Hello again, I am very tired as I write this, but lots of adventuring has been done.\u00a0 On Sunday I rowed again with Ooe-san and Kubo-san and it was very awesome.\u00a0 I learned more about skulling with blades off the water and blade height in the water, and watched Ooe-san’s hands and tried to replicate his motions, which I did with some success.\u00a0 That is the Nihon-teki (Japanese way) of learning.\u00a0 Instead of listening to a lecture, watching and trying to replicate.\u00a0 Then we had a barbecue at Kai-san’s house which was great and I got to meet more host family people and have a fun time.\u00a0 Then on Wednesday we had an exchange with Kanazawa University and I traded my BeReal, Youtube channel, and LINE with people.\u00a0 Then on Friday we had a midterm which I don’t think I did well on, but probably did better than a 59%.\u00a0 After the midterm, we had an info session for internships in Ishikawa next year, working for a real company in Japan.\u00a0 There were some interesting companies represented, like Hokuriku Broadcasting, which puts on the television and radio shows that many people watch\/listen to, and a company that makes the machines that make clothes.\u00a0 I came out of the meeting more interested in these opportunities than I was when I entered it.\u00a0 After the meeting, 13 PII students (me included) went to Wakuraonsen and then took a bus to see the Abare festival which is a fire and violence festival on Noto Peninsula.\u00a0 It was pretty incredible.\u00a0 I will hopefully make a youtube video about it.\u00a0 Then we woke up very early to go to the onsen before going back to Kanazawa for Shakuhachi (Japanese bambook flute) and Sado (tea ceremony).\u00a0 The Shakuhachi was very cool and I was able to play some notes (I played flute in middle school).\u00a0 It has some good meditation music and the guy who taught us also said that in Japan they teach by having you watch them and then you try to replicate.\u00a0 That made me think about rowing.\u00a0 Then we had the tea ceremony and I did seiza (sitting on your shins with your heels up) for like an hour and lost feeling in my legs.\u00a0 My train ride back from Kanazawa was delayed, one of the few delayed trains in Japan I have ever witnessed.\u00a0 I think Japan places too high a priority on perfection.\u00a0 As a visitor it is great because the service is incredible, but as someone living in Japanese society, I feel that the idea that everyone is human and imperfect would help relax the strict nature of Japanese cultural expectations.\u00a0 Of course, this may be my bias from growing up in America.\u00a0 Onto next week!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Hello again, I am very tired as I write this, but lots of adventuring has been done.\u00a0 On Sunday I rowed again with Ooe-san and Kubo-san and it was very awesome.\u00a0 I learned more about skulling with blades off the … Continue reading