what I can tell, Japan is very hot and humid in the summer and fairly cold in the winter. If you can, ask someone who has lived there what it is like so you can get a more accurate idea of what the weather actually does. For example, where I am we tend to have really rainy springs, it goes from 55 and raining to 100 and sunny in about a week sometime in July, the falls are nice, and we get cold snaps in January. All things you wouldn't know unless you asked a local. However, if you can't do this you can also check the weekly weather reports for where you are going. I have Ojiya as one of the cities to have the weather of in the weather app on my phone so I can check what the weekly weather reports are like.

Once you have an idea of what the weather will be like, get together some clothes appropriate for that weather! Also keep in mind that it is hard for westerners like myself to find clothes that fit in Asia so make sure to bring plenty of clothes. Another thing to keep in mind is the style of clothing. Japan is a more formal country so you will be expected to dress nicer. In general Japan is also a more modest country so you have to keep that in mind too. I don't have much advice beyond that considering I have never been to Japan myself but you can get a bit of an idea of what people wear by looking at Japanese clothing sites or watching dramas.

Gift Giving

So one part of Japanese culture that is a little different than mine is that there is a lot of gift giving. Not like birthday gifts and such but little gifts when people invite you over or when you travel somewhere. I'm definitely no expert in this and am not an expert in how it works in my home country of America either, but the general thing you need to know is gift giving is common. This concept is really cool to me and something I want to learn more about in this process of going to Japan. Some suggestions for small gifts, which I believe is おみやげ in Japanese, are small food items or other small gifts. Particularly interesting ones are gifts that represent your own country. There is literally a store in a local mall dedicated to local items so I definitely plan to go there before I fly to Japan. I think handmade gifts might be of interest too, but I'm not entirely sure. I love to make things so this is something I would like to look into more.

For me personally I like to knit small things for people. By small I don't mean hats or scarves, I mean things like small toys. The idea originally came from the knitwear designer Anna Hrachovec's tiny mochimochi patterns (which are inspired by the cutesy designs seen in Japan). My sister and I picked up her book years ago and ever since then have been giving each other things made from the patterns in her books or inspired by her designs. It is quite common for me to get little toys from my sister every Christmas so I have quite a collection now. Two of my favorites are a small unicorn and dragon that are my driving buddies and live in my purse (that I knitted, by the way). My sister is much better at making them than I am but I can still pull it off.

In Japanese this term I sat at a different table and while that shouldn't be a big deal, most tables have established groups from first term, two of the tables being strictly guys. When I decided to sit at a new table, I didn't know who else was sitting there and apparently I had inadvertently joined one of the established "dude tables" as I call them. Wasn't too sure what they would think of me but everyone is super nice and while it is a little harder to get them to talk much it's definitely a lot of fun. They talk about Pokemon a fair amount, which I know next to nothing about, but I can knit Pokemon! Knowing very little about Pokemon I just looked up the originals and knitted up Squirtle, Charmander, and Bulbasaur. I crocheted a Pikachu for my teacher last term, so I guess now I have made the original four. They were in my backpack during class but I was too shy to give my little creations to my classmates the first day but I got up the courage the next class and they were a hit. I do have pictures of the three Pokemon I knitted but I have to figure out where they are...

Edit: found the pictures!

Anyway, just me thinking a bit and talking about knitting! I doubt I will be able to bring much knitting with me to Japan but maybe I can knit a couple little things before I go.

Small Thing Number Fifteen: Get the Google Translate App!

I know I know Google translate has a pretty bad reputation and in general it's best for having a good laugh, but if you know how to use it can be very helpful.

My Japanese teacher said Google translate was horrible for sentences but it was pretty good for individual words. I use it a lot while doing homework so I don't have to dig through a dictionary or handouts.

Now why the app specifically? First of all it's easier to use than the browser version. Not a huge difference but I like being able to hit a button and have it pop up. The second thing is something that isn't in the browser version and that is the picture button. Basically you point your camera at the text (such as kanji you don't know), take a picture, highlight what you want translated, and it pops out an answer.

I wanted to see how well it worked so I picked up my 卵 egg and gave the function a shot.

Pretty cool, huh? I think there are some other cool functions on the Google Translate app but I haven't messed with it too much.

So basically this is just a good app to have if you are going to Japan and need help understanding words and kanji around you. The even better part is you can download it for use offline as your phone probably won't work in Japan.

Fun with Kanji

I was dyeing Easter eggs and decided to have a little fun writing kanji on them. Since I can't resist stupid humor at all the first thing I did was write 卵（たまご）, egg, on one of the eggs.

The kanji literally looks like two fried eggs. I love it 😁.

