Adventures of Anette

Thursday, April 12, 2012

Spring in Japan: Sakura Season and Hanami in Kyoto!

Anette 8:04:00 AM

One quite particular thing about the Japanese culture, is how they like things that are pretty, but at the same time things that are fragile or fugitive, or in other ways imperfect. Perhaps that is why they like the sakura 桜 (cherry blossom) so much.. Every year the trees brings new and beautiful flowers, but the flowers only lasts for a couple of weeks, until their petals falls to the ground. If there is a heavy rain the long-awaited hanami might even get washed away along with the flowers. The sakura is a sign of spring, and Japanese people (as well as us foreigners) likes to gather in parks/shrines/etc to drink with friends and watch the pretty flowers. This event is called hanami, and it literarily means to "look at flowers" (花見). Like last year I have already been to a couple of hanami-events, and the pictures in this blog is from the hanami I went to with the Study in Kyoto Program (SKP)-students in the Maruyama-park (円山公園) behind Yasaka Jinja.

Compared to last year the sakura flowers bloomed really late, so I didn't get that many good shots this time. Anyway, thanks for reading my post, I'll be back with more soon;)

Sakura over a gate in Gion

One of the traditional streets in Gion

During hanami there are a lot of stalls where one can by small portions of different types of Japanese food, such as takoyaki, okonomiyaki, etc etc. Here is the stalls + the sakura

Nanzen-ji 南禅寺

Students ready for hanami

A group picture with some of my fellow students

Another 集合写真 with more or less all the hanami participants

The Yasaka-jinja exit

Related blogposts

All blogposts from Osaka

All blogposts from Kyoto

All blogposts about hotels

All blogposts from Japan

Thanks for reading! Feel free to leave me a comment or question below!
~Anette

Sunday, April 8, 2012

University Activities

Japanese University Life: Choosing Between Clubs and Circles

Anette 11:15:00 PM

It is time for another semester at Ritsumeikan University, and with the spring semester comes the recruiting week where the older students tries to make the newcomers join their interest clubs or

"circles" (サークル). During this week the campus is filled with people wearing strange outfits, having performances or just trying to trick you into accepting their flyers. There are so many different kinds of clubs/circles, and it can be hard to know which ones you should choose.

The main difference between circles and clubs is the level of intensity. The clubs are known as being very strict; in some of them they might want you to go to all of their practices including the ones that are being held during holidays. They usually have practices many times a week as well.. Circles on the other hand is a lot more laid-back, and some circles only have practices a couple of times each month. People share a common interest, which they practice together only for the fun of it. Some join clubs/circles just for the social part as well, and mainly aim at making friends during the circle/clubs social events and parties rather than focusing on the circle's practices.

A Christmas tree at campus during orientation week in April..? Well, I guess it's Japan, after all..

However, you should notice that these are just a general distinction.. There are clubs that can be loose on rules, as well as stricter clubs. As a foreigner it might also be worth mentioning that not all of the circles/clubs have English-speaking members, but in general Japanese students are happy when they get the chance to get to know foreigners and practice their English. And it is a good chance for you to make some Japanese friends and practice Japanese too:)!

Some examples of clubs and circles can be: Sports such as tennis, basketball, swimming, baseball, soccer, material arts (karate, kendo, kenpo, judo, taekwondo etc etc), dancing, drawing, photographing, foot-massaging, you can learn how to put on a kimono, languages, acting, tea ceremony and you-name-it. There are all sorts of clubs and circles out there, and the school's introduction week is your chance to talk with club/circle members directly and ask them about their practices and rules.

A dancing club having performances on the main scene

A circle where the members give strangers foot-massages. Oh yeah.. xP

One of the theater-clubs at school

A guy in a banana-costume!

Some Japanese girls in traditional outfits

Monday, April 2, 2012

Rehabilitation

About my Rehabilitation in Kyoto

Anette 2:26:00 PM

It has been a month since I broke my shoulder while surfing in Bali, and although my arm is much better it is still a long way to go until I can fully recover from the accident.
After returning to Japan I spent almost two weeks living with Yuma's family in Kobe, and that really helped me a lot. I know it would have been very tough to live by myself during the first weeks after the accident, and I'm very glad and thankful for all the help I received from Yuma and his parents.
We went a couple of times to a local clinic in Kobe where the doctor did some check-ups to make sure that everything was like it should.

なか整形外科医院

After returning to Kyoto I have been going twice a week to a clinic called Naka Orthopaedic Clinic (なか整形外科医院) not too far from my school. Here I'm basically doing easy exercise with my arm, and they have trained staff who helps me increase my mobility. I'm improving a little bit at a time, although I still can't lift my arm 90 degrees it is still getting better day by day. Naturally there are some things that one usually takes for granted, such as styling one's hair or put on nice clothes, that really has turned out to be a challenge for me in these past weeks. I can't even do a ponytail, since I can't reach the back of my head, and I need zippers or buttons to be able to put on a sweater. It's almost a bit comical..
I do also feel that the plate in my shoulder somewhat blocks my movements, although this might be a mental block rather than a physical one.. As soon as the bone in my shoulder has completely healed (which will take between 3-4 months) I hope that I can have another surgery to get the metal plate inside my shoulder removed.
For now all I can do is to let the time do it's job, and keep on doing easy exercises every day. 頑張らないと！

The exercise room in the clinic I go to for rehabilitation. Both pictures in this post are taken from their website

Sunday, April 1, 2012

Restaurant

Egyptian Banquet at Café Frosch

Anette 10:04:00 AM

This semester I will be working part-time at a local café called Café Frosch (Frosch is the German word for frog), which is located close to the shrine Kitano-Tenmangu (北野天満宮) in the northern part of Kyoto. Truth to be told, I was actually supposed to start once I got back from my round-trip in South-East Asia, but since I broke my shoulder the last week of my trip I'm still in the middle of rehabilitation training and can't do too much yet, unfortunately ><..

Still, there are a lot of events going on in Café Frosch, and this Friday I went to participate in their "Melting Pot" night.

For a short introduction, Café Frosh is an international café with visitors and staff from all over the world. Like previously mentioned they do have a lot of events at the café, and for instance the last Friday of every month they are having a "Melting Pot" evening where one can try out specialities from different countries. This week my friend India was in charge, and she made us some really delicious Egyptian food. These events are quite popular; there are only capacity for 40 guests, so one even needs to make a reservation in advance to ensure a seat.!

Guests waiting in line for some delicious Egyptian food.

Some of the Egyptian food we got served.

As it was my first time in Café Frosh as a staff member I got introduced to the rest of the staff too! I actually know some of them already through the SKP-program at Ritsumeikan, but there were some new faces as well. At Café Frosch it is not only about the international food, but also about experiencing other cultures and languages as well. Thus, the people working here are quite international; the staff of the day came from countries such as America, Switzerland, Mexico, Sweden, England, France and Japan. And one from Norway too, namely me..! Locals come here to practice their English, and foreigners can have a shot at Japanese too. And of course, each one of us have unique backgrounds and can help out with other languages as well. Som for eksempel norsk, hvis noen skulle være interessert:)

Anyway, the evening was a great success, and I think each one of us had a really good time.

For more information about Café Frosch, please feel free to check out their home page as well;)