I remember sorting out the trash to Burnable and Non-burnable. Burnable is food, paper, stuffed animal, clothes, leaves, bones, bag, shoes…and also plastics that cannot be cleaned easily or has a strong smell after rinsing it has to be thrown away as burnable. Non-burnable is Styrofoam and soft plastics such as plastic wrap, drink label. Food container such as cups for yogurt, noodles have to be washed before throwing away. They have separate recycle box for plastic bottles and cans. I know that Japanese government concerns a lot about recycling which is a very good way of saving energy. I rarely see trash can on the street in Japan and even in Taiwan. But the roads are so clean amazingly! I think that people usually keep trash in their bags before getting rid of them in the right place.
After the orientation and welcome ceremony with all JCMU staff, students and representatives from all public Michigan universities, we had a tour around the campus guided by JCMU students. I was so excited to learn Japanese! The class was tough and it requires a fast reflex. Almost all of us were nervous and struggle a little at the beginning.
I think Japanese is very difficult to learn as all the scripted languages. Its character is similar to Chinese due to cultural diffusion, but the pronunciation is a little bit different. Japanese people pronounce their words with strong emphasis at the end of the sentence, which sometimes make me feel like they are yelling at me. I did not know that Japanese has a dozen of different dialects. My Japanese friend told me that the main distinction in Japanese accents is between Tokyo-type and Kyoto-Osaka-type, but I can’t really distinguish. Japanese vowels are pure, but compressed instead of rounded. I notice that Japanese people sometimes speak very fast.
Each of us was given a bike and a helmet to ride around the city when staying at JCMU. To be honest, I was not confident when riding a bike outside on the street, that’s why I went on a cab with Ellina, Levi and his baby to downtown Hikone to have lunch and do some grocery shopping. Kevin – JCMU student took us to a ramen noodle shop to try. The ramen was great!
In the afternoon, we attended the welcome concert and reception by a famous Japanese pianist and a trumpeter. They brought us a nice rhythm through popular songs such as the rhapsody in blue, my way, deep river, beagles holiday, musashi’s theme…and biwako shukoka, this is the theme song for Shiga prefecture and everybody knows how to sing it.
In the reception, I had a chance to meet and talk to the artist to created a beautiful sculpture of a girl placed at JCMU.
After that, my friends and I walked around lake Biwa and two of the Japanese students who live there made us some “Okonomiyaki” and they are really delicious!
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