From Awaji to Kansai Institute

June 16-17, 2009

I rode in a comfortable bus shuttle from the Kansai airport to Osaka Umeda, then took the train to my colleague Michael Jin's place. Michael is a fifth year Ph.D. student in my department. I used a public phone for the first time in Japan (and my first time in probably 15 years) to call Michael. He then led me from the train station to his lovely apartment where I met his wife Neda. I enjoyed walking around residential areas because I felt as if I was one step closer to understanding Osaka (and perhaps Japanese) culture.

Michael and Neda treated me like royalty with nonstop tea, snacks and home cooking. Neda made this delicious Persian dinner (my first time!)and Michael made yummy breakfast. I also had my second cold alcoholic drink in my life (first was Southern Comfort ordered by Albert Tseng from the Formosa Foundation Ambassador Program I was in Summer 2006). Michael made the drink- vodka with cranberry juice and something else. Later, orange juice was added to dilute the vodka after I drank half of the glass tumbler. I became disoriented and had trouble concentrating. At one point Michael actually told me to stop drinking so fast. I did not finish the last one-fifth of the glass because I thought I should not. Because liquid was added to my one glass a couple of times, I should count that I had one full glass of some type of mix drink.

I fell fast asleep- within one minute after I laid down. The breeze from the outside made my sleep comfortable at Michael's. I work up after 5am, after falling asleep after 9pm.

After parting with Neda first and then Michael who sent me off in Umeda, I went back to the airport to meet up with my ride. She was not my ride, but she called a taxi for me and another program participant. Yes, it was my first time in a taxi in Japan! It will probably be my last time because it is too expensive.

My life in Osaka officially began with meeting my "ride." We talked for at least 20 minutes almost exclusively in Japanese (she use few English words when I could not understood her at all). I continued to listen to and speak Japanese with various people until I saw Carla Richardson, a colleague from the anthropology department at UC Santa Cruz. Even though I told Carla I would speak exclusively Japanese to her once I arrived at the Institute, I changed my plan. I had been exposed to the most Japanese continuously thus far in my life up until I saw her (7 hours). I would only speak Japanese to her when we are not alone.

My first new Friend is Yu (Xiong Ying in Chinese), a Chinese Ph.D. student at a university in Sydney. The next friend is Chan, a Vietnamese librarian from the national library in Vietnam. The next one is a strange one, and I have decided not to actively befriend her more. Her name is Shelly, but she is nothing like Shelly Chan in my department, who just finished her Ph. D. I introduced Carla to Yu and Chan.

I spent about $14 already on snacks and shampoo at this fairly cheap supermarket. I need to control myself and not buy everything I see the first month here.