Tokyo, Japan: Becoming a Local
So far, the best way I’ve been meeting local people are through the daily conversation session we have with the Seijo University students. During the one hour conversation session, we have set questions that we answer. Normally, the questions consist of what we did the day before, and hypothetical situations in which we make up something to utilize the grammar points we have learned from the class that day. Other times, we can get a little off topic and talked more about what we’re interested in. If I connected with the student during the conversation session, then we would add each other on social media.
During this dialogue, we got the chance to partake in a homestay in which I got experience living in a Japanese house and experience the lifestyle. My host family isn’t very good with English, so it has been pretty challenging to explain difficult concepts. Common topics that we talk about are encompassed by how things are done in Japan versus America. For example, in my host family, there is a younger son that is in his senior year of high school, and is currently studying for his college entrance exams. We talked about the process of how a high school student in Japan would apply for college versus how students in America apply for college and what goes into it. With my not so great Japanese, and consulting the dictionary many times, I think they somewhat understand this concept.
The most interesting thing I’ve probably purchased on this trip so far is miso flavored seaweed. I’ve had normal seaweed before, but I’ve never had flavored seaweed. On another note, staying in a foreign country for a little over a month is hard to budget for. Most of the meals are not covered, and there’s also gifts and personal needs to budget for. Luckily, meals in Japan are fairly cheap and delicious (well, kind of depends where you go). For the most part, I think I’ve been doing alright in terms of spending. Although I would like to splurge on some souvenirs, I am saving most of my souvenir shopping for the end of the trip using the remaining money I have.
Adjusting to the Japanese currency wasn’t too bad. 100 yen is about $1.00, so converting the price to USD is simple. Japanese currency utilizes a lot of coins. For example, coins go up to 500 yen, which if converted is about $5.00. The other coins are 1 yen, 5 yen, 10 yen, 50 yen, and 100 yen. Bills start at 1000 yen (~$10.00), and I think can go up to 10000 yen (~$100.00). The bills are actually different in size in which the 1000 yen bill is shorter in width compared to the 10000 yen bill. I’m not sure why that is so.
