Japanese hosts

      Recently I went to Shinsaibashi, in Osaka, Japan and I came upon what are known as 'hosts.' In Shinsaibashi, one of the most famous places for hosts, you can look around and see them and their clubs everywhere. To elaborate further, a host is a male that works at a club to entertain women. They serve drinks to women, sit and have conversations with them, and try to make the woman fall in love with them. Hosts are not prostitutes although if the pay and the customer is right, they probably would consider it. Their jobs are basically to make women feel happy and loved. They are male servants basically. Do not get the wrong image though and think that these guys are trashy as they are some of the richest men in Japan, if they have a lot of  customers. They can make thousands of dollars in a matter of weeks.
       When walking around Shinsaibashi, it is not hard to find or spot these men. They usually stand on the famous bridge of Shinsaibashi, and they wear rather distinct outfits. Their hair, usually very spiky and stylized. There shoes very long and pointy. Almost, elven quality shoes. Their attire, usually a black suit or very dark clothes and jeans with lots of expensive bling bling. Usually you will see them with sunglasses on and smoking a cigarette. You can only find them in the night though, as they do work at a night time club. As required by Japanese law now though, they are supposed to shut down between 12 midnight and 2 AM, but I am fairly certain, you could get into one of these clubs later than that.

       Now, I have never been in a Host Club, as I cannot speak Japanese that well and because it would just be way to expensive, and embarrassing. I have though found I delightful documentary on the life of a Host bar owner. The documentary is called: The Great Happiness Space: A Tale of an Osaka Love Thief. I would seriously recommend this video who is interested in learning about what really goes on in these clubs and what the lifestyle of a Host is. I have watched it twice already in the last month, because it fascinates me so much! Other than this video, there is no real other way to know how these men opperate unless you go into  the club. If you don't want to go in or can't afford it though and you are in Japan. I suggest you should at least go check out what these guys look like. It is a unique aspect of Japanese culture in itself.

A few comments on Food in Japan

       Ok, so we all know that Japanese food is great! Or at least the kind we can get back in our home countries, and let me tell you it CAN be pretty delicious, but there are some weird traits of Japanese eating habits I would like to point out.
       First off, let me start by talking about presents to bring your host parents when you come to Japan. You should always bring them a present even if you are only staying a week, because it is common courtesy here. But let me give you a few warnings! When I came to Japan, I brought my host parents some home made jellies and butters along with some maple syrup, a rare and expensive thing in its own. I thought these would be great gifts because they really represented the type of town I came from and what good-old farm America is like. I was wrong though. My host family doesn't really like sweets, so instead of eating it for themselves, they give it back to me to eat and rarely touch the stuff. It was such a loss. So before you buy your host family, food or even coffee, send them an email asking what kind of food they like. It could really save you some money.
       Sweets are a very common thing in Japan though, although I tend to find them not as sweet as what I am used to. Japanese people tend to like salty things better, as they prefer dark bitter chocolate over milk, etc. Even the doughnuts, have barely any sugar in them. If you have a sweet tooth in Japan, my advice is to buy a little box of sweets for yourself, or get some ice cream, as ice cream seems to be a number one treat around here, especially the decadent parfaits you can get.

       As for main dishes of japanese cuisine, don't be surprised if you receive really small portions or a lot of vegetables with your meal. Sometimes, vegetables and rice is the only thing I get in my meal, which is when I get meat deprived. If you are a vegetarian, you might like this aspect of japan. They love to eat their vegies! But one thing I noticed is that they rarely eat them plain. There is always some sort of dressing or mayonnaise on top of it. They sometimes put so much on  that it ruins the purpose of eating a health vegetable in the first place. Commenting more on the mayo, if you come to japan, you will find that Mayo to the Japanese is like Ketchup to Americans. They put it on almost everything and eat lots of it. I have seen food with the top completely covered in mayonnaise before. To me, it is just disgusting and is even worse for your health than eating a lot of ketchup! This interesting fact is something I never knew about Japan before I came here. I couldn't possibly imagine how common using mayo is.

As for fruit, you may know that the apples are huge, the pears delicious, etc. But did you know that they don't eat the skin on grapes? They consider it dirty and bitter, so they will spend hours peeling off the skin on all the grapes before they eat them. I personally don't mind the skin, so I pop them in my mouth and finish my portion way before everyone else. Also, I want to comment on Apple Juice. Apples in Japan may be different, but I personally think the apple juice tastes completely artificial. To me, there is not one ounce in the juice that comes from a real apple. I am unsure though, as I have yet to read the box.

