For this post, I think it a good time to talk about the hostel I stayed in while in Nara. It's name was the Nara-ken Seishonen-Kaikan youth hostel. It was equal parts normal hostel as one would see anywhere in the world with several rooms capable of occupation of eight people or more and parts ryoukan - a traditional Japanese-style inn. I felt very fortunate in that our professor had booked the ryoukan-style rooms, meaning we were able to have the traditional experience during our stay.
We had a total of three rooms, one for the three females in the group and then rooms of four and six for the guys. I was in the room of four with John and Peter and our student leader, Christian. These floors of these rooms were tatami mats, flooring made of interwoven, fine straw and each had a low coffee table in the middle. In lieu of beds, we instead slept on futon mats that we were expected to fold up every day, a very traditional way of sleeping in Japan.
Amenities the hostel offered was a cafeteria-style room with a fridge for guest use and of course the essential vending machines. It also boasted a laundry room with a free washer but a charging dryer. Electricity is at a premium in Japan and so usually Japanese families will hang their clothes on a line to air dry. Being as poor as I was and also finding the dryer to be rather weak after one use, I chose to hang my laundry outside to air. It was fairly nice for most of the time we were in Nara and I believe there was only one day in which it rained. However, during the course of the week we spent in Nara one of my favorite shirts I had brought along went missing, I presume snatched off the line while drying. An unfortunate risk you run at hostels - thieves.
A somewhat unique aspect of this hostel is the Japanese-style communal bath. There were two rooms for men and women and in these rooms you had one tub that fit about three people comfortably and about six shower-heads with accompanying bucket and seat. It was expected that people would bathe together and despite embarrassment or modesty, it was against the rules of the hostel to wear anything but your birthday suit in the baths. It was actually considered rude to wear anything into the baths in Japan.
Hostels are a relatively cheap way to live if you're only going to be spending a week or so in Japan. Prices range from as low as $20 with even some of the higher end hostels topping out at $50. The reason for the low price is that hostels provided you basically with just a roof over your head, without various luxuries provided at higher end hotels. As long as your willing to put up with sometimes less than ideal sleeping arrangements in favor of saving some money, hostels are key.
A particular benefit to our hostel in Nara was it's proximity not only to a Lawson's convenience store which would prove to be our breakfast spot for the whole week, mainly due to their deliciously fried chicken and cheese nuggets, but also to a cheap local supermarket which had a small, but cheap selection of food and drink that we were able to store in the fridge at the hostel. Many of us made our meals that week from the discount bread sold at the supermarket.
It was also here that I bought my first legal beer, the drinking age in Japan being a younger 20. I had no clue about Japanese beer and thus made the unfortunate decision to buy Asahi Clear as my first beer. I have tasted worse beers before and I'm sure I will again in the future, but a word of advice, I would avoid this particular draft when choosing from among Asahi's vast stock. In a later post, I'll break down some of the more popular beers, including my particular favorite, Asahi Super Dry Black.'
Useful phrase in this week's post:
ryoukan - りょかん 旅館
meaning: Japanese-style inn
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Saturday, October 26, 2013
Tuesday, October 15, 2013
I Bless the Rains Down in Ueno
Sorry, I have to admit I'm a Toto fan and couldn't resist an "Africa" pun to kick off my post about the final day I spent in Tokyo before heading off to Nara to start my Mizzou summer program, Japanese Language, Culture & Bunraku Puppetry.
There were two ways for us to get to Nara from Tokyo to get to our next youth hostel. One route, the more expensive and luxurious option, was to take the shinkansen, or bullet train, direct from Ueno station in the Ueno special ward of downtown Tokyo to Nara station. Depending on where you're going, shinkansen tickets could run you upwards of 20,000 yen, about $200 US dollar, but you are definitely getting what you pay for as this is the fastest way to travel long distances on land and the seat options are incredibly comfortable and spacious. If you're wanting to travel across the country during your visit, a shinkansen ride is both a novelty one should try at least once and a great way to see far reaches of the country you wouldn't normally have had the opportunity to see. Another advantage of the shinkansen is that there are trains leaving the station from all different times of the day to different places, so you could leave pretty much whatever time of day you wanted.
