Sherapova’s blog

Yeah, yeah, so I'm not in Japan just yet, but at the rate I'm making money this summer (which is not at all right now) I'm going to have to swim to Japan.  So, while my attempts to find a job in this depressed market are not going so well, I just will have to resort to wheedling.

I will be chronicling my adventures, complete with pictures, on this blog during the course of my stay.  If what you read and see interests you, my dear audience, then perhaps you can find it in your hearts to click on the link in the sidebar labeled "JDE Fund" and give a little donation.  Please don't let me starve. My brother thinks I'm too skinny already.  (Don't worry, I won't actually starve.)

This is not a scam.  Since I'm not so great at technical things (like writing code), I am having a friend WHOM I TRUST, handle setting up a PayPal account for donations.  And, no, he's not a Nigerian prince or whoever who wants you to help him find his family fortune for a low payment of...anyway.  So, please donate, so I don't have to spend my year abroad worrying about making ends meet instead of making new friends.

And for those of you who have been wondering all this time, JDE stands for "Japan is Damn Expensive."  It really is. Movie: 1500 yen, with student discount.  Or, something more essential, deodorant: 600-1000 yen. 

TSUZUKU

So, the semester is ending, and it has been an...interesting 2 years at this institution far north of my sunny, humid hometown.  In September I will be traveling to Japan as part of a study abroad program.  I intend to chronicle my adventures here.  Although my departure is still a summer away, I feel like my journey has already, so I'd like to write a prologue, so please bear with me.

I dedicated this evening to spending time with a particular group of my friends I made shortly after coming to college.  They are upperclassmen (and a PhD student) who will have graduated and probably left the institution by the time I come back for my own senior year.  the exception being the two crazy pre-meds who may go to med school here, but I doubt they will have time to hang out with me as med students.  The realization that I may never see these people again (although I hope that some day I will!), even though I may keep in touch through the internet and phone, hit me rather hard earlier this week.  In fact, it felt like a fist to the solar plexus this evening when the PhD student told me he would be graduating as early as September and definitely before I come back.  I really had thought it would be longer before he finished his degree.  Even the friends in my hometown and those at college who will not yet have graduated will be far away and change without my knowledge while I am gone.

On the upside, in Japan I will get a great opportunity to make new friends.  I have wanted to travel to Japan since high school, if not before then, which is part of why I chose a college out of state.  I wanted to test myself to make sure I could function and form friendships in a new environment with limited contact with people I already know.  Having survived the past 2 years, I'm sure I'll be alright come next school year.  But parting with my friends today brought to the forefront of my mind a thought that loiters in the back occasionally whenever I think about going to Japan.  When it comes time to return to the US, I will have to undergo the same parting with my new Japanese friends that I'm doing with my college friends now, and with less of a chance of seeing any of them any time soon.

Well, this is a rather depressing way to start a chronicle.  I have to admit that I am nervous, and a little scared about the next school year, and saying goodbye to people (and thus things that are familiar to me) is bringing all my fear to the forefront of my mind. 

That said, this is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity that I have been working towards for quite a while, and even though I'm nervous I'm also excited and can hardly wait to experience first hand the Japanese culture that I have dedicated most of my time in college studying. 

All that said, one way or another, I'm sure I'll be alright.

KITTO TSUZUKU

I recently received and award in recognition for my participation in study abroad next year.  The award came with some money to help pay for travel expenses, which was a pleasant surprise, especially since I did not know I was going to receive an award until a day before the ceremony, which I was not even able to attend because I had an exam. 

More importantly, my brother is graduating college this weekend! (yay!)

Due to finals, I unfortunately I cannot attend that ceremony either.  This has me thinking about ceremonies in general.  I have never had much interest in them.  I did not even want to go to my own high school graduation.  Most of the ceremonies I have been involved in have been academic in nature and recognition of accomplishment.  I understand the sentiment behind such things, and awards can be beneficial for academic and career advancement, I could do without the pomp and circumstance.  I think that academic ceremonies are more for the institutions than the students.  It is a chance for them to say, "look at what kind of wonderful students we produce!" I always feel like I'm being put on display at those ceremonies.  I don't care how many people know that I am getting an award or am graduating, just as long as the right people know, who are usually not the people who are at the ceremony.

So, to sum up my above ramblings, I don't like ceremonies and I think they are frivolous.

