Tanabata

Yesterday we had the star festival (Tanabata Masturi) in the evening. Our company worked whevever we had time and after the nightly meeting to make this festival all that we can. We worked on writing the script for our play, made decorations such as cranes, worked on making Tanzaku (paper we write our wishes on). Although we tried to make this work because of our busy scedule we were not able to do everything we planned to do. However, the festival turned out to be one of the best memories we had at this academy. We made many decorations and hung them up on the bamboo. Also, we made many tanzaku and put it on the table so everyone could write their wishes and hang it up on the bamboo.
Once the decoration was ready, we all dressed up in Yukata, summer kimono, and got ready for the festival. Getting the yukata on was a whole new experience for many of the students here at the academy. For those who had trouble putting on their yukata and obi, teachers from the Virginia Beach are came to help us.
The festival opened with a performance by River City Taiko from the University of Richmond, and they did a fantastic job. They played three pieces for us and later let the students and teachers to experice playing the different types of taiko. After that, our company did the play which told the story of the legend of Tanabata. Everyone did a fabulous job telling the story and each actor and actress played their role every well. Also, we danced the Obon Odori, and everyone looked like they were having fun. We all sang the Tanabata song together and took many fun pictures together, including pictures of students all from the same school districts. Although the process of getting ready for the festival stressed out not only me, but everyone else, I was glad I was able to be a part of this company.     -Sarah

                                                                                                                       - Sarah

Another few days have passed since the last blog update, so here comes one now from Evan! So much has been jammed packed into these days, like usual. I'll try my best to hit the major points right now. In addition to all of the actual language classes, where we learn all the kanji, sentence strutcture, and whatnot, we've all been involved in a mutltiude of fun activites.

Last Tuesday, we had another cooking class! It was so good and so cool! We made gyoza, which are dumplings filled with an assortment of different meats, vegtables, and such, and it's just good. You put all the chopped meat and vegtables in a dumpling, then wet the edges of it in order to close it up. After that, you cook it on a hot plate until it's all golden brown and awesome. And finally, you enjoy! The gyoza takes a long time to make, but it's so worth it. Mine would have been bad, but lucky Rahmon did most of the work and he's a good cook. So it was super tasty! Although, we also made onigiri and I made the that completly on my own, besides the whole rice making part, and it was pretty delicious, if I do say so myself. I put all the spices and flavors in it to make it real good. I made a bunch to eat with the gyoza right then and there, and then made six for a snack later. But I only had one left the next morning. Haha.

Anyway, back to Tuesday. After we cleaned up the area in this church where we do our cooking, we headed on over to Old Chapel. That's where we had a culture class on how to put on the traditional Japanese summer kimono. And the class was taught by mine own Japanese teacher from back home, Cullison-Sensei! It was such a treat getting to see her. She showed everybody how to put on and tie yourself up in the kimono. The girls have to be elaboratly put up in their kimono, because it takes a lot of certainity and diligence to get into that thing. Luckily, the guy one is pretty simple. Execpt that darn knot at the very end keeps giving me the problems! Geez. I taught the other guys just to keep folding it and pulling it places until it works. Most of that time that's enough. After all the dressing up was conculded and Cullison-Sensei left, we had a culture class taught by the lovely and adorable, Uchida-Sensei. She gave a fantastic presentation on Japanese poety. I can honestly say that that was one of my favorite culture classes so far. It's just seems that the Japanese language conveys so much emotion and meaning with every word, when compared to English. It could also be that the mystery of not being able to understand the language completly might add to its charm. Yeah, she crushed that.

Wednesday was the fourth of July, and it was pretty much a normal day at the Japanese Academy. We had our classes in the morning and then activities in the afternoon. We painted our Daruma and boxes during arts and crafts time. And after dinner, we had a cool presentation about the first novel written. And it was by a woman! It was totally legit. I want to read that book sometime. After that we had extended studies classes. I'm in Lawless-Sensei's class and we watched "Spirited Away." I forgot how good that movie is. I must watch it with my Gran-Gran sometime. We watched half of it then and then we made our way back to the dorm. And we got back, there was a FOURTH OF JULY PARTY OUTSIDE!!! It was so much fun. There was s'mores and playing Ninja Attack, jealous Latin kids, and an all around good time! And such a fun surprise. What adventures will take place during the next few days at the Japanese Academy? Who knows? Just keeping reading the blog!