Option two was to take an overnight bus from Shinjuku station in the Shinjuku special ward, making minimal stops and arriving the next morning at Nara station. Tickets for the night bus are considerably cheaper than the shinkansen, with tickets ranging from 4000 to 6000 yen, about $40 to $60 US dollar. The seating accommodations vary depending on how much extra you are willing to pay for a more luxurious bus, but are comparable to the US Greyhound bus or the Megabus. You are not sacrificing much in the way of comfort, and, in the numerous experiences I've had with this cheap mode of travel, I've found you can sleep quite comfortably in the cushioned seats. The obvious inconvenience of the night bus is the sheer amount of time it takes to get places, which is the main reason these buses primarily run at night. For instance, from Tokyo to Nara by shinkansen it would generally take about 2 hours. If the nigh tbus is more your fancy, it will take about seven or eight hours. Another downside is that night buses are just that, buses at night; so the usually will not leave until later than 11 p.m. for farther destinations.
As I was beginning my travels on a rather tight budget, as I would unfortunately spend the remainder of my time in Japan, I chose the cheaper option of the night bus. Originally the plan was for John to accompany me on the overnight journey, but was lured away by the luxury and novelty of the shinkansen, so that left just me to wait the night bus while Peter and John left early to catch a midday shinkansen to Nara. Check-out time at our hostel was at 10 a.m. so after we all settled our bills, John and Peter left to catch a taxi to the station while I waited around in the hostel.
The weather that day was particularly awful with on and off heavy rain so my will to venture out unless necessary was rapidly waning. Luckily for me, one of our fellow classmates, Steven, had arrived to spend a day in Tokyo before himself going to Nara, so he kept me company for the day. We hit a bit of a dry spell in the late afternoon so we decided that we would walk to Ueno to see the famous Ueno Park and it seemed logical to me that I simply carry my stuff with me so that I could catch a train to Shinjuku when it got closer to my bus departure time. I dropped my baggage off in a locker at Ueno station after we visited the park and Steven and I decided to try one last trip to Akihabara before I had to leave. As it turns out, two days was not a sufficient amount of time to learn how to get around metropolitan Tokyo and we spent the better part of two hours just wandering in what would turn out to be a fruitless effort to get there. By then the rain had started back up and Steven decided to head back to the hostel so we parted ways while I was walking back to Ueno station. I grabbed my bags and caught the train to arrive in Shinjuku station around 9 p.m. Let me tell you, off all the stations in Tokyo, to me Shinjuku was the most confusing. It is a very intricate system and it is quite easy to get lost if you don't know the way to go.
I had a few hours to kill before my bus was scheduled to leave, but due to the rain, I was forced to sit in the bus station and read a book I had brought along for entertainment. Don't get me wrong, I was reading "The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo" so I wasn't too upset at not being able to venture out, but I would learn later that Shinjuku at night is really something see. I also had my travel music to keep me company so the hours seemed to melt away until finally I boarded the bus and was bound for Nara.
Like I said, these buses were pretty reasonably comfortable, so I was able to sleep for most of the ride there, until the sun rose around 4:30 and peeped through the shades on the bus. By then we were making our last few stops before arriving in Nara promptly at 7 a.m. It was a beautiful morning in the city I would come to love, but all I had to go on to get to the right Nara youth hostel were some rather questionable directions given to all of us by our professor.
Here again I experienced the great lengths Japanese people will go to help others. I was visibly unsure of where I should be going, looking around with my bags on the ground, and a young Japanese man carrying a guitar who had arrived on the same bus came over and asked me where I was trying to go in pretty good English. He later explained he had lived in New York for a few years as a kid, so he got to know English pretty well. He read the directions and immediately told me the directions were wrong. He had been to the youth hostel before so he offered to walk me part of the way there. Fortunately, it only ended up being about a 20 minute walk, so once we reached the road the hostel was on, I thanked him profusely for his help and he went on his way. Finally, I had arrived at the Nara youth hostel and after checking in, I was able to move my bags immediately into my room as John and Peter had arrived the day before and were already in the room. I'll be sharing more about the hostel amenities in the next post, but I will say that one of the best experiences I had in those first few days was being able to stay in a traditional tatami mat room that was one of the many features in this hostel.
