SUMMER HOLIDAYS AND A YEAR IN REVIEW

Hello guys! It has been a long time hasn’t it?

It is summer holidays for Hokkaido University right now and for many universities residing in the Northern Hemisphere. I had grand plans of hiking mountains throughout Japan and hitchhiking through the country back roads, hoping at the same time I did not look like a puddle in the humidity. However I am back in Australia after almost one year of being In Japan, and god it has been a year.

I flew to Japan last year on the 27th of August, equipped with my 2,000 yen ($23) travel backpack I had acquired back in 2014 in a Ueno alley smelling of fish where the bellows of fish monger drowned the crowds that never seemed to diminish no matter the hour.

During that one month I traveled along with a friend I met during my first visit to Japan and time working in a ski resort. Together we camped in the frosty summer of Mt.Fuji, our accommodation a rainbow palm tree print tent that I had brought from Kmart for 10 bucks. The next day we took on Mt.Fuji and lost, turning around as clouds dragged themselves across above us. We hitched a ride to the bottom of the mountain and ended up being treated to a visit to Kawaguchiko Music Forest before dropped off at an onsen where we would stay the night (however things did not go as planned and we actually slept at Gusto, a 24/7 family restaurant. I remember the table top being refreshing to my barbecued cheeks).

From Fuji we hitchhiked south, our sign scrawled with kanji reading ‘Kansai’ – our destination Kyoto and the home of another of our ski resort comrades. Hitchhiking isn’t very popular in Japan you will hear if ever you were to ask. However during the summer time we were very successful in finding rides and saw many students who, like us, held their signs patiently in front of their chests, smiling innocently (while mumbling curses at all the bastards that passed – or worse stared and laughed, slowed down and then still passed. Wankers).

There were many memorable rides, long and short – treats of ice cream, tours of towns and heritage locations, a boot full of crying puppies, life stories, fried pork, ice cream… We slept in dingy hotels in city centres (the ground level a beer and fried octopus bar) where the hallways were so narrow I can’t imagine fan of Mcdonalds could pass without becoming sandwiched between the walls. We slept at an internet café where the room was more luxurious than the hotel (also it came with all you could drink service and paid tv). Then there were the nights at a restaurant table, empty curry plate by your head snores of other people doing the same thing at the table across from you.

If anyone wants to really experience Japan I would say that hitchhiking is one of the most culturally enriching experiences you can have (and importantly, free!). You are not just a tourist checking the list in your Lonely Planet guide book – you’re immersing yourself in the culture, language and challenging yourself all at the same moment.

After a month of travel, it was hi ho hi ho to university I go.

That was scary.

I left school well over six years ago, and the idea of picking up the books after such a long escape into the ‘real’ world was slightly intimidating.

However I have really adjusted well and I am loving my studies. My university (Hokkaido University) being one of the top ten in the country means I am constantly surrounded by these intelligent beings that seem universes away from the girl who went to a high school with a farm and a penis on the office building roof (legit). It also means that I am greeted with admiring awe when I tell my university to Japanese, which almost convinces me I could be smart (then I remember my origins).

Through the MJSP (Modern Japanese Study Program) I endured six months of ‘intensive’ Japanese language classes. I guess I did manage to suck up a lot of grammar while hardly uttering a word of the language (the real learning is outside the class room, never forget that) but I guess that is it. Memorising grammatical patterns isn’t going to make you pera pera fluent no matter how hard you face plant your book and try eat all the grammatical correctness.

That first semester and the five days a week Japanese classes it encompassed should have been spent solely studying. Instead I worked every other day after class, reading stories to school kids in English until my throat felt like grass in an Australian summer. But I spoke Japanese with my co-teachers so life was great.

Now after successfully outlasting my first semester, my first winter (which really isn’t that bad guys, seriously. Ice skating to class is a privilege) I must say that the MJSP program gets better from that first 6 months. Suddenly you are in English classes and reading academic papers that you need a dictionary for more than the Japanese ones. But some classes can really open your eyes (while others make you want to slit your throat every week, MJSP students know which).

Outside of classes I have four jobs.

Yes.

I’m a bit of a work-a-holic but for more than the money (it is still important, don’t get me wrong) working to me is just an extension of the classroom. After my time doing a working holiday in Japan I can vouch for the language learning value of just getting out and working.

Two of my jobs are English related but the other two are not.

Working in Japan you have a lot of unspoken expectations to meet (and essential manner of speaking) but doing so you will gain a lot in return.

So there is my brief update. Now where from here?

I will head back to my home in the north and leave my home here in the south on Friday. The day I arrive I will quickly gather my belongings and ship them on the rear of my bicycle to my new home at a guest house run by the most amazing woman. Then perhaps I’ll climb a mountain, probably eat some curry and possibly go drink some Sapporo Classic (because you can’t get better beer than Sapporo Classic). Then it is back to school.

The challenges from now?

Always improve. Language, at my jobs, my class work.

Take more photographs, learn to film.

Also writing more, as it is always important to find time for the things you love and your friends (even when working four jobs).

I guess study?

A polaroid of me working at my wedding hall job.