Darcie and Hanabi in Japan!

こんにちは、みなさん！

Hello everyone! My name is Darcie Knight and I am a student at Seinan Gakuin University in Fukuoka Japan. Fukuoka is a large city located on the island of Kyushu, Japan's southern island. I am working hard trying to learn Japanese language and culture. My dragon has been learning along with me, her name is 花火 or Hanabi, which means firework in Japanese (it is actually my favorite Japanese word). 

Hanabi studying Japanese.  She is trying her best!

Living in Japan has been fun but it also has its difficulties. Fukuoka is a really good city to live in if you are a student. The cost of living is not as high as other places in Japan and transportation around the city is easy to navigate. There is plenty to see and do in just this one part of Japan. Once I become better at Japanese, I feel like Fukuoka would be a place I could live in again someday. Seinan is a great college to go to. I live in an international dorm with people from all over the world. I have made so many new friends from different countries who same similar passions about Japan. Classes here are also interesting. I take Japanese four times a week and also other cultural classes such as Japanese history, traditional theater and dance, and a class about manga and anime. I am even taking judo, which is super tough but also fun! 

I have managed to go on so many adventures since I came to Japan in January! My first big trip was to Tokyo during a break in February. Tokyo is so different from Fukuoka. It is bigger, more complex, and filled with a lot more people from all over the world, like New York City or Paris. I was overwhelmed with just how many people there! I went to many famous places in Tokyo. I saw the Tokyo sky tree and went to the largest fish markets in Japan (I think it's also one of the largest in the world) to eat real, fresh sushi. 

Sushi at Tsukiji fish market, Tokyo

I went to Akihabara twice, since it was one of my number one places to visit in Japan. I am a huge lover of Japanese anime, and Akihabara is the center for it, so I spent hours running around and collecting as much anime merchandise as possible (maybe even a little too much). I also went to Shibuya, which reminded me of Times Square, and visited the imperial palace. Tokyo was an interesting and a fun experience, however, I would never live in such a big and confusing city. I actually prefer Fukuoka. 

My next big adventure was a school trip my college organized for international students and Japanese students to explore the island of Kyushu. I loved this trip because I got to see more of the island that I live and study on. On the trip, we went to a pottery place out in the country and painted our own plates. We went to Yufuin in Oita prefecture, which was near the mountains, and visited the crowded tourist area near a popular lake. I ate ice-cream made from the local limes, which is one of the foods the area is known for, and saw a bakery that was a recreation of the bread shop in the movie Kiki's Delivery Service! We then stayed the night at a ryokan, a traditional Japanese inn, in Kumamoto. I got to wear a yukata and have a really amazing meal with everyone in a very Japanese setting.

Group photo of students from the Kyushu trip wearing yukata at a ryokan in Kumamoto

I also went to an onsen or hot spring for the first time. The onsen was my favorite part, it was surreal sitting in an outdoor spring looking up at mountains. The only thing was I had to be naked in front of a bunch of other women for the first time in my life, but I got over it since onsen is something you just have to experience when coming to Japan. The next day we went back to Oita prefecture and visited an historical town called Hita Mameda Machi, famous for being a government center during the edo period and for producing the Japanese dolls seen on Girls Day. While here, I somehow ended up on the news! I was interviewed while viewing an old exhibit of Japanese dolls, and later while eating lunch, I saw myself on TV for the first time! It was shocking. On the last part of the trip we went to Dazaifu, a famous shrine where people come to pray to do well in school and their studies. I hope being there helped me a little for my future studies in Japan. The Kyushu trip was a great memory for me, not only did I get to see more of the island but I bonded with the other international students and made new Japanese friends that also came on the trip. So far, it has been one of my favorite adventures here in Japan.

I have also been on trips within Fukuoka I went to an amusement park called Space World with some of my international and Japanese friends. It was fun experiencing a Japanese theme park, riding roller coasters (jet coasters in Japanese) and going on one of the biggest ferris wheels I have ever been on. At night there was an illumination light show, and everything lit up, including one of the coasters. It was a fun day trip. 