Useful phrase in this week's post:
shinkansen - しんかんせん - 新幹線
meaning: bullet train
There were two ways for us to get to Nara from Tokyo to get to our next youth hostel. One route, the more expensive and luxurious option, was to take the shinkansen, or bullet train, direct from Ueno station in the Ueno special ward of downtown Tokyo to Nara station. Depending on where you're going, shinkansen tickets could run you upwards of 20,000 yen, about $200 US dollar, but you are definitely getting what you pay for as this is the fastest way to travel long distances on land and the seat options are incredibly comfortable and spacious. If you're wanting to travel across the country during your visit, a shinkansen ride is both a novelty one should try at least once and a great way to see far reaches of the country you wouldn't normally have had the opportunity to see. Another advantage of the shinkansen is that there are trains leaving the station from all different times of the day to different places, so you could leave pretty much whatever time of day you wanted.
Option two was to take an overnight bus from Shinjuku station in the Shinjuku special ward, making minimal stops and arriving the next morning at Nara station. Tickets for the night bus are considerably cheaper than the shinkansen, with tickets ranging from 4000 to 6000 yen, about $40 to $60 US dollar. The seating accommodations vary depending on how much extra you are willing to pay for a more luxurious bus, but are comparable to the US Greyhound bus or the Megabus. You are not sacrificing much in the way of comfort, and, in the numerous experiences I've had with this cheap mode of travel, I've found you can sleep quite comfortably in the cushioned seats. The obvious inconvenience of the night bus is the sheer amount of time it takes to get places, which is the main reason these buses primarily run at night. For instance, from Tokyo to Nara by shinkansen it would generally take about 2 hours. If the nigh tbus is more your fancy, it will take about seven or eight hours. Another downside is that night buses are just that, buses at night; so the usually will not leave until later than 11 p.m. for farther destinations.
As I was beginning my travels on a rather tight budget, as I would unfortunately spend the remainder of my time in Japan, I chose the cheaper option of the night bus. Originally the plan was for John to accompany me on the overnight journey, but was lured away by the luxury and novelty of the shinkansen, so that left just me to wait the night bus while Peter and John left early to catch a midday shinkansen to Nara. Check-out time at our hostel was at 10 a.m. so after we all settled our bills, John and Peter left to catch a taxi to the station while I waited around in the hostel.
The weather that day was particularly awful with on and off heavy rain so my will to venture out unless necessary was rapidly waning. Luckily for me, one of our fellow classmates, Steven, had arrived to spend a day in Tokyo before himself going to Nara, so he kept me company for the day. We hit a bit of a dry spell in the late afternoon so we decided that we would walk to Ueno to see the famous Ueno Park and it seemed logical to me that I simply carry my stuff with me so that I could catch a train to Shinjuku when it got closer to my bus departure time. I dropped my baggage off in a locker at Ueno station after we visited the park and Steven and I decided to try one last trip to Akihabara before I had to leave. As it turns out, two days was not a sufficient amount of time to learn how to get around metropolitan Tokyo and we spent the better part of two hours just wandering in what would turn out to be a fruitless effort to get there. By then the rain had started back up and Steven decided to head back to the hostel so we parted ways while I was walking back to Ueno station. I grabbed my bags and caught the train to arrive in Shinjuku station around 9 p.m. Let me tell you, off all the stations in Tokyo, to me Shinjuku was the most confusing. It is a very intricate system and it is quite easy to get lost if you don't know the way to go.
I had a few hours to kill before my bus was scheduled to leave, but due to the rain, I was forced to sit in the bus station and read a book I had brought along for entertainment. Don't get me wrong, I was reading "The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo" so I wasn't too upset at not being able to venture out, but I would learn later that Shinjuku at night is really something see. I also had my travel music to keep me company so the hours seemed to melt away until finally I boarded the bus and was bound for Nara.
Like I said, these buses were pretty reasonably comfortable, so I was able to sleep for most of the ride there, until the sun rose around 4:30 and peeped through the shades on the bus. By then we were making our last few stops before arriving in Nara promptly at 7 a.m. It was a beautiful morning in the city I would come to love, but all I had to go on to get to the right Nara youth hostel were some rather questionable directions given to all of us by our professor.
