Kyoto under snow

This is a post where a picture is worth a thousand words. Some pictures taken during various days on which it snowed in Kyoto.

A new way of drawing a bike on the floor



Kyoto University Clock Tower and cinnamomun camphor tree


Toufukuji



Kinkakuji



Kinkakuji


Tengu statue in Kurama



Part of Kurama-dera



Kiyomizudera

Also, one hint I got from Kazu when we were discussing Kinkakuji. Do temples and concerts go well together? After seeing this performance at Kinkakuji, definitely! I wanna see that sort of event, but it seems really high-profile (just check the number of people watching).

Half-breed!?

One of my first lessons in Japan: I'm Brazilian, not Japanese.

And I'm not talking in nationalist terms. It's on the sense that my background resembles more of the average Brazilian rather than the average Japanese. Therefore, I still consider myself more "Brazilian", especially in things like way of thinking, than Japanese. This may change as I stay in Japan, but that's my opinion at this moment.

Why I'm saying this? Because of an identity problem some Japanese descendents face here. In Brazil, Japanese descendents are more a less considered "Japanese". Some may consider themselves this way. Actually, discussing this in depth is worth another post... some other day.

Then, when they come to Japan, Japanese descendents aren't "Japanese". They may physically look like them, but in most cases their cultural background, even though the Japanese community tries to "preserve the traditions", is different. Considering Brazil, the descentents assimilated good part of Brazilian culture; besides, Japan itself changed from the time Japanese immigrants first went to Brazil.

But, again, background matters. And to that sense, I'm a Brazilian nikkei (Japanese descendent) as well. Talking to Jonas some days before my entrance exam made me realise a strange part of the "nikkei background" most descendents may not realise they have.

In some point during the conversation he mentioned how surprised he was when a Brazilian Japanese descendent said to him that another person "is not Japanese [descendent]. He is 'half-breed' (mestiço)" because one of that person's parents was not "ethnic Japanese descendent" (or "ethnic Japanese") only. According to him, Italian or German descendents (more common where he lived in Brazil) doesn't usually make that distinction so strongly.

When I heard it from him was the first time I was conscious of that. In many cases, members of the Japanese community in Brazil (myself included) may say things like that. It's not that unusual. Besides, sometimes we call "gaijin" those without Japanese descendency. Why that "segregation" is done so naturally? Ok, I have to admit that it may not be so common as it once was, but it's still possible to hear such things inside the community quite often.

I'll be careful to avoid doing it from now. I just wonder how the community got used to saying these kinds of things as if it was natural. Maybe because the first immigrants didn't want to mix with the rest of the Brazilian community... Also, some say the Japanese were (or are...) segregationists, especially when it comes to the misguided notion that Japan is described as having "one nation, one civilization, one language, one culture and one race. There is no other nation (that has such characteristics)". (Check also for "Nihonjinron".)

So, is it a result from the combination of the two factors mentioned above or are the reasons something completely different?

I wonder...

Coolboarders! 2008 Version

Two years ago I snowboarded for the first time. And it was really good. You really didn't think I'd lose the opportunity to do it again after returning to Japan, right? So, this time I didn't only go again, but went twice!

The first one was on January 19th and 20th to Madarao (Nagano Prefecture), organized by Tati (deep thanks to you!). The group gathered most Brazilian students in Kyoto and friends. Just by considering the group, fun was granted.

It was a two day trip, so I decided to give it a shot for skiing on the first day. It's easier to balance and control speed, but I think it hurts more when you fall... Or it might be because it was my first day and I was trying to go at full speed... A "crash course", literally.

No fighting, please...

More fun at night at the local "bar" after someone found out we had discounts for some drinks... while watching pro snowboarding videos (those guys are crazy!) that stimulated people for the next day.

Second day; back to snowboard. That's probably where I belong... This time I managed to go through some different tracks almost undamaged... sliding the coward's way (breaking continuously).

Not everyone, but a good number gathered to face some tracks together...

The group was tired when the bus came to take us back to Kyoto. But it was a trip worth every second!

The second trip was on February 16th and 17th to Takaifuji (Nagano Prefecture). The funny thing about this trip is that the members were called what here might be called the "gaijin way" (because so far I've only seen foreigners doing this kind of thing. I really hope I'm wrong, though). Kennedy organized the trip (thanks!) and called some friends. Some of those friends called other friends who may have called other... Well, you got the idea. The result is that no one in the groups knew all the others at the beginning, but by the end of the trip we were good friends.

Lunch

This time I decided to go with snowboard all the way. And it was a good idea, since by the end of the second day I got the hang of it. I could go through easy tracks with no problem and some intermediate with few accidents.

Preparation for the Intermediate course

But this time situations and discussions that happened when we were not skiing will mark that trip... haha! The right people will know what I mean.

Anyway, the two trips were great and well worth the time and money spent. Bonds of friendship strenghtened, new friends made, learned a new skill and good memories. I still have the "snow fever", but I think I'll call it a game for now. Next year I'll be back sliding/falling around!

JLPT - Level 2

Last year I decided to try the Japanese Language Proficiency Test again. I failed last time when I was in Brazil, but it wasn't by that much even though I thought I'd only pass through divine intervention. So, after staying one year in Japan, it should have improved somewhat, right?

It was my first time to do the JLPT in Japan. And it's sort of different than in Brazil. It's more expensive (in absolute and relative values)... Besides, it starts and ends later. Back in Brazil, it started early in the morning and even level 1 test (the longest) finishes in time for a little late lunch. In Japan, it starts around mid-end morning and goes until mid-afternoon...

But applying with other foreign students was nice. It's sort of a nice feeling seeing everyone doing the same test together and talking during breaks. I used to do that in Brazil too, but this time it had some different feeling.

As for the test itself, if last time I said that my only chance to pass was with divine intervention, this time, although I felt I did better, I still didn't have much hope about passing.

That was December 2nd. From that point, time flew until February 6th.

Tough day. I've been studying for my entrance examination for the last weeks. As the exam day comes close, the feeling that I'm not ready enough also gets stronger. For example, today I rehearsed for the presentation I have to do as part of the entrance exam doing a "mock presentation" to other people from the same lab. And it's simply not good enough. I did some stupid mistakes in some slides, had problems with the time limit and haven't properly memorized the outline.

While going back home I thought that I needed some good news to cheer me up. Checking my letter box, I saw a letter from JLPT.

"Ah, nice. I ask for good news and I get the JLPT result... and I probably didn't pass..."

Actually, I was wrong. I passed!

Ok, but by how much?

文字・語彙 (Writing-Vocabulary) : 53/100
聴解 (Listening) : 78/100
読解・文法 (Reading-Grammar) : 110/200

That's only ONE point above the 240 required to pass... Talk about a close call...

Listening was the one that improved the most. And the part which literally saved me, since it was the only one I did more than 60%. Well, maybe I can call that "passive learning" since in Japan we naturally get exposed to spoken Japanese.

But my writing and vocabulary actually decreased from last time!? I really have to read more in Japanese from now on...

So, I got my good news and can sleep happy today. Still, I don't think I can say I have JLPT-2 language level... The good thing is that I still have some years to get there and go beyond.

Yes, beyond. There's still level 1 after all!