Culture Shock? #3 - Expressing Friendship

Something surprised me tonight.

I had sent a message to my group members during the week, just regarding preparation for tonight's class. And as usual, they all thanked me for the message, but what one guy said really surprised me.

He was very touched that I had opened my message with "Hi friends~" and said thank you for considering him my friend.

I was so shocked! I feel like in the US, this is not surprising to people, or they don't consider it a big deal. And, I wouldn't ever really expect someone to be affected like that by me calling them a friend (even if it does have a lot of meaning to me).

Granted, being the American that I am (lol), it still makes me feel warm and fuzzy inside too, to hear something like that said to me. To hear that someone considers you important - that's a pretty amazing feeling, right?

Well, to me it is. And that's why I always want to express that to others, so hopefully they get to feel the same way as I do. :)

It makes me wonder though. Is that uncommon here, among Japanese? Is it my frank way of speaking my mind that catches people off guard, or is this truly a rarity in Japan, where we learn in every single language class about how you constantly are dancing around outright saying the truth in Japanese? (For example: you may have the most legitimate excuse in the world, and yet you should often say something related to it, then trail off without finishing your sentence, which is a very important thing to learn to sound fluent...)

It also makes me question though - like I said, in America, I don't think people would ever really say a "wow, thanks for calling me your friend" type of thing.  I think they'd mostly keep it to themselves, if they even thought much of it at all… In contrast, when Japanese people are thankful? I can't get them to stop thanking me, even if I feel like I haven't done anything important at all!

Anyhow. It was something that caused me to think. 'Cause this could definitely be a culture difference. Maybe one culture doesn't express itself, while the other does? Or maybe one culture actually responds with their feelings of thanks, while the other hides it?

...Or, you know what? Maybe people just don't make friends quite as fast, no matter where you are. Whereas me? My group mates (and sooooo many other amazing friends I've met here) have already stolen a piece of my heart, and it's only growing with time. ;)

Either way. It warmed MY heart to respond to his comment with a " もちろん！Of course we're friends!" ♥ :)

The Long-way always has its surprises...

Today, was a hilarious day. :) For a variety of reasons (the first of which will have to wait till later^^), but the one that I want to write about now is something that I have found to be true many, many times in the past month and a half or so.

And that is: that the long-way is not bad. Not in the least. In fact, the long-way almost always has its surprises. :)

I can see this in the many little gems of pictures I have been able to get because I happen to turn down a different road than normal, as I said in a previous post. But, it also shows itself in more prominent, "wow, that never would have happened if I didn't decide to deviate from the norm" ways.

So, today after school, Lisa and I walked down to Rokkomichi to run some errands. After she split off and went home, since I wanted to get some more fresh foods for my fridge (I'm always on the hunt for the cheapest vegetables, btw ;D), I shopped in one of grocery stores down there. Since I've gained almost what could be called a 興味 (interest, lol) in just strolling down the aisles, looking at all the food (no joke xD), it took a little while... ^^;;

Anyways, as I was walking home with all my purchases, I happened to come to a certain road. Here, I usually continue straight and walk up the hill to my dorm farther down, but for some reason today I turned super early. I realized my mistake immediately - I was lengthening my walk by a considerable amount, and also adding a couple more hills to climb up and down. Why did I do that? -_-; Ah well, I already started down this way, it'd be weird for people to see me turn around (lol), so I just continued on - and who doesn't need a bit more exercise, in Japan? x)

After climbing back up to my regular route, I was just walking past a little temple that I pass every day. I realized that the steps were filled with little girls and their backpacks this time, but that was all I had time to do before they all said in unison "Hello!" and giggled as I passed.

When I responded back "Hello!" they giggled more, then my "英語がしゃべる？" (basically: You speak English?") comment made them stare shocked, then grin widely.

And that... was the start of a 45minute-1hour conversation that never would have happened without a random decision to make a single turn down a street. :)

It was quite a hilarious one. Mostly consisting of one of them saying (almost yelling, I'd say xD) random English words, and me responding with either their Japanese component, or helping them say the correct word instead, and of course random tangents from there. Our "conversation" included all the following words/phrases, and MANY more:

"Elephant!", "Apple!", "Jeans!", "Hot!", "I'm tired!" (this was her favorite phrase, and she said it many times, lol), "Walkman!" (which I had to update them from to MP3 player ;) ), "Merry Christmas!", "Deer!", Violin!", "Volleyball!", "Lady Gaga!", "Madonna!", "Justin Bieber!" (this inspired an even larger fit of giggles than normal, as one girl said she liked him, and the others were like "whatttttt?!"),  "Purikura!" (and after me telling them I liked it too, they had to show me all their Purikura collections - which was QUITE extensive!), "Kangaroo!", "I love you!", "Boy Crazy!" (okay, this phrase came from me, after they explained in Japanese what they wanted to say about one of the girls there ^^), " Car!", "Bug!", and the list goes on and on.