Here again I experienced the great lengths Japanese people will go to help others. I was visibly unsure of where I should be going, looking around with my bags on the ground, and a young Japanese man carrying a guitar who had arrived on the same bus came over and asked me where I was trying to go in pretty good English. He later explained he had lived in New York for a few years as a kid, so he got to know English pretty well. He read the directions and immediately told me the directions were wrong. He had been to the youth hostel before so he offered to walk me part of the way there. Fortunately, it only ended up being about a 20 minute walk, so once we reached the road the hostel was on, I thanked him profusely for his help and he went on his way. Finally, I had arrived at the Nara youth hostel and after checking in, I was able to move my bags immediately into my room as John and Peter had arrived the day before and were already in the room. I'll be sharing more about the hostel amenities in the next post, but I will say that one of the best experiences I had in those first few days was being able to stay in a traditional tatami mat room that was one of the many features in this hostel.
Useful phrase in this week's post:
shinkansen - しんかんせん - 新幹線
meaning: bullet train
Wednesday, October 9, 2013
Lost in Translation: First Time in Tokyo
If you're planning on making Tokyo your jumping off point for your own Japan adventure, as many do, you should make an effort to watch the Bill Murray and Scarlett Johansson cinematic masterpiece, "Lost in Translation." People who come to Japan with little to no understanding of the language or culture, like our good friend Mr. Murray did, you may feel the same type of distance as the actor portrayed in the film. However, much of the language barrier in that movie was exaggerated, and I'm not saying Japanese will sound remotely understandable to someone who speaks English, but in the ten years since the movie's debut, it has become much easier to get by in Tokyo without speaking the language. English is spoken in abundance in the capitol city and while speaking with strangers is hit and miss, a lot of the staff members working train stations as well as other stores have at least a basic knowledge of the language and will be able to help you out with basic things such as how to get somewhere or where to find something.
Now, on to my first experience running the streets of the capitol. My traveling companions and I awoke the next day bright and early, that was a nice effect of jet lag, and while we still weren't completely acclimated, we were at least much more rested and charged than the day before. As such we made our first mission to find perhaps the most famous special ward of the Tokyo metropolitan area, Akihabara.
First off, I guess I should explain a little bit about me. I would refer to myself as somewhat of an otaku. To put it simply, this is the Japanese equivalent of "nerd." It's acquired somewhat of a negative connotation over the years, but those who call themselves otaku do so with pride. An otaku is someone who takes a particular interest in some aspect of Japanese pop-culture, be it manga and anime or music or video games. Just something that avidly grabs your attention and for which you buy sometimes exorbitant amounts of media. For example, I have several volumes of Japanese manga, countless gigabytes of anime on my hard drive as well as some figures and posters of my favorite shows and characters. I would consider myself a fairly average otaku, but just like with any fandom, there are those who take it to extremes and it is life-consuming. This is where the term otaku derives it's negative meaning. But for everyone, otaku and normal alike, Akihabara is one site you cannot miss when in Tokyo.
For fans, there are buildings upon buildings dedicated solely to the sale of memorabilia for manga and anime and the same could be said for video games and music as well. There is not a time during the day where one could go to Akihabara and the streets be not absolutely packed with people. Other noteworthy facets, such as adult entertainment stores and maid cafes, are also in abundance in Akihabara.
As you could imagine, this was all quite overwhelming for us at first. We spent nearly two hours just looking in two stores. Admittedly these stores each had a good nine or 10 small floors, but still we were so engrossed with awe at the sheer volume of memorabilia that it was all we could do to take it all in. A fun little nugget we also gleaned from these first two stores is that as a general rule, the top floors of stores in Akihabara are generally dedicated to more adult themes in their merchandise. While not outright pornography, in some cases, the contents were very erotic and for three foreign students, it was pretty surprising at the lack of boundary between the more wholesome side of the fandom and the less wholesome sect. Even after living in the country for a year I can still say that in many cases there is no boundary between the normal genres of shounen and shoujo manga and the more erotic topics of yuri and yaoi doujins. Lesson of the day - be careful and attentive when walking around Akihabara or you may find content you weren't looking for.
We spent the greater part of the day in Akihabara perusing stores and game centers, filled with games of various genres and of course the quintessential claw machines. After my year abroad, there are two things I've come to learn about claw machines in Japan. One, they are the most addicting contraptions imaginable with colorful, flashing lights and above average prizes in most of them depending on the cost. Two, each and every one of these behemoths is designed and built by the best physics minds to ever come out of MIT. While the prizes in the claw machines are better than any I've come across in America, they are painstakingly set up to look incredibly easy but near impossible to master. I've watched people sink over four times what the prize inside is worth just trying to win the game. The greatest example of claw machine addiction I've seen came from a good friend of mine I met during my academic year at JCMU, who we'll call Bruce. He once spent 30,000 yen on claw machines at a local game center in Minami-Hikone. For those of you not up to date with international exchange rates, that's just about 300 US dollar spent on claw machines for prizes that probably topped out at $50.