Then I wrote the kanji for the days of the week. I do know other kanji but I just like these ones.

Sent a picture of all the eggs to my friend and he laughed at me when he saw I literally wrote the days of the week on Easter eggs. First of all, I had no idea he knew any Japanese also they are proper kanji. But yes, I am 147% ridiculous.

Culture Sharing

So Easter is coming up this weekend which means egg dyeing in my house! Normally my sister and I do it together but this year she is off at college so it would be only me. Dyeing Easter eggs is really more fun with other people, but considering I turn 18 in two weeks I'm a little bit on the older end of people who want to dye Easter eggs. Then I had a *brilliant* idea (not really but bear with me I do have some sort of thoughtful point to all this); how about I invite over my exchange student friends to dye Easter eggs with me? Easter egg dyeing is a pretty American thing and while some of the students have been in the US for a couple years they are a bit old for their families or friends to be dyeing Easter eggs. While this is kind of a kiddie thing to do it is still a fun sort of "traditional" in America so I thought it might be fun to share.

Last year my sister was in a chemistry class at the local community college and of the friends she made in that class two of them were from Korea. One had immigrated here with his family as a teenager and the other was a college exchange student. Very fun guys so at the end of the school year we invited my sister's friends from the class over for a barbecue and to go to a rodeo. If that isn't classically American I don't know what is XD. Everyone had a lot of fun and the two guys got to experience something very American.

My aunt and uncle also hosted a college exchange student from Japan about ten years ago and one of the things the exchange student wanted to do was go trick or treating. In general it's something for young kids, but it is something fun in the American culture so she dressed up as Princess Mononoke and went trick or treating.

Every culture has fun stuff to share and even if you think the tradition is childish or not cool just share it anyway. The world is an amazing place and people are here to interact with each other and share. My normal is different than your normal and we can share what is normal to us to learn more about the world we live in.

Small Thing Number Fourteen: Put Japanese Everywhere!

My Japanese class is back in full swing and now that it's the second term we are doing a lot of kanji. Symbols to represent words is definitely different than English but it actually isn't quite as difficult as you would think. However, it is pretty confusing. I'm still not entirely sure how everything fits together.

Anyway, immersion style learning is best for learning languages and while you can't exactly do that if you are studying outside of Japan, you can try to immerse yourself a bit. I'm lucky enough that my Japanese teacher teaches in Japanese, and while that means I don't know what she is saying half the time it has helped me learn more. The other thing you can do is just put Japanese writing everywhere. How do you do this exactly? Well, here's what I did.

Back in January my whole college got delayed by a week and a half due to snow so that meant a lot of teachers sent out homework before class even started. My Japanese teacher did this and what she gave us to do was memorize the names of various classroom objects. I'm not exactly a flashcard person so instead of making flashcards I just took some of the billion sticky notes I have and wrote the vocabulary on them and stuck they to the respective objects. Most of these have fallen down and gotten recycled now but a couple are still up.

Mado(まど）: Window

Doa（ドア）：Door

Another thing I did that was more of a fun craft project was make labels for my rice containers. One is just sushi written in hiragana (すし） and the other is the kanji for brown rice (玄米）.

And the last thing I did was change the language on my phone to Japanese. It's really confusing at times but I have learned the kanji for now (今) and today (今日） from receiving text messages, which were actually assigned this week anyway. In general it's a bit frustrating and there is a fair amount of katakana but it's still something I would recommend doing.

Under the time it says it is the fourth month, the tenth day, and that it's a Monday.
4月： fourth month (April)
10日： tenth day
月曜日：Monday

My background is a drawing by viannilla on deviantart and you can find this amazing piece of art right here.

Application Process (Almost) Complete!

Nearly two months ago I was waiting for my physics class to start and to pass the time I was looking at the bulletin board near the door to my classroom and noticed a poster for a study abroad program. The program was something outside of school so it was different than your average exchange. The program was for studying either Japanese language or culture in a small city called Ojiya. I tore off one of the slips of paper with the information on it and put it in my pocket before heading to class. A couple days later I pulled out the slip and checked out the website. It looked perfect.

After thinking for a couple days I approached my mom and told her about the program and sent her the website. She looked at it and sent the website to my uncle while I was at school and she was very supportive of the idea by the time I got home in the evening. She said I would be expected to work in community while in Japan and pay for part of my tuition, both which I am more than happy to do.

The application required that you have a passport that was valid for at least six months after you complete the program and my passport would not last that long so I looked up all the regulations and was able to apply for a new passport the next day. I got up the courage to email the program asking to reserve a spot while I was waiting to get my passport back and I was told to start the application and worry about the passport later. This blog was started around that time too. Over the next month I filled out the application form, answered some questions, met with a student from the program, and asked my teachers for references. My Japanese teacher sent my reference on Friday so I have now officially completed the application process. I don't even know how to thank my teacher enough. She wrote me a very nice reference.

