Sunday June 29, Rainy

I feel like this is the first blog post in which I don’t have to elaborate about Roppongi. Why? Because we had home stay! Home stay for those of you who has never heard about or done it, is a program where foreign students experience the full breadth of a new culture by living with a native family in the foreign country. I have to admit that this is my first experience with home stay. I didn’t know what to make of it before I stepped on the train bound for Yokohama, the town of my host family.

Yokohama is apparently the second largest city in Japan. For a place of such size and importance, it is strange that I have not heard about it as much as Tokyo, Kyoto, or Osaka. It is a city about 50 miles southeast of Tokyo, and carries a special importance from its role in World War II. While the night life of Yokohama cannot rack up again the feisty air of the foreigner-infested sites of Tokyo like Roppongi or Shinjuku, Yokohama had much to offer, from its Chinatown, the largest in Japan, to the many skilled street performers that would put those in Harajuku to shame.

I met my host in the train station in Yokohama on Friday afternoon. His name is Tetuya, and I thought that he did not look particularly Japanese from the first glance because of his dress and hairstyle. Unlike the Tokyo salary men, who make others feel rather more uncomfortable than anything else with their suits and leather shoes, Tetuya dressed like an American. His normal, un-dyed hair also did not conform to the current Asian frenzy of highlighting hair with unorthodox color, like blue. I would eventually come to find out that he is an electrician, which explains for his dress. And that he isn’t as young as he looks, which explains for the hair color. He walked me back to his home and introduced me to his family- his mother, brother, sister-in-law, and nephew. They were great people and received my present well, even though I thought that it was badly chosen gift.

On Friday night, Tetuya took me to a traditional Japanese bath, “Ohuro.” I learned the word at Yale, “Ohuro ni hairu,” which means enter the bath, but I only made the connection when I saw the printed hiragana on the door of the bath house. I didn’t imagine that many people would be interested in going to a public bath when they had shower in their homes, but when I arrived in the packed parking lot of the bath house, I realized that my Japanese textbook taught “Ohuro ni hairu” for a reason- the Japanese “Ohuro” is very “Ninki” (Another new, useful word that I learned which means “popular.” Tetuya gave me a smart and amusing way to memorize it- “Ninki” sounds similar to “Nike,” which is popular in America.)

I have never seen such a sight before when I first entered the bath house. Rows after rows of naked Asian men washing themselves… Haha! For all the girls reading this blog, the last sentence was not supposed to be as disgusting as it sounds. After all, it wasn’t bad; the sight of other naked male did not interfere with my ability to have fun and engage in an intellectual conversation with Tetuya. While we were there, we talked about many things- activities in spare time, Japan, politics, economics, and women. I could not make up my mind about Tetuya until the bath house, but I found during our conversations there that we had commonalities. He was also nice when showing me around the bath house and the equipments there. There were hot baths, cold baths, out door baths, saunas, and massage bath. I could not stay in any of them long, because 5 minutes would give me a headache. However, Tetuya was understanding, and we left before the hot water made me uncomfortable. In the end, I felt that it was a wonderful experience; it gave me a refreshed feeling after a long day of work and commute. When I got home, I hit the hay quickly.

The next day, a Saturday, Tetuya took me to Yokohama proper to see another aspect of Japanese cities. We first went on a ferry ride, which arrived in Yokohama port. The port was symbolic of the Japanese navy, and there was a majestic battle ship docked in the port. I forgot to bring my camera to home stay, and so I had to take photos using Tetuya’s awesome phone, which could be used to watch television. I guess I cannot post it on this blog, but for all of you who know me, I will upload of them onto my facebook. We then met his friend, a Chinese girl from Singapore. I didn’t know whether they were dating or not, so it was kind of awkward in the beginning. She stayed with us the entire day, and because I drank with her later, I felt more natural with her during the night. We strolled around Chinatown, and I had Chinese food for lunch for the first time in two weeks. It felt delicious and relieving. Chinese food to me is a drug; I get chills from not having it for a long time. Japan is the first place I went to in which Chinese food is deemed more expensive and rare than other food. Before leaving America, I never thought I would live to see the day that Chinese food can be anything other than cheap and delicious. In Japan, it was still delicious, but the price rolled my eyeballs out of their sockets.

In the afternoon, Tetuya, his girl friend, and I strolled around Yokohama and chatted. The day was cool and relaxing, and I had fun talking to the two of them. We saw an awesome street performance! Although I can testify that most of the tricks he showed are Chinese tricks and thus common in China, the man injected humor and interactions with the crowed to his performance. Even though I understood nothing that he said, he seemed sociable and fun. Because Tetuya knew when it was time for a new street show, we got front seats, and I witnessed his tricks from only 4-5 feet away. I took many pictures of this guy, and I felt like they could not capture the fun atmosphere of the show.

When night time came around, Tetuya took us to a local bar in the night neighborhood of Yokohama. We talked about life and played some games. The drinks there were weak, and so I felt great even after drinking two glasses of rum and coke. Two glasses of those in America would give anyone a buzz, but I felt only a little warmth from them last night. Before we knew it, it was getting late, and the girl had to go back to Tokyo. We escorted her to the train station, and Tetuya had to instruct her on how to get back home. She was mad at him in the beginning because he gave bad directions (or she thought that he gave bad directions), so Tetuya had to make sure this time around that she knew how to find her way home. After seeing her off, Tetuya and I came home, and once again, I rolled to sleep quickly because of the long and fun day.

Before I knew it, home stay was over and it is today, Sunday, and I had to get back to my apartment in Shinjuku. I slept today for 10 hours and woke up refreshed and feeling lazy. I once again enjoyed the cooked meal that is not a Vendo at Tetuya’s house before leaving for Shinjuku.

I will see Tetuya again in my stay in Japan. We had fun and came to see that we shared many commonalities. He also spoke English, and so I could communicate with him easily about abstract ideas. We talked and agreed that Mt. Fuji would be a good spot for our next adventures. Until then, Ciao!