After our trip to Akihabara, we hiked our way back to the hostel, stopping to buy some dinner at a convenience store. We arrived as exhausted as the day before and our wallets slightly lighter after a full day of shopping. We showered, grabbed some snacks and our computers and went to relax in the free wi-fi and television in the hostel lobby. Luckily for us, the Japanese national soccer team was playing a friendly and sports is a joy that has no language barrier. And yes, I used soccer. I'm an American. I apologize to the futbol aficionados. The true entertainment, though, came from a very avid fan who I believe owned the hostel and sat next to us on the couch the whole game, drinking beer and providing very excited commentary throughout. We couldn't quite understand all he was saying but we got the gist just the same. We stayed up long enough to watch the end of the game and by then the sun had long set on our second day in Japan.
Useful phrase in this week's post (and bonuses!):
shounen - しょうねん 少年
meaning: young boy; genre of manga more targeted to the male demographic
shoujo - しょうじょ 少女
meaning: young girl; genre of manga more targeted to the female demographic
yuri - ユリ 百合
meaning: girl love; manga on the theme of female homosexuality
yaoi - やおい
meaning: guy love; manga on the theme of male homosexual love
Now, on to my first experience running the streets of the capitol. My traveling companions and I awoke the next day bright and early, that was a nice effect of jet lag, and while we still weren't completely acclimated, we were at least much more rested and charged than the day before. As such we made our first mission to find perhaps the most famous special ward of the Tokyo metropolitan area, Akihabara.
First off, I guess I should explain a little bit about me. I would refer to myself as somewhat of an otaku. To put it simply, this is the Japanese equivalent of "nerd." It's acquired somewhat of a negative connotation over the years, but those who call themselves otaku do so with pride. An otaku is someone who takes a particular interest in some aspect of Japanese pop-culture, be it manga and anime or music or video games. Just something that avidly grabs your attention and for which you buy sometimes exorbitant amounts of media. For example, I have several volumes of Japanese manga, countless gigabytes of anime on my hard drive as well as some figures and posters of my favorite shows and characters. I would consider myself a fairly average otaku, but just like with any fandom, there are those who take it to extremes and it is life-consuming. This is where the term otaku derives it's negative meaning. But for everyone, otaku and normal alike, Akihabara is one site you cannot miss when in Tokyo.
For fans, there are buildings upon buildings dedicated solely to the sale of memorabilia for manga and anime and the same could be said for video games and music as well. There is not a time during the day where one could go to Akihabara and the streets be not absolutely packed with people. Other noteworthy facets, such as adult entertainment stores and maid cafes, are also in abundance in Akihabara.
As you could imagine, this was all quite overwhelming for us at first. We spent nearly two hours just looking in two stores. Admittedly these stores each had a good nine or 10 small floors, but still we were so engrossed with awe at the sheer volume of memorabilia that it was all we could do to take it all in. A fun little nugget we also gleaned from these first two stores is that as a general rule, the top floors of stores in Akihabara are generally dedicated to more adult themes in their merchandise. While not outright pornography, in some cases, the contents were very erotic and for three foreign students, it was pretty surprising at the lack of boundary between the more wholesome side of the fandom and the less wholesome sect. Even after living in the country for a year I can still say that in many cases there is no boundary between the normal genres of shounen and shoujo manga and the more erotic topics of yuri and yaoi doujins. Lesson of the day - be careful and attentive when walking around Akihabara or you may find content you weren't looking for.
We spent the greater part of the day in Akihabara perusing stores and game centers, filled with games of various genres and of course the quintessential claw machines. After my year abroad, there are two things I've come to learn about claw machines in Japan. One, they are the most addicting contraptions imaginable with colorful, flashing lights and above average prizes in most of them depending on the cost. Two, each and every one of these behemoths is designed and built by the best physics minds to ever come out of MIT. While the prizes in the claw machines are better than any I've come across in America, they are painstakingly set up to look incredibly easy but near impossible to master. I've watched people sink over four times what the prize inside is worth just trying to win the game. The greatest example of claw machine addiction I've seen came from a good friend of mine I met during my academic year at JCMU, who we'll call Bruce. He once spent 30,000 yen on claw machines at a local game center in Minami-Hikone. For those of you not up to date with international exchange rates, that's just about 300 US dollar spent on claw machines for prizes that probably topped out at $50.
