Happy birthday to me! and my dad! and my Japanese teacher!

Yes, we all share the same birthday date! Along with Natalie Portman, Johnny Depp, Michael J. Fox... neat, right? I'm turning 21! My dad is turning... I won't say. And my teacher... I don't know...

But first of all, I want to wish Happy Birthday to my dad. He can be strict at times, and unflexible at others, but I know I can count on him 100%. Since we were kids, he's been our main chauffeur, driving hours each day to Beausejour, Steinbach, and Winnipeg. He does the laundry every day, even after we come back late from judo practice. Now that I have to do my own laundry, I can appreciate what he does. He's helped me with my university assignments and now helps me with my Japanese assignments. And he's the main reason I'm in Japan right now. Thanks to his careful planning and organization, I'm studying and training in Japan, the experience of a lifetime. So thank you Dad, and Happy Birthday!

My dad in front of the baseball field in Tokai University

I thought celebrating a birthday away from home and close friends would be quite lonely. And yes, I would really like to be at home right now, eating a delicious meal and cake my mom would have prepared and opening presents. But, the reality of it is, I'm in Japan. I thought my birthday would go unnoticed because people here don't know when my birthday is. But, this birthday is turning out to be probably one of the best ones I've had. : )

To start, yesterday, at school I received a surprise birthday card and present. Because my teacher's birthday is today as well, I had made a card and was passing it around for everyone to sign. Just before lunch, I handed the signed card to her. Then all of a sudden, everyone starts singing Happy Birthday... not to my teacher but to me! Then, they placed a ring of stapled maple cookie bags on my head. My teacher had bought some maple cookies because well, I'm Canadian : P I was so surprised! All morning, I was trying to get the card for my teacher signed. And I didn't expect to receive a card because my birthday falls on a Saturday. A few weeks ago, we signed a card for another classmate but her birthday fell on a Thursday. So because there's no school on Saturday, I never expected a birthday card. Which made it an even better surprise. I really had no clue.

My beautiful maple cookie hat

My Japanese teacher with the same birthday: holding her card in the front row (first from left)



The birthday card I received from my class



Signatures and little messages from my classmates and teachers

Then, this morning, I wake up to find this beautiful banner made by my roommate Anzu draped to the curtain in our room.

It says: Happy Birthday (in French)

And on my desk, a nice letter with a present: earrings with a moonstone, the stone for the month of June.

After that, I skyped my mom and dad so they could wish me Happy Birthday and I could wish the same to my father. And their present for me, is a brand new laptop, with the latest software already installed. But the only catch is that I don't get to use it for another 3-4 months... lol I've been using this small netbook computer for almost 3 years now, since I started university. It's great because it's lightweight and compact, so it's easy to carry around in my backpack. But the screen is quite small, I often have to scroll sideways to see full webpages, and I can't insert DVDs or CDs. So I've been thinking of getting a laptop once I got back home. But now, there's one waiting for me : )

I also received a nice present from Japan: the rainy season (tsuyu) has officially started in the East region of Japan. From today, until about the 20th of July I'm told, it's going to be raining A LOT. Thank you Japan!

Finally, tonight, I went to eat supper at the Iwasa's home. As previously mentioned, my dad met the Iwasa's during his years at the International Chrsitian University. They've taken me under their wing and make sure I have everything I need.

Tonight, all their three boys were there to celebrate with me, Kenzo, Yoshiki and Daisuke. We shared a great meal of pizza, katsukare (my dad is probably going to be jealous), some miso soup, some vegetables, some jelly with fruit, and a piece of cake. And I've probably forgotten a couple of things because the table was full of food, like always.

With Shigenori, Yoshiki and Reiko

I received some beautiful embroided towels from them as well. They guessed right about the colors. I'm all about bright colors. The green characters are my name, Sayuri. That's something you can't get done in Canada, at least not in Japanese ; )

The day has finally come to an end. It's been a great day. I've had multiple birthdays: with my class, with my roommate, my family, and the Iwasa's. Thank you everyone, thanks to you, this has been one of the best birthdays I've had. : D Now, I think it's time to go to bed... Coming up tomorrow: I'm going to see another Kabuki with my aunt. Good night! And happy birthday to everyone born on June 9th!

Being prepared

... in Japan means mainly one thing: carrying an umbrella with you at all times. You never know when it's going to rain.

In Canada, before leaving for university, my dad would remind me to bring an umbrella with me if it was supposed to rain that day. I used to find his precautiousness a bit excessive at times. "Yeah, yeah" I'd often think to myself. For me, it wasn't such a great deal if I got rained on a bit. I usually spent my days sheltered from the rain (in university, riding in the bus or in the car with my dad) anyways so an umbrella wasn't of much use.

But now, being in Japan, it's something I almost always carry with me. If it's raining extremely hard, I can be completely drenched by the time I get home (a 5 min bike ride from school). I've also been told that the worst month is June. It rains excessively that month. I'm crossing my fingers that it doesn't rain on the 9th... my birthday.

