As many of you may know, I'm not the world's biggest sports fan. I usually leave the room when the AFL comes onto the TV, pay no attention to the latest tennis celebrity and only watch the football (you know which type!) every four years. And baseball? Does such a sport even exist outside of faint rumours from American soaps and movies?
How, then, did I find myself waking up at 6:30 am on a Saturday morning to attend a baseball game in the middle of Tokyo?
The reason behind this apparent lunacy of mine is that this was no ordinary game of baseball - it was the 早慶戦 Sou-Kei Sen, or the bi-annual Waseda University vs. Keio University baseball game. To put it simply, Waseda University (for the forgetful among you, that's where I am studying now) and Keio are long-time rivals. How long? Try over a hundred years - the first game was apparently played in 1903. How could I miss out on such a historic event as this?
The game was due to start at 1pm, but in order to secure ourselves some decent seats and to properly enjoy the pre-match celebrations, we all met up at a station near the Jingu Stadium at the wonderful time of 8am. There, we were met by members of WIC (Waseda International Circle), basically a group of friendly Japanese students who organise events and things for us international students. After hanging around for a while, we moved slowly to the stadium, eventually getting in at 10am or so.
Why we were required to get in so early became apparent shortly after we had sat down - there were to be many pre-match events to keep us occupied. You know, cheerleaders, singing university songs, giving respect to the other university, raising the flag, raising our fists, cheering for the other university....wait, what?
To begin with, let me explain a little about the cheerleaders. Of course there were the obligatory short-skirted and pom-pommed female kind, but they were only secondary to the male cheerleaders, who seemed to be running the show. These guys were dressed in a traditional Japanese black school uniform (just think of what you've seen in manga or anime) with a Waseda armband. Their 'cheerleading' seemed to consist of leading the singing, shouting at the tops of their voices and performing strange arm-movements and dances. Rather odd, but you get used to it after a while.
Of course, I should have expected this, being in Japan where tradition and respect is still, well, respected. Instead of shouting rabidly at the other side of the stadium, we each took our turns at singing our university anthems (all three verses, which made me realise just how laid back us Aussies are - when was the last time you sang the second verse of Advance Australia Fair?), removing our hats/Waseda flags/etc as Keio did so. We each gave a cheer for each other before the game. We even exchanged cheerleaders! That's right, a detachment of Keio University cheerleaders was sent over to our stage before the game, at the same time as we sent ours to them, to perform a small routine - and no-one thought anything of it! Amazing.(N.B. I thought Waseda's cheerleaders had the better routine in the end, but those of Keio were somewhat prettier overall. ;) )
Another aspect of the proceedings that interested me was how, as one of my American friends put it, they were so reminiscent of 1930s Germany. We had the military-style brass band, we had the numerous patriotic songs, we had the cheerleaders in Prussian-style uniform - we even had the fist raising! It was an amazing experience, and something that was so different to what I ever could have imagined.
The game itself was quite interesting as well, as far as sports go. If I have the chance, I would like to go to see a game in the U.S. sometime, just to compare things. I'm sure that would be another enlightening experience!
The result, though, was not something to be too happy about:
Oh, yes, I should mention one other thing: October 31st was also significant for another reason: it was Halloween! Having never celebrated this custom before, my Australian friend Dave and I decided we may as well make the most of having two important events on the one day:
We wore those costumes for the whole day. I don't know if it was because we were foreigners, because we were Pikachu, or because we were two Pikachu's together, but we attracted attention wherever we went. Quite unusually for Japanese, people were outright staring at us, and there were constant cries of 'Pikachu da!' (It's Pikachu!) as we travelled between our dorm and the stadium. All of this was very entertaining to Dave and I, who had worn sunglasses to a) disguise ourselves and b) hide our tired eyes (had been out to a birthday party the night before). Perhaps the most memorable thing that happened was when a group of high-school girls, who I had overheard talking about us for quite a while, coming up to us, giggling, and asking if they could pull our Pika-tails (don't take that out of context, please :P).
All in all, it was a day memories are made out of - so much fun!
P.S. To those of you who are interested, I have also secured myself tickets to the Tohoshinki concert movie (this weekend) and 4th Official Fanclub Event (end of January) - the latter of which will have the guys themselves there. My goals are being achieved! ^_____^
The university is constantly organising various outings and events for all the exchange students, which I think is a fabulous idea. In fact, I am very happy with the support that Waseda is giving us - there's always something to do!
One such event was a day trip to Chichibu, right in the mountains of Saitama prefecture, about an hour and a half by bus northwest of Tokyo.
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I signed up at the last minute, wanting to see a part of Japan *outside* of Tokyo, and was lucky enough to be picked as one of the forty-or-so students to attend.
We set off early in the morning (8am... not good) and took a bus directly from the university itself, and it wasn't all that long before we reached our destination- a rather large farm which grew, somewhat peculiarly, grapes. I was very confused and surprised when I first noticed this, because I was unaware that grapes were even grown in Japan! The way the grapes were grown, too, intrigued me...
For whatever reason, the individual bunches were wrapped in perforated plastic bags - rather odd, I thought. I was told it has something to do with the humid climate they are grown in, but I think it might also be due to the peculiar Japanese custom of wrapping everything. Seriously, in a supermarket the peaches are individually wrapped in foam and they give you a bag for everything! Even in a 100-yen shop, the staff lady took care to individually wrap my 100-yen glasses (for reference, 100 yen is about $1.30). I know this is side-tracking a little, but those 100 yen glasses were actually decent! Made in Japan (not made in China? What is this?) and certainly superior to anything you could buy for a similar price back home.