After our trip to Akihabara, we hiked our way back to the hostel, stopping to buy some dinner at a convenience store. We arrived as exhausted as the day before and our wallets slightly lighter after a full day of shopping. We showered, grabbed some snacks and our computers and went to relax in the free wi-fi and television in the hostel lobby. Luckily for us, the Japanese national soccer team was playing a friendly and sports is a joy that has no language barrier. And yes, I used soccer. I'm an American. I apologize to the futbol aficionados. The true entertainment, though, came from a very avid fan who I believe owned the hostel and sat next to us on the couch the whole game, drinking beer and providing very excited commentary throughout. We couldn't quite understand all he was saying but we got the gist just the same. We stayed up long enough to watch the end of the game and by then the sun had long set on our second day in Japan.
Useful phrase in this week's post (and bonuses!):
shounen - しょうねん 少年
meaning: young boy; genre of manga more targeted to the male demographic
shoujo - しょうじょ 少女
meaning: young girl; genre of manga more targeted to the female demographic
yuri - ユリ 百合
meaning: girl love; manga on the theme of female homosexuality
yaoi - やおい
meaning: guy love; manga on the theme of male homosexual love
Thursday, October 3, 2013
Strangers in a Strange Land
This week’s post will be slightly shorter than the others as
the topic, my first full day in Japan, was also a rather short one. To pick up
where we left off, we successfully checked out of our hotel and caught a local
train to the Asakusa area of Tokyo in order to find the Sakura Youth Hostel,
our home for the next three days. For anyone looking to travel abroad on a
budget, like many students, then utilizing the cheap and efficient living
conditions of a hostel are absolutely essential. The Sakura is the
quintessential hostel with both male and female dorm-style accommodations with
up to eight people sharing the same room.
Now while I mentioned that one can feel completely at ease
while travelling in Japan, it is at places like hostels one has to be most
wary, due to the high amount of people coming and going, many of whom are not
Japanese. At the Sakura, we encountered no problems, but they do provide each
guest with a locker in their rooms to store valuables while they may be out
during the day. If you’re worried about more expensive items such as a laptop,
I would recommend renting a locker, as it’s cheap and allows you to walk around
without being burdened with extra items to carry. Although we went straight
from our hotel to the hostel, our rooms weren’t quite ready so we decided to
store our luggage in the basement of the Sakura, and venture out to explore
Asakusa. We were lucky enough that the area surrounding the Sakura had a wealth
of interesting places to see, including a very picturesque park dotted with
several shrines large and small and a wealth of shopping centers selling a
variety of food and trinkets.
Needless to say we were still quite exhausted both from our
flight and from carrying our luggage all over Tokyo in our search for a place
to stay, so we only chose to explore for a few hours before returning to the
Sakura to rest up. Because we were going to be in Tokyo for a few days, the
first outing was more of a scouting expedition to find places to go when we had
regained our strength. Even though our first day was rather short-lived as we
spent the rest of the day at the hostel getting ourselves situated and
relaxing, one moment became one of the highlights of my journey.
For some reason we never quite figured out, on that first
day, Asakusa was quite overrun with what seemed like hundreds of elementary and
middle school students. Our best guess is that it was some sort of district
field trip, as we couldn’t hardly keep track of the number of different
uniforms we saw.
As the three of us were walking through the central shopping
area of Asakusa, we happened to pass a group of middle school girls who were
waiting in front of one of the stands. Apparently one of them was still inside
and had been separated from the group. Just as we passed in between the group
and the stand, the last member of the middle-schoolers came bolting out of the
small shop. After almost running into us, the girl shouted “ah, gaijin!” (pronounced guy-jean), before
side-stepping us and joining her friends. Although our knowledge of Japanese
was limited, we all knew that gaijin meant foreigner and when we heard the
exclamation, we all looked at each other and burst out laughing, It had really
struck home that we weren’t in America anymore and we were truly strangers in a
strange land.
Useful phrase in this week's post:
gaijin - がいじん - 外人
meaning: foreigner
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