Annual precipitation in Japan ranges between 1200 and 4000 mm, depending where you're located. And in Japanese, there are so many different words and expressions to describe the rain, which shows how geographic location helps to shape the inhabitants' language. For example, here are three different degrees (or stages if you like) of downpour: (The answers are taking from the Japan Forum, they were so poetic that I didn't want to rephrase them in my own words)

Potsu-potsu : the dripping sound and appearance of scattered drops of rain falling, such as when it begins to rain.

Shito-shito : the sound of the long, steady rains that fall all day; continuous, fine precipitation almost without sound. A cloaking, enveloping quiet rain.

Zaa-zaa : Rain that beats down with a fierce pounding sound. Downpour.

TY - FUN!!!

I lied in my post yesterday. I couldn't have had a real first taste of the rain because I was inside the whole time. Today, I can now say that I experienced my first real downpour. Right now in Japan, there's a typhoon passing through and it decided to come pay us a visit. How nice of it ; ) I don't think we're in the worst of it but it's awful enough. The rain is coming down hard and the trees are rattling like crazy in the wind and against the windows of the residence. Classes for regular students were cancelled today. Us international students still had to have our interviews and attend campus orientation. After orientation, both my friend Zara and I really needed to go to the supermarket to get certain items so we braved the wind and rain and walked to the supermarket, about a 20 min walk from the campus. We made it back to the dorm but we paid the price. We were both drenched from head to toe, even though we both carried umbrellas.

I bought a see-through umbrella today. If you're not sure what that means, it's an umbrella with a sort of plastic material (instead of the usual thin fabric) through which you can see. Walking back from the supermarket, I discovered why so many Japanese have this kind of umbrella. I always wanted to buy one simply for its esthetic value. I find them chic-looking. But now I see they also serve a more practical purpose. They allow you to hold the umbrella low over your head and still see where you're walking because you can see through the plastic. Neat, huh? : p

** Edit: Apparently I already liked see-through umbrellas as a child. Here is a photo my mom found of my dad and me in Japan when I was just a baby.

I was supposed to have my first judo practice today... but it was cancelled because of the current weather conditions. Which I don't mind today. All the walking in the wind and rain and wearing soaked clothes all day tired me out. I'd rather be a bit more rested before I take part in my first judo practice here.

So instead, I'll spend a quiet evening: cook supper, draw a bit, read and study a bit of Japanese. My roommate and I have started exchanging favorite artists and songs. She seems to like Céline Dion, Bruno Mars and The Carpenters. She's also given  me a couple artists that are popular now in Japan that I will check out when I get the chance.

Japanese placement test, Entrance Ceremony and more papers

Today we had a Japanese placement test to evaluate our knowledge of the language. This will determine in which level we'll be placed. I definitely know I'll be in the lower levels. I probably could and should have studied more during the summer but I'm not really worried. I will be placed at the level where they think I ought to be. And it's pretty flexible. If I feel the class is too easy, I can ask to be bumped up.

The test started out easy... with simple listening and writing words... then we had to listen to short dialogues and answer questions... It got to the point where I couldn't really make out much of what was being said. Then we had to fill out a hiragana chart which was the easy part. Finally, we had some particles to insert in sentences and verb conjugations. In all my academic history, this is probably the worst I've done on a test. But like I said, I don't mind in which level I'll be placed. No matter what level, I'm going to study hard.

We had an entrance ceremony in the afternoon. A few speeches, a few songs played by the university's band, a bit of dozing off, and it was over. Then, along with my mother in Japan, Reiko, and two other international students, Mari and Zara, we headed to the city hall to obtain our foreign registration cards. I don't know what we would have done without Reiko. The Japanese really do not make things easy for us gaikokujin (foreigners). The people working there speak very little English, even at the service desk for Non-Japanese. Once there, we found out about another form we should also fill out for health insurance. I just hope I didn't miss anything important. Most of the time, the only parts I understand as they're explaining things about the documents is when they ask me to please be seated and wait patiently. I'm pretty good at that ; )

Also, while at the city hall, I bought my family's hanko, which is a stamp with our family's kanji. It's used here in Japan, instead of signatures sometimes.

Posing with Zara (Denmark) and Mari (Finland)

Lunch at the cafeteria

I love the fashion here. Lots of cute patterns and colors. However, there is one thing I do not get about their fashion style: the dangerously high heels they wear. The majority of women walk around all day in high heels, even on campus where you have to walk 10-15 minutes to get anywhere. I asked my mother today why that is. She answered that most women here choose appearance over comfort. I intend to buy some Japanese clothes and shoes here, even some heels, but you won't be seeing me walking around campus in them, that's for sure. My feet already hurt all over from walking all day. And I've been walking in runners and sandals. Plus I don't need to injure myself outside the judo tatami mats. Judo is already dangerous as it is.

Had my first taste of the rain here. It rained a few times today. Currently raining now as I type. It's refreshing after the 30+ degrees we've been having these past few days. The air conditioner deserves a little break now and then too : p