Anyway, where was I... oh yes, soba making! Once at the farm we were divided into groups and given the task of creating soba from scratch! I should briefly explain what soba is - it's a type of noodle made from buckwheat flour and shaped much like spaghetti, except somewhat more square (look at the picture above for a non-perfect example -_-;; ). It can be eaten either hot or cold, and is traditionally served plain (as above) with a bowl of broth on the side which you dip the noodles in before eating.
We were given a little help while making the soba, but no matter how hard we tried, my groups' still ended up looking like they were cut by a child with a pair of toy scissors. Still, they were edible, and we enjoyed a lunch of our own hand-made soba!
While it was incredibly tasty, I thought the meal was somewhat lacking. While wholesome buckwheat soba, a light soy broth and a few slices of spring onion may be the stuff that sustains remote mountain hermits to live for decades, I, a growing (I can hope) young man, needed something a little more meaty and as such spent the rest of the day hungry. Luckily there were plenty of things to distract myself with!
After lunch we had some time to walk up the hill behind the farm and admire the views and rest in the hammocks:
Our day did not end with soba-making, though. After an hour of free time, we boarded the bus again and headed to a nearby river. Here, were were treated to the experience of riding on a boat down a river with scenery that had made the place a 'national beauty spot'! Needless to say, it was a magical experience - and oh so different from the neon lights of Shinjuku and Shibuya. There were waterfalls, rapids, 100-year-old railway bridges (still in use!) and even what looked like filming for a TV drama. Fantastic!
What made the trip interesting in another way was that the area is also known as the 'birthplace of Japanese geology', presumably for the impressive rocks to be found there. Much to the horror of one of my Japanese friends, I took a small piece of this rock with me, and it's now sitting on my desk.
I also returned to Saitama on the weekend, but that is a tale for another blog post... (unless something more interesting occurs in the meantime!)
return to blog home
On Wednesday we all had to take a Japanese language test in order to place us into the correct class level.
The test consisted basically of 'fill-in-the-blank' type questions, as well as a short essay in Japanese. I had never done an essay in Japanese before and my skills were a little rusty from being on holidays for so long, so I was apprehensive about doing the test.
It turns out that my worries weren't unfounded - but for all the wrong reasons.
There are eight levels of Japanese that you can be assigned to, and from looking at the course booklet I expected to be enrolled in level 2. This is because level one used the textbook that I had used back in Adelaide. We have 9 hours of Japanese class a week here, which is three times as much as I did in Adelaide, so one semester of study here is equal to 3 semesters back in Aus (basically my entire Japanese language experience). So I thought level 2 was a safe bet.
But I was wrong. For some unknown reason, I was placed into level 3. Waaa! While that is somewhat flattering, my Japanese really isn't that great and I want to pick up from where I left off. Luckily, we can change classes, so I will be doing that as soon as possible. I really want to learn Japanese!!
I've finally received the details for my accommodation in Tokyo. I'm going to be staying at a dorm that is not all to dissimilar to what I thought I would be staying in a year ago, but much closer to Waseda and with a slightly bigger area (12.65 m^2):
The best part about this for me is that I will (oh so thankfully) have my own toilet and bath/shower. The bathroom may be the size of that on an aeroplane, but at least it's MY tiny bathroom!
After I settle in, I think I'll make up a video tour of the place to show everyone. Not that there'll be much touring necessary - I've pretty much shown you everything already.
It's only a month to go now - I'm excited!
It's funny, isn't it. Even when you know, when you have known for a long time, that something is going to happen, it still surprising when it finally does.
What am I talking about? Well, yesterday I found out that I have been awarded the JASSO scholarship for my exchange. This will pretty much cover all of my rent and give me some money to spare each month (which will in all likelihood go towards food - the rest of my money is reserved for "Jaejoong sweat seats" as James would say).
I always knew that I was going to get it from the moment I first heard about it. The plans I made in my head took this fact into account (of course, I did have a Plan B). But now that it's finally happened, well, I am grateful. It feels good to be able to accomplish this exchange on my own, without relying on my parents.
I'm going to make the most of this opportunity. I'd like to say a big thankyou to all the people who have made it possible. You know who you are :)
That time has come at last - I have finally received confirmation that I have been accepted to Waseda University as an exchange student!
No more will I have to check my emails every couple of hours in the vain hope that the elusive email has arrived (although old habits die hard). No more will I have to bug the poor exchange people at the University every few weeks (somehow I think I will rid myself of this habit much more easily).
Now I need to start preparing everything for my exchange. That means picking up my acceptance bundle from the Uni, then booking airline tickets, organising a visa, working out classes, accommodation, and the like. It'll probably be a long and busy process, but anything is better than just sitting and waiting and checking Gmail Notifier!
In other news, I have finished all of my classes for the semester, and all that remain are a pesky essay and a few exams.
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Thanks!
I have recieved my application forms for Waseda at last. Too bad they were available online for many months now - they only decided to tell me which ones to fill out (all of them) yesterday.
And those Japanese, well, they sure do love their forms. In addition to a bank balance certificate, academic transcript, two more reference letters, passport photos, a passport photocopy and a million weird questions, I have to write a two-page essay on what I hope to achieve during my exchange. Apart from language and cultural aquisition. lol what?
I guess this calls for a read of the School of International Liberal Studies' (where I will be studying) mission statement ;-)
Oh well, I had better get started. Can't let some crazies who have nothing better to do than write extremely complicated forms stop me now!