TSUZUKU

It's been a little while since I've posted, but school will do that to a person.  There has yet to be a weekend in April that did not have an event going on.  Just yesterday I was volunteering at a kung fu tournament.  Our organization's karate tournaments are run much better, hands down.  Beyond that I have 6 papers (3 new, 3 revised) and a presentation to turn in within the next 2 weeks.  One paper is already revised, one of the new ones is due tomorrow and the presentation is due Tuesday, so by Wednesday my workload is cut by a third, which is good.  I'm not intending to complain, just letting everyone know how I am, i.e. busy.

Anyway, the point of this is, my presentation is for my Japanese pop culture class and I am going to explain karate's general history and technique, with a short kata demonstration.  In the process for my research for this project, I came across a slim tomb titled, The Twenty Guiding Principles of Karate by Ginchin Funakoshi, well-known founder of Shotokan-ryu.  The book gives 20 principles created by Funakoshi and explanations of each by Genwa Nakasone, translated into English.  So I thought I would share what Funakoshi's guiding principles are:

1. "Do not forget that karate-do begins and ends with rei [respect]."
2. "There is no first strike in karate."
3. "Karate stands on the side of justice."
4. "First know yourself, then know others."
5. "Mentality over technique."
6. "The mind must be set free."
7. "Calamity springs from carelessness."
8. "Karate goes beyond the dojo."
9. "Karate is a lifelong pursuit."
10. "Apply the way of karate to all things.  Therein lies its beauty."
11. "Karate is like boiling water: without heat, it returns to its tepid state."
12. "Do not think of winning.  Think, rather, of not losing."
13. "Make adjustments according to your opponent."
14. "The outcome of a battle depends on how one handles emptiness and fullness (weakness and strength)."
15. "Think of the opponent's hands and feet as swords"
16. "When you step beyond your gate, you face a million enemies."
17. "Kamae (ready stance) is for beginners; later, one stands in shizentai (natural stance)."
18. "Perform kata exactly; actual combat is another matter."
19. "Do not forget the employment or withdrawal of power, the extension or contraction of the body, the swift or leisurely application of technique."
20. "Be constantly mindful, diligent, and resourceful in your pursuit of the Way."

It is an interesting and useful book.  I would recommend reading it if you have the chance.

Please note that I did not make up this test, did not make up its answers, and everyone should feel free to disagree with the meanings if they think it's a load of bunk.

1. The grove is associated with masculinity; the forest is associated with femininity.

2. The height of the fence correlates with your sense of pride.

3. The number of chairs correlates to your ideal family size.

4. The first person is someone you consider convenient.

5. The person on the bridge is a "destined person" i.e. someone who is highly involved in your life.  According to my Japanese professor, a common answer to this is a significant other.  (This is probably a Japanese psychology test.)

6. The number of trees is equal to the number of enemies you have.

7. The beggar is someone that you respect a lot.

Some of these answers makes sense to me, some no so much.  But overall I think the test is rather fun.

In my Japanese class we sometimes get to do fun things other than follow the book's curriculum.  The following is a "psychology test" (it has nothing to do with if someone is crazy or not) we took verbally in class the other day.

1.  You are walking along a road and come to a fork in the road.  On one side is a forest, and on the other is a grove (right and left do not matter.)  Which fork do you take?

2.  Walking down the road that you chose, you come to a house surrounded by a fence.  How high is the fence?

3.  The gate is unlocked and you go in.  You walk up to the house (no one appears to be home) and look in one of the windows.  On the other side is the dining room/kitchen with a table.  How many chairs are at the table?

4.  Leaving the house behind, you wander around, but get lost.  You see someone coming who can give you directions.  It happens to be someone you know.  Who is it?

5.  You know which way to go again and come to a bridge.  On the other side of the bridge coming towards you is another person you know.  Who is it?

6.  Once you have cross the bridge, you see tree(s).  How many are there? (one to infinity)

7.  Continuing on your way, you see a beggar.  Upon closer inspection, you realize that this too is a person that you know.  Who is it?

Just answer the questions with whatever is the first thing to come to mind.  I'll post explanations for what each answer means later.  I want to see what kind of answers you all come up with, so please respond.

TSUZUKU

Picture 8

A picture is worth a thousand, words, so all I have to say is, damn, that's a lot of snow out there.  On the down side ti's Spring Break, so the only thing that the snow canceled was my flight out of here.