These little Junior High School students had me smiling my face off for about an hour, and I am only glad I was able to provide them with some entertainment (i.e.: who is this silly American girl who can only speak broken Japanese? xD) in return. Aside from this extremely-random rapid-fire sort of language exchange (it's a first for me, lol!), we also talked about things to do in Kobe, the reading of their Kanji names, how long I'd be here (they were shocked that I was a college student! :P), which Disneyland is better in Tokyo and why, what clubs they were in, and all manner of other topics. It was SO. FUN. ♥

And, makes me reiterate. Sometimes, the long road is the one that has the most surprises. And creates the most memories. :)

And, for my fellow Kobe students: if you are ever walking home from school and see a bunch of girls on this step - try shouting "Hello!" to THEM! Maybe you'll make some friends too. ;)

AREN'T THEY JUST THE CUTEST?! I want to take them home with me. xD♥

Cooking with Hello Kitty~

Yep, still super behind on posts. So, to make up for it, it's a random-update time!! :D

Yes, the kimchee (キムチ) I bought yesterday has a Hello Kitty on it. ^^

In fact, Hello Kitty appears to be a Japanese runner in the London Olympics later this year - any bets on whether she'll win?

(Also, in case you didn't know - Yoshinoya is a fast food chain, which serves the sort of food that is pictured on the package. Granted, it's probably better quality-food, but it's kinda like buying BBQ sauce or french fries branded by McDonalds :P)

Well, all I can say is that cooking in Japan is sure more fun than anywhere else, most probably. ^-^ And as you can tell from below, even though I am cooking for myself, I'm not doing too bad. ;)

Anyhow, thanks, Hello Kitty! My stomach is happy~ ♥  （私のおなかは幸せ～ 笑 xD）

Walking, walking, always walking...

(FYI: Pictures are at the end of this wall of text ;) )

I didn't realize just how much I didn't walk, till I came to Japan.

And now, I realize for the first time just how different it is to live without the means of transportation I had always taken for granted.

In America, no matter where I am (whether at home or on a trip), I always have a car. Always. In fact, the first time I really took a bus by myself anywhere was last summer, when I had been given a bus pass for my Amazon internship, so I figured I'd try to use it to save money.

Because, yes. Gas is SUPER expensive. Yet, it is something we can complain about, but is a necessity. Because, we just have to go on and keep driving. Right? How else would we get where we need to go?

In Japan, this is NOT the case.

Yes, for me as a student of course I don't have a car, but this is also true (or they choose not to use it!!) for so many other people I see.

Granted, the train system/bus systems here are fantastic. But, besides that (or instead of, in many cases), people just walk. A lot.

I was not used to this when I arrived. In fact, I my aunty had just bought another pair of shoes for me before I came, which I hadn't thought I'd need. But oh boy, was I wrong. I have since bought other pairs of shoes as well, because I need to switch every day/every other day at least, since my feet can't handle being in one pair of shoes for too long (no matter how comfy, it's just too much).

My feet are bruised, marked, calloused, blistered, sometimes a bit swollen, and often sore. (wow, that sounds horrible. But it kinda is, so I'm not taking a picture, thought I considered it. XD)

But, as crazy as it sounds, I am proud of these "scars" I guess you could say, and actually relish the chance I have to walk! x) In fact, I would choose that almost every time (unless it's raining and I have heavy bags with me, HAHA!). I'm even all for hiking on weekends too!! xD

Granted, living on a mountain does make my form of walking a lot more difficult than the norm, I would think. x) As in, it is constant up and down (or 上り下り, I believe it's called ^^), and even just a trip to the grocery store takes about 15-20 minutes down, then the same amount of time (or more) back up the steep hill with all my groceries. And the walk to school makes me wonder if I'll simply melt during the summer! (the weather is already beginning to be hot, and this is worrisome...)

But, I love it. I love this form of exercise. I feel my body changing shape - my pants fit me differently, I'm able to walk up hills I at first nearly died on (lol) and now can do without breathing super differently, and by timing myself I can see I'm able to walk to school a bit faster and faster as time keeps going by.

I know, in America places are farther. You can't walk everywhere, and time is often more important than any money you might have to pay on gas.

But, it makes me wonder: if we all had the choice of walking, would we?
I wonder. But, I think I definitely want to try bring SOME of this back home, since I have found that I so very much just enjoy walking. With friends of course, but by myself as well.

Also, it's not boring at all. I see something new on my walks, each and every single day. :)
Japan is teaching me that you can rush from one point to the other and get there. But, what will you have missed had you just strolled along the way?

And so! If you are interested, come stroll with me through Kobe, and see what I have seen this past month! :D

Nicest cat in Kobe! (and there are a LOT of them) 

Lol, this little guy cracks me up whenever I see him. xD 

 :P

A school I pass when I go grocery shopping~ 

 Yeah, I don't know... so funny xD

It's me! lol

I love my friend~♥

Found this temple when I took a slightly different way from home one day! And clearly, I did at the perfect time!!

 Come back! :(

 This picture had me so excited. I loved this scene - it just was so pretty.

Oh yeah, I cross two "rivers" on my way to school! ;) 

 Was distracted taking pictures, and forgot to take my normal turn. So, found this! :)

And this is all just on my normal every-day walks - just an the way to school, the store, etc!

… Okay, well I guess I agree that Japan is prettier/more interesting than most places.

But still! Walk more! Get exercise! Go green and save the earth! (^^)v