I was accepted to the program and asked to come to Japan soon. All that's left is passport information and picking flights (and probably a million other things but for now those are the two main things). The last email I received was actually completely in Japanese. I couldn't really understand all of it so I asked my aunt and uncle to help me translate it and they did translate it for me but also pointed out it was easy Japanese (hiragana and a couple simple kanji, easy phrases). Now I have to go translate it myself too just to save my pride a bit XD.

Anyway, I HIGHLY recommend the program and will most likely be spending part of the summer in Japan.

Small Thing Number Thirteen: Try New Foods!

I spent the weekend at my aunt and uncle's house to go see a kpop concert and that was super amazing but that's not what you are here for, is it?

So the aunt and uncle I stayed with are the ones that speak Japanese (I have a lot of aunts and uncles) and while I didn't speak much Japanese with them (I don't know much and am too shy), something I did to to expand my horizons was try new foods that are more common in Japan. We went out to eat with my aunt, uncle, and more family that lives across the street (it's so cool) a couple times and while I'm normally cautious with what I try I just told my aunt my allergies and let her order stuff for me. I trust her to not make me try something gross and she was so excited to have me try everything.

First night we went to a Korean barbecue (my first time) and my aunt ordered everything and manned the grill. She recommended what sauces I could eat and what was good with what (beef with thinly sliced daikon radish is so good). It was really cool to see a cook your own food style restaurant considering that isn't super common here in the US. My aunt said it is very normal in Japan and she went to restaurants like that when she lived there. Now just the type of restaurant was entirely new to me and then some interesting stuff was ordered and put on my plate. I wasn't crazy about any of it, but I'll definitely be trying it again. To my limited American pallet, the least odd of the new meats was beef tongue. I live on a farm so that sort of thing is possible for us to order when we get our cows butchered but in general we don't eat it. People who buy from us will order it, though. It was thinly sliced so it wasn't too different from normal beef. Still tasted a little different, though. Maybe a bit like liver, which I don't like so I wasn't super motivated to try more. The next one in my how weird list is squid. It was a flat sheet so it just looked like a hunk of fish. Apparently my grandma and uncle used to get it and tell the rest of my mom's family it was fish XD. It was probably my favorite of the new meats. For some strange reason I liked the texture and the taste was pretty good too. The weirdest, in my opinion, was baby octopus. So there were literally small whatever-the-plural-of-octopus-is-I-have-heard-so-many-different-answers on the grill. A small leg was put on my plate and while I didn't exactly want to try it I was on a mission to try new foods I grabbed it with my chopsticks and ate it. The texture was a little weird and you can feel the little suction cup things, but it wasn't bad. Wasn't too motivated to have another piece but I do plan on trying all of these again.

The next night we went to a Japanese restaurant near my aunt's work and she ordered stuff for everyone, in Japanese even! It was really interesting hearing her talk to the waitresses and I could pick out some of the words and it was really cool. The only slightly odd to my American pallet thing I tried was raw fish, which I'm pretty sure I have had before. Probably my favorite thing there was the fried rice, which we were given spoons to eat it with. To be honest the thing I'm best at eating with chopsticks is rice but I still used a spoon. The food was quite good and my favorite part of the experience was hearing my aunt and uncle talk to the waitresses in Japanese.

Just a note here but I've been eating with chopsticks every day for the past month or more and I still was not good at chopsticks compared to the rest of my family. Thought I was doing pretty good but it looks like I still have a lot of work to do :).

And the last thing we ate out was ice cream and I was going to order a normal flavor but my aunt suggested I try taro so I said sure and that got ordered. Taro is purple potato, by the way. None of the flavors our group ordered were normal by American standards. We ordered green tea, black sesame, and taro flavored ice cream. I tried them all and just saying but mine was the best. It was a really pretty light purple and tasted interesting and sweet. Everyone kept stealing from mine so that's a pretty good indication that it's good XP.

This was basically just me talking about what foods I tried this weekend but the moral of the story here is to go try some stuff that is normal in Japan so you can get used to it and find what you like before you get there. If you have a friend or relative who you trust to pick out good stuff for you to try go out to eat with them. My aunt was very happy to share what she liked with me so I'm sure people would be happy to help you pick out something good.

On a side note, now I'm going to go look for taro ice cream in the grocery store because that was really good. Maybe if I had tried taro ice cream a couple years ago instead of azuki beans this blog would be called Taro Ice Cream. Doesn't have quite the same ring to it but both are really tasty ice cream flavors and I highly recommend them.