As my mind was wondering as to what else to type about, I remembered the problem I have with milk here. It is not that it tastes different or anything. My problem is really with the way my host mother abuses milk. Let me tell you, I have seen that milk carton sit out overnight and then get put back in the fridge the next day for someone to drink!! To me this is a big EWWW! You would think it would get spoiled! This has happened in my household more than once! I just can't even imagine if it is a cultural thing not to waste milk or if my family is just forgetful, but I can just say that I will never drink milk in this household.

Now, If you are planning to study abroad in japan and live in a Host Families house, let me warn you that many households don't have ovens. They only use special microwaves to cook food. So if you were planning on cooking your own food, you can cut out the cookies, pies, pizza, or anything else that is larger than a microwave and needs an oven size.

Fashion in Japan

            I here a lot about Fashion in Japan almost everyday. Whether it is from my sister back in the U.S., who thinks Japanese fashion is worth buying into and who tells me to buy here things even though she may be coming to visit me herself. Or whether it is from my friends who, walking to class everyday, comment on the dedication all the girls have here to fashion. Let me tell you, their fashion dedication is impressive, and they sure do pay the high prices for it, but whether the Japanese sense of fashion is 'fashion-forward' or modern, I would disagree with that.

             Tokyo is indeed one of the fashion capitals of the world, but it is also one of the biggest cities in the world, and one of the original biggest cities to emerge in East Asia. My personal belief is that because of the Japanese quick rise in the global economy, that many Asian designers traveled here to make their start. It is not in any sense what I would call everyday Japanese fashion. There are a few exceptions to this though as there are girls and boys who take fashion to the extreme in Japan, and stand out, like lolita dresses or harajuku girls who wear outrageous colors.  I am here not to talk to you today about those fashion statements that can be found in the extreme, but am here to talk about the fashion I see most girls living in Osaka wear on a daily basis. To me it can be described as a very colonial, modern fashion.

          It seems to me that young, college girl fashion is very girly, yet very conservative at the same time. Most clothes seem to be in the blacks, beige, brown, and dark blue range of colors. Very rarely will you see a girl walking around in bright colors that really stand out. Starting down at the bottom, most of the shoes I see young women wearing are a pair of brown high heels. They are never anything too fancy, and like I said earlier, they look almost colonial. You will rarely see a Japanese girl NOT wearing high heels, especially if they are a shorter girl. As for the older generation of women, I often see black rocking shoes. You know the ones that have a curved bottom so that you can rock back and forth on them. They are supposedly good for exercise.
            Moving up the body, most women wear skirts and shorts with either panty-hoes on underneath or really high socks. You hardly ever see a lot of leg on a woman, as the Japanese are very conservative. Just like you will never see cleavage either. If you are a foreigner in Japan, you should be aware of this conservatism and try to cover up your body more; no spaghetti straps, or low cut shirts please. For the shorts girls wear, some are jeans and others plain colors, but another popular kind is a very girly, loose fitting short, that has a wavy-heart design cut into the bottom. As for the skirts they are usually very flowery with lace or some sort of knitting on them. Once again, very girly and completely not my style.
           Shirts are very hard to explain as there are many kind, but Japanese tend to layer a lot so there will often be a long sleeve shirt underneath a baggy, girly and almost poncho like, plain shirt. Even in the summer, you can find girls wearing these types of clothes because they are very cautious about protecting their skin from the sun. Many times, when it is sunny, you will see every woman, young or old, caring an umbrella over their head to protect them from the sun. As for hairstyles, women mostly keep their hair down or tied back with a feminine scrunchy. A good website I found to show you the image of what daily Japanese fashion looks like is www.fashioninjapan.com Check it out sometime and see if I am right.

            My last comment about Japanese fashion is that it is very French influenced. Believe it or not, french culture is the culture that I see the most of in Japan, besides of course Japanese. They love french culture here and are inspired by it. That is why I feel as if their fashion, is a very colonial, french fashion. It doesn't stand out at all in the crowd, but when examining it further, you can see the detail and hard work girls take in putting together their outfit. And let me tell you, they are trained to match clothes very young, as most of the mothers and older women, are just as fashion forward as their children. I personally believe that these older woman should tone it down a little, but fashion is very important here in Japan. Almost an obsession, and you will find aspects of it everywhere you go. Warning to the wise though! Clothing and Accessories in Japan are VERY Expensive. If you are coming from the U.S., don't be surprised to find some $50 shirts in even the cheapest stores! My advice, don't buy into the fashion in Japan much and save your money for better things!