     Evan

(Sunday morning painting Daruma)

Sunday morning was our first “rest day.” By rest I mean one more hour of well-deserved sleep as another week at the Academy had stared. While others went to church, the others all gathered to paint our Daruma and start our next project of an ornate-style lacquer box. After classes, as we have them every day, we had another interesting cultural class. Sunday’s culture class was about the story Dancing Girl. During reading, we gained a deeper understanding for the Japanese collectivist culture. Later that night we started our second course of extended studies classes. We all had our choice and mine was a class about tea that will end in an original tea ceremony.

As today is Monday, we would normally be rather tired or unexcited, but at the Japanese academy, that is both unacceptable and impossible. As of now, we are all preparing in companies for festivals and ceremonies of all kinds. Origami and auditions are only parts of the things that we must prepare for these activities. There is always something happening at Virginia Governor’s Japanese Academy.

-Mallory



This is what our eating experiences have been like... No, we kid. This is a photo from our Undokai donut eating contest.

It's almost been a week and the Academy is well under way with great gusto. We have all settled down and have become great friends. We are almost like a family. It's hard to believe it’s been only six days. Anyways, classes are vigorous and challenging but fun and interesting as well. In the beginners class, we have learned all forty-six Hiragana characters; which is normally a task accomplished within a month in a normal school setting rather than the two to three days we've spent doing it. It is rather a large feat. We have classes all day, whether it be culture classes, art classes or language classes we are always learning. Thursday we headed over to take a cooking class. We worked together in pairs to make a yummy helping of yakisoba. Meat- eaters made a pork-yakisoba. Fellow vegetarians made a vegetable filled noodle dish. I think we all agreed that it was a delicious learning experience. The day before that, we made Daruma. Daruma are papermache-d replicas of the Buddhist Daruma. Tradition says to leave his eyes white so that on New Year’s day you make a wish and color in a single pupil. If the wish comes true by the next New Years, then you fill in the second eye. If the wish doesn't come true, the Daruma is taken to the local temple and burned with other unfulfilled wishes. We finished papermache-ing our own Daruma and left them to dry. We will finish them tomorrow with a coat of paint, giving them our own personal touch; we are allowed to make it traditional or personalized. Another fun art day occured yesterday with a class led by Sakimaki-Sensei. We learned how to do Japanese Calligraphy. Each student picked a kanji and did calligraphy of it. It is very challenging. You have to make every stroke count. I did a very well thought out kanji of the word Love. Today we woke up early and after Rajio Taiso, it was time to hit the fields. The recreation company planned a good old fashion field day or Undokai. We had lots of fun and mass embarrassment. The challenges ranged from a traditional three legged race to a face in flour challenge. Hilarity insued and I do believe we all left the field a little closer as a community. I think the way we have become so close is truly amazing. Like I said it's only been a few days, but we are all great friends. This academy has become our home, and we definitely have become a family

-Taylor

Calligraphy culture class with Sakamaki-Sensei!



2012 Japanese Academy hosted by Randolph-Macon College at Ashland

 (Opening Ceremony on Sunday June 24th, 2012)

Hai, minna-san, konnichiwa~! As you all are well aware, we. your children will be here at the Japanese Academy at R-MC for the following three weeks. It might be hard for you all to adjust to not having us around at home, and it is also safe that for some of us here, that it is also hard adjusting to life without you, our parents. I am not sure if you all are aware, but this blog will be run by a group of students, or a "company," throughout the duration of this academy program. We will be trying our hardest to keep you all updated on things that we have done while here at the academy. We will most likely be switching off writers every time. Therefore, you all will be able to experience a new personality each time! For the very first blog entry, I will be in charge of giving you all the juicy details! Oh, I forgot to mention, watashi no namae wa Katie ka Ringo desu! If you didn't quite get that, it's alright! Most of the beginner students didn't quite get it either our first day of class! What I said was this "My name is Katie or Apple!"

As for the things that have happened thus far at the academy, it has definitely been A LOT. It’s almost overwhelming how fast paced things can get, but we’ve all made a commitment so we’ve gotta pull through! Gambatte, minna-san! For me, these past few days have already been a great experience. I don’t regret applying and coming to the academy at all! But I’ll be honest, a little before arriving at the academy Sunday morning I was so worried about how things were going to turn out! I mean, coming together at a college with so many other students from around Virginia can be intimidating and stressful. I had heard so many things from my friends about how scary it is to live on a college campus for the first time, but when I got here, I was totally amazed. It was definitely the opposite of all the frightening things I had heard. My roommate and dorm mates are so easy to get along with and a blast to be around! From what I’ve heard, the academy really did take the time to sort through and pair us with compatible rommates, which I am truly thankful for!

