Jayme Margolin

Japan
May 2004

New Days, New Experiences and Memories

Since my last update in February, I have taken advantage of Japan’s great location and visited places I never thought possible, including China, South Korea, and Okinawa (Japan).   My parents made their first trip to Japan to visit me and we did a lot of traveling around Honshu.  I got a good taste of Asia these past few months, literally – the food is amazing. 

I loved the opportunity to share the Japanese culture with my parents and express to them why I have fallen in love with this country.  I tried to give my parents a broad overview of life and culture in Japan.  (We covered the food differences very well!)  We also experienced temple lodging with early morning Buddhist services, futons and tatami mats; onsens; crowded public transportation with lots of train line changes; shrines and temples; gardens; fish markets; and much more.  We even went to the Sumo Wrestling Tournament in Osaka, which was an exceptional experience. We were traveling at the beginning of sakura (cherry blossom) season, and everything was beautiful.

Back in Sapporo, it is finally feeling a bit more like spring.  The snow is finally off the sidewalks so the bike is back out for the new season…I am very eagerly welcoming the warmer weather.  April was the start of the new semester at my university, so the campus has been covered with huge wooden signs advertising the different circles/clubs that line the main street of campus. 

I am still a member of two circles/clubs, basketball and shorinji kempo.  Practices have started again for the new semester and there have been a number of welcome parties.  I was able to visit the World Headquarters of Shorinji Kempo on Shikoku Island, where I learned all about this fighting style's history; I really hope to continue kempo back in the States.  I also have joined the whitewater kayaking/rafting club and this weekend will be my first adventure on the wild (and frigid) rivers of Hokkaido.   I am continuing with my tea ceremony lessons and learning a lot about the Zen-Buddhist philosophy. 

Socially, everything is great.  I finally passed the Japanese-foreigner boundary with members of my clubs—a huge accomplishment that I am very proud of, and it only took me seven months!   We have been spending more time together, and both my Japanese and their English are improving.  We learn so much from each other.  I also have a great "foreign" family here.... because we are all away from our real homes and families, we now have our own group here. This was evidenced on my birthday when I listened to “Happy Birthday” sung five times in five different languages.

I am still studying Japanese, and am pleased that the language is coming to me a lot more quickly and easily than during the first half of my grant; my parents’ trip helped me realize that my Japanese has improved a lot since arriving last September.  The first week of classes was a struggle, however, because all the attention was on the Japanese hostage situation - two of who are from Hokkaido.   Some of my friends knew the 18-year-old hostage and suddenly the world seemed like an even smaller place. 

My research is going well; a few weeks ago, I spent five days out at the volcano, where I was able to spend some of time taking good readings. The week was fully packed with meetings, leading locals on hikes around the volcano, looking for areas on the volcano to open new trails for tourists, and teaching a spring vacation school for children. 

At the school, I was teaching about volcanic ash.  We demonstrated how heavy ash can be, and we helped the students make microscope slides of the ash from the 1977 and 2000 eruptions of Usuzan, which they then examined.  They also made their own volcanoes, one out of ice cream and another out of pure chocolate.  Both the schools and the meetings were highly attended and very successful. 

Right now I have much to do in preparation for my presentation in Tokyo in two weeks.   I am not only working on my project, but also learning and practicing the formal Japanese way of giving presentations.  My data is very exciting—we have been having some more local, seismic tremors and the volcano's crater temperature has jumped back up.  This presentation has been my ultimate goal of my research this year.  After the conference, I would still like to do work in the local community around the volcano involving safety education. 

During these last couple of months, my town will be hosting several festivals.   I am really looking forward to not only watching, but also participating in some festivals.  With each new season, come new opportunities.  And with each new day, come new experiences and memories!