A super fun amusement park here in Fukuoka called Space World. The roller coaster in the back was the best ride there.

I have also been to Nanzoin Temple to see a giant bronze statue of the Buddha. It claims to be one of the biggest bronze statues in the world, and it certainly was huge! The temple grounds were up in the mountains, and there were many places to explore. I could also see that Shintoism, the native religion in Japan, was mixed in on the grounds as there were still many old shrine altars standing, perhaps before the Buddhist temple was built. Nanzoin Temple was beautiful and fun to explore, I suggest this place to anyone  coming to Fukuoka. 

Me posing with the giant bronze reclining Buddha at Nanzoin Temple.

I have done many other things in Fukuoka as well. I have walked in Ohori park, a really beautiful park surrounding a lake that includes such wonderful things as Starbucks and swan boats! I have been to a real Japanese festival at a shrine and got to eat food at stalls, such as candied fruit like strawberries and taiyaki, which is a fish shaped type pancake. I have played games with elementary students in two different schools, and just saying, Japanese students are adorable. I live a short walk away from the beach, so I have seen and touched the Sea of Japan. I went to a baseball game at Fukuoka dome, and watched the regional baseball team, the Soft Bank Seahawks, defeat Tokyo's Giants, in a game that did not remind me of American baseball at all. I occasionally stop at a doughnut shop nearby called Floresta, that sells character doughnuts. I have had several of the cutest animal shaped doughnuts ever created (this place is a must if you come to Seinan to study). I have been to two neko or cat cafes and one owl cafe. I have even been rock climbing with Japanese friends who have never had the challenge of scaling fake rocks before. Oh, and did I mention there is an official Pokémon center here in Fukuoka! And I have done all these things in the span of 3 months. It really blows my mind how much I have actually done since beginning school in January, and I still have a lot left to do!

Super cute seal doughnuts from Floresta doughnut shop

Owl cafe at Canal City, Fukuoka

One of the perks of living in Fukuoka is that there is an official Pokemon center at Hakata station. You do not have to travel to Tokyo for everything Pokemon.

Living in Japan isn't without its challenges. For one thing, it is a completely different culture from that of the United States, let alone North Carolina. It is not like UNCG, where I go to school with people from all over the US and sometimes all over the world, and I cannot tell who is from where. Japan is more of an homogenous society, which means if you are not Japanese, you stick out easily in the crowd. It took adusting to the idea that I may end up being the only foreigner around or that I may get stared at just because I am from a western country. Japanese is also a hard language to master. Even though I studied it before coming here, and I can read, write, and speak moderately well, I realized once I got here that I still had a long way to go before I could ever become confident in the language Sometimes something as simple as buying groceries or trying to send a postcard can be frustrating, but it is a learning process, and all a part of living in a country that is not my own. So I want to tell everyone who is coming or thinking of coming to Japan to not give up, even if it is tough at first, even if it is hard communicating with your loved ones who are 13 hours behind you and an ocean away, and even if you find it difficult when trying to purchase dinner somewhere, that in the end it all adds up into one amazing adventure that you will end up not trading for anything in the world. 

Fukuoka tower lit up at night with images of cherry blossoms!

So what is planned for me and little Hanabi next? Well, it is really close to cherry blossom or Sakura season, and that means seeing thousands of  trees bloom with an iconic image of Japan. I am also planning trips to Hiroshima, Bunny Island, and Kyoto, all before coming home in May. But until then, I hope everyone enjoyed reading about my life so far here in Fukuoka, Japan.

 またね！

 

P.S. When coming to Japan, it is a must to eat as many macha, or green tea, flavored items as you can find. Macha is one of my favorite flavors now!

Darcie Knight

Seinan Gakuin University

Fukuoka, Japan