Now to move onto the classes~ I’ve never formally taken or studied Japanese as they don’t offer it at my school back home. Learning all forty-six Hiragana the first two days was…definitely a fun ride. Learning a new language can always be a challenge for everyone, but I think that it was definitely harder for me personally. I’m not sure if any of the other students feel the same, but I’m sure some can relate. I already speak four other languages aside from English, and now I’m adding Japanese to my inventory. It’s hard for me to take in the new language and think in the right language at the right time. But I will put through, gambare! Now, I think I’ve hogged the blog for long enough! The other company members have written on specific experiences that they have had so far!

Mallory~

During the Japanese Academy we were offered specialized classes, one of which was learning about Shintoism through the animated movie Princess Mononoke. During this class we learned about one of the religions of Japan, Shintoism. We also learned many mannerisms of Japanese people through the religion. We are learning a lot, even over the course of just two days.

The very first day, as we are all completely new students, some of us were given placement tests. I personally was put into the intermediate classes. In this class we are all on very different levels. Through the first couple days we have reviewed and learned many, MANY things. Every class must be rather over whelming, but we’re all pushing through and being taught effectively.

Evan~

            For the first week at the 2012 Governor’s Foreign Language Academy for Japanese held at Randolph-Macon College, we all had to sign up for one of three different extended studies classes, which would be taught over the course of the week. The different options were a class on Buddhism, another one on an analysis of a movie and the religion and history in the film, or a class on entertainment in Japan, taught by Schaeffer-Sensei, a scientist from JMU. I chose to take the entertainment class!

            In the first class, which happened on Monday evening, Sensei presented a PowerPoint on many different forms and the history of Japanese entertainment, which was quite impressive. It started off with Japanese theatre, and it talked about the different types of Japanese theatre like Noh and Kabuki. They also talked about sports, like baseball and sumo. And they covered information on different martial arts, such as karate, aikido, and kendo. There was also great information on Japanese comedy. Haha! Sensei had a bunch of links to YouTube videos and the ones on Japanese comedy were the best! I thought that I was like done so many times from laughing at the people getting trampled and hit by wrecking balls in Japanese game shows! There was also dying laughing at manazi and all sorts of hilarious people! Japanese comedy! WOW!!! I was cracking up so much that Sakamaki-Sensei asked if I was okay! It’s really a great class and I’m glad I was able to take it. I can honestly say that I can’t wait for the next extended studies class!

Kelsey~

I won’t lie: having no limit to how much we’re allowed to eat is awesome. There is salad, fruit, desserts beyond your wildest dreams, and so many French fries we could drown in them. It’s a kid’s paradise in the dining hall.

Personally, I find my problem with this to be that I simply eat too much of the food. It’s not that they starve us and we’re all ready to devour a camel by lunchtime, but more that I actually have the freedom to do it. And three days in, I’m starting to disillusion myself. The food is great – if not gourmet – but eating too much just won’t be possible for three weeks. Already I find myself not hungry when the next mealtime comes around, but I continue to eat; probably not the best habit.

Besides, I’m sure all you parents out there know that your students brought an apocalypse-worthy supply of junk food and juice boxes along with their luggage, and you’ll probably be getting letters soon asking for more food. By all means, SEND MORE FOOD. The chow in this place is good, but there is little variety as the days go by, and already people (myself included) are longing for not only home-cooked meals, but also some of the foods that aren’t available here – in other words, nothing greasy and nothing fried.

On the other hand, mealtime isn’t used just for eating. It’s a chance to interact with the people we’re living among for three weeks, and during lunch it’s mandatory to speak nothing but – or mostly – Japanese. I know that this practice has helped me a lot after just two lunches. Conversation with the fluent sensei has shown me that I actually know more than I believed I did, and I’ve heard improvements in just about everyone’s Japanese.

To wrap up, mealtimes here at RMC are tanoshii (fun) as well as a valuable learning experience. The teachers have been doing an excellent job in tying in learning with everything that we do, and the dining experience is no different. However, I am sure that none of the students would object to receiving boxes of delicious homemade cookies or other food stuffs!

Jaa mata ne!

Sarah~

Today is only the second day of the academy, but in my advanced Japanese academy we have learned so many things already.  There are only five people in my class. Since we didn’t know each other’s names, we spent the first day interviewing and introducing each other to get to know each other better.  We also learned new kanji and typed up the essay we had written the day we came to the academy to test our Japanese level. The second day we listened and learned about the story of the gods IZANAMI and IZANAGI who first created the island of Japan. It was really interesting to know how Japan was supposedly created. Also, we read many short stories in Japanese and wrote the summary of the story and wrote down kanji’s we have never seen before or forgotten. Also, we read a letter that was written to the donors to Japan for the terrible earthquake and tsunami and watched a video about the one year memorial of the terrible tragedy. As a Japanese person it was very painful to watch and could not stop crying. I really felt a connection to the people of japan and understood that Japan still needs a lot of support in order to recover. When I watched the video I thought inside that I will keep telling people of the tragedy and how the world became as one to help japan.