Homesickness is not easy

Starting off my first few days in Japan has been hard. The plane ride over from the US was full of "sighs" and dismay. I had been traveling all summer in Korea and I wasn't ready to leave home, travel more, and start school. I just felt really tired and I wanted to go home. Nevertheless, I had paid a lot of money to get here to Japan, and I wasn't about to waste the opportunity.
     On the plane ride here, I had already met up with some people that were going to my school as well. That was nice, especially because one of my biggest fears about traveling abroad is getting there, not making any friends, and being stuck inside the house all day because there is nobody to go out with you. That doesn't appear to be my case this time, though.
     Off the plane, the first thing that I noticed was the heat. It was incredibly hot outside and I was in sweatpants and a hoodie because I always seem to get cold on the plane ride over. Outside though was just unbearable. Even today, I came home with sweat dripping down my back, my face was all runny, my hair was disgusting, and it was awful. I had to change right away. One thing I didn't know before arriving here was that I would be entering in the hottest months of the year (August-September). It really is unbearable, and one of the first things I need to buy at the store is a sun umbrella. I cannot wait for October, a cool month, to roll around.
      Arriving at my homestay, I was pleasantly surprised. My family owned there own house, which is incredibly expensive to do so in Japan, and I had a fairly large room. I am quite comfortable here. My host-family too are the nicest people. When I first met my little brother, he hid from me. Even today he is a bit shy, which is good because I tend to be on the quieter side myself. I'm also happy because my host parents speak a little English. Let me just say right now, I am terrible at speaking Japanese so the first few days were rough. Luckily, their English helped me a lot. I am very grateful. To tell a little more about my family: The mother is a stay-at-home mom who is currently studying for a new job. The father seems to work at some sort of tech business, making a decent amount of money, and he works very long hours. That is one thing I have noticed about Japan; The fathers seem to work very long hours, into very late in the night, and as a student, you rarely see them unless it is the weekend. I truly wonder how my host-mother survives with her husband working so long. They hardly get to see each other, which makes me a little sad because I miss my own boyfriend as well. That is one thing that you need to be strong about when studying abroad though. As long as you trust and remain confident in your relationship, you can get through anything. I know my boyfriend and I remind each other every day to "Be Strong, for [each other]." It is something I am trying to work on everyday. That is why my topic for this post is homesickness.
     As a student who has been abroad before, I know the toll the homesickness can have at you. Whether you are really excited to be in another country and don't care about being at home or whether you think about it everyday, homesickness will, no matter what, hit you at some point in time during your travels. You may miss your home countries food, or your friends or loved ones, even your pets. Sometimes, you may feel like you miss something so much that you don't care and just want to go home, but I am telling you now try not to think like that. I know it is hard, but try to enjoy your trip as much as possible, and think about the good things you are experiencing. Even if that isn't enough, you can do positive things with beloved ones back at home that will help you enjoy your time abroad. My suggestion is to get skype and to video call home often. This will not only make you feel better, but the ones at home to. It is very important to keep a strong connection. Another thing you can do is to play online games with your beloved ones at home. My boyfriend and I do this and skype at the same time, so we can really enjoy our game together.
     If you get depressed though at any time during your stay, it is important to talk to someone about it. I know you really want to enjoy your time abroad and others want you to as well, so talking to someone can help you gain a more positive attitude on how living abroad can be. It is important to know that being positive and going out and enjoying your trip really will make time go faster. So if you are looking to go home quickly, enjoying your trip as much as possible is the way to do so. Sooner than you know it, you will be back at home reflecting on your trip and wishing you were abroad again. So good luck! I know I need to take some of my own advice as well, since I miss my boyfriend terribly but I know I can do it and so can you!

Greeting

Hey guys! My name is McKenna and I want to invite you all to enjoy and comment on my blog about living in Japan. I am a 3rd year, Japanese major, although I still consider Japanese to be very difficult. In Japan, I will be living with a host family, two parents (both 35) and a younger brother (4), and I will be attending Kwansei Gakuin University. Before I begin writing this blog though, I want to mention why I am doing so. Well.. I received the Freeman-Asia scholarship to attend class in Japan, and as a project I decided to blog and take video and pictures of my time here in Japan to inform you of what it is like. I hope you will enjoy these as writing a blog is very time consuming, and I would much rather be out and about exploring rather than sitting on my computer all day. I will try to make my writings interesting and hopefully amusing to, as I will probably make many mistakes here in Japan. It is my first time in Japan so wish me good-luck!!