Catch-Up

Long time no see, folks. Here's the latest:

School stuff proceeds well so far. I registered for classes last week. Miraculously and contrary to my suspicions, I ended up in Japanese 3B (for mid-intermediate for lower advanced speakers). I honestly don't know how that happened. It feels like I spend most of my time here asking for explanations, so I'm hardly proficient. But that's neither here nor there. In addition to Japanese, I hopefully will be taking History of Modern Japan, Japanese Literature after 1945, and (somewhat inexplicably) English-language Creative Writing.

There actually is a bit of a story there. I've long been a fan of Haruki Murakami, a Japanese author who writes a mixture of primarily dark fiction in the form of short stories and novels and the occasional non-fiction piece.

My first and favorite of his was a book called The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle. It was dark, funny, poignant, and thought-provoking. I was in love.



It made me wonder, though, how much was lost in the translation. So I spoke to my Japanese professor about it and asked him what the original Japanese editions were like.

"Oh," he told me. "Haruki Murakami in Japanese is nothing special. His prose is so-so, it's just the plot that is driving. I think he's much better in English than Japanese."

I was totally floored by this. Such an odd thought, that the translation actually improved a book! I did some research on the translators for Murakami. Primarily, his works are translated by either Alfred Birnbaum or Jay Robin. Birnbaum has done the lion's share, and by his translation alone, he's clearly a talented scholar and author.

And guess what? He apparently teaches a Creative Writing class at Waseda.

I don't know how or why I signed up for it, honestly. There were a ton of other good classes to take. But somehow, when I registered, I ended up filling in that bubble on the class sheet and turning it in. I suppose I'll have many opportunities to take creative writing at Knox, but how often will I have the chance to take creative writing with a well-respected author and translator?

Normalcy

It's amazing how quickly people can fall into a routine. I've been in Japan for about a week now, and I've already started falling into somewhat of a routine.

We usually get herded around Tokyo with the group to various and sundry places. Today we went to the Tatemono-en, the Tokyo Building and Architecture Museum. Yesterday we went Asakusa, part of Shita-machi, the old part of Tokyo. The day before that, we explored Waseda University and Takadanobaba, the surrounding area. It was all very exciting, but until I manage to download the pictures from my camera, you're going to have to take my word for that.

But I digress.

We get up everyday, eat breakfast at the cafeteria, travel around Tokyo, eat dinner and walk around our neighborhood in Higashi-Yamato. We already know where to go for good udon, delicious cake, cheap pastries. There's a cute store around the corner that sells really pretty purses, umbrellas, and wallets, and there's another place nearby where the shopkeeper loves to talk to American students.

I've already (almost) gotten used to walking on the left side of the street, saying "domo" to to waitresses, and using my subway quickpass. If all this has happened in a week, it'll be interesting to see what will happen by the end of 10 months.

I suppose it just goes to show that people are creatures of habit, and we adapt to new routines quickly. I just find it intensely interesting that my 19 years in the states have quite easily given way to a week in Japan. When in Rome, I suppose.

Crunch time!

Japan is amazing so far, but my schedule is currently being engulfed in a wave of scary, as my Japanese placement exam is tomorrow, and I am desperately, desperately cramming in a last-ditch effort to be placed well.

On the plus side, at least I'm getting a taste of Japanese exam-time culture. Namely, study your butt off, and pray at a shrine/temple for help from whatever benevolent deity will listen.

The first day

I landed in Tokyo on Sunday, jetlagged and exhausted. I had been up for about 30 hours at a stretch, and I don't actually remember much of anything outside of Narita airport.

I've pretty much been stuck in orientation in the days since, but I managed to escape long enough to take a walk yesterday.

I just picked a direction and walked as long as I could. Perhaps it's the country bumpkin in me, but I found it simply amazing that I could simply just pick a direction and go, and the city would just continue unfolding around me.

Now back to orientation.