Sidney~

In three days, it almost seems as if the dorm rooms are our own. I’ve gotten used to the shower schedule, waking up, jumping down from the bunk, and quietly padding over to dresser in the dark before we go out for the Ichi-ni-san-shi-ooo-go-roku-hachi! of Raijio Taiso. What were mornings like before rajio taiso? Oh my gosh, what were they like?

At the very beginning, it was quiet in the room as we hung up our posters and stacked manga, hung up our clothes, wondered who this person was we would be spending the next few weeks with.

Now the room is full of laughter and friendship. Two rooms are connected down the middle by a bathroom, which just serves as another door. It’s more like having three roommates than one.

            “What sould I write? What do you write to peop;le?”

            “SEND FOOD.”

“Sounds creepy.”

“Tell them not to send popcorn or microwaveables.”

“Or popsicles.”

The next day at rajio taiso, we pull our jackets around us. I look at my roommate and giggle.

“This is all popsicles.”

Taylor

I learned my first lesson of the Japanese academy before I even left. Don’t procrastinate packing. I was running around my house to find odd objects strewn between my two floor house. Eventually I got a vast majority of my luggage pack. All through this painstaking and back breaking process, thoughts ran through my head. Would I make friends? Would I be able to handle the classes? Would I have a good roommate?  At the end of the 5 hour packing process I realized that I was going to a Japanese Academy with people I had never met. On the way to the Randolph- Macon campus I did a mental check making sure that I had everything (Soon realizing that I had forgotten construction paper and glue). We arrived though and were checked in and unpacked before we could say Konichiwa. The check in process was smooth and easy. The opening ceremony came after. 6 foreign sensei’s sat in front of us on the Blackwell Auditorium stage, and the air was thick with nervousness. The ceremony consisted of the history of the academy, the rules of the academy, what was expected of us and absolutely no electrical devices with internet access. All the fears were for not because soon the parents were gone and I had made several friends. But I will speed things up from there. Yesterday after several intense hours of language classes, we all signed up for Extended Studies, which essentially is the equivalent of an elective. I signed up for Buddhism with Bo Sensei.  I knew a little bit about Buddhism and found it fascinating. The class was exciting and fun. Our sensei was very informative and even took time to find a Dalek Relaxation tape for us to meditate with. ( A little Doctor Who humor) We learned about the history and essential beliefs of Buddhists (Which ultimately led to a few civil debates). At the end of the class we finally did manage to Meditate and left the class relaxed and feeling a little enlightened. After two days it’s hard to believe we have only been here for such a short time. I am so excited for the coming days and coming memories yet to arrive. So I end with a Sayonara. 

Well, I guess that will be all for our very first blog update! I hope you all enjoyed reading about all of our experiences so far! Hopefully in the next few days we’ll be able to tell you about some more of the fun things we’ve done. I’m sure by the time you come to pick us up, you’ll be tired of our stories! 

(Trainwreck icebreaker on our first day at the Acamdemy, because Sones-sensei loves seeing pictures about the icebreaker moments!)

As some of you may remember, in the spring of 2011, Japan suffered a terrible earthquake and tsunami during which one American died. Her name as Talor Anderson. She was from Richmond, was a Randolph-Macon Alumni, and she was part of the Japanese Academy family, having worked on staff for two years. It was a terrible time for the Academy family and the scars still hurt. I, of course knew her and two of our staff this year were students at the Academy while she was on staff.

However, out of tragedy always spings miracles, and Taylor life has been a weath of inspiration. Curently, documentary is being filmed about her life.

http://www.thetaylorandersonstory.com/

http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/675402675/live-your-dream-the-taylor-anderson-story?ref=email

The filmmaker and crew will be at the Academy to interview the three of us who knew her (staff only) and wants to do some background shots of the academy students during class or other activities. He will not interview the students and will not use their name or any other identifying information for the film or anything associated with them. To this end, we have put together an image-use release form for the film that gives his company the right to film and use images of academy students. We will have this form available at the check in and will ask all PARENTS to review and sign the form, if they so choose.

Participation in the filming is not required and will not disrupt the Academy program. Students who's parents choose not to sign the form will not miss any Academy activities or be penalized in any way.

If you have any questions about the film, feel free to email me or we can chat about it tomorrow.

Thanks,

Thomas Sones, Japanese Academy

2012 Virginia Governor's Japanese Academy
Tomorrow!!!!!!