The First Few Days

Hello all. I have safely made it to Japan! I apologize for the lack of posts. Fortunately, I have fully adjusted to time zone and have managed to squeeze in a lot of Tokyo within this past week.

I’ll make separate posts about what I did specifically on each day at a later time when I have a chance to edit some of the pictures that I took. 

This post will just be my musings on starting my internship!

For those of you who don’t know what Co-Op Japan is, let me explain. Co-Op is a big retail store chain that in centrally located in Nakano, Tokyo. It has branch stores at many of the major universities across Japan. Co-op also specializes in home delivery of its products. 

For my internship, I will be working in the different sectors of the business as sort of managerial training in order to understand how a business functions from the corporate level to the consumer level. 

On Thursday, I started work at the main office in Nakano. Rob, the other intern from America, and I met outside the office at 8:45 for our first meeting at 9. We went over the basic principles of the company and made introductions (all in Japanese) to the CEO and COO of the company (that was scary). 

Fortunately, I was able to remember my 敬語 (けいご/Keigo: high formality and honorifics in the Japanese language usually used in business settings), so I think I made a good impression!

After out meeting on Thursday, our boss took us to Asakusa to get a feel for what Tokyo was like back in the Edo Period. Asakusa houses many various tidbits in the Tokyo area, but we specifically went for the history. We first grabbed lunch in an old restaurant styled to that of a sumo area. For those that don't know, Sumo is (in a very dumbed down way) the traditional Japanese version of heavy-weight wrestling. We sat close to the center and our boss was explaining to us a little bit about the sumo culture. Traditionally, before competing, sumo wrestlers would eat what the Japanese call ちゃんこ(chanko). Chanko is a pot of boiling soup loaded with different meats (or seafood) and vegetables with a huge pot of rice and sashimi on the side. I, being the bottomless pit that I am, ordered the seafood chanko and finished all of it (keep in mind that these meals are feeding two/three hundred pound men). After we finished but were still too full to move, our boss told us a little bit more about the ceremony surrounding sumo wrestling. The sumo ground is sacred to those who "create their art on it" (my bosses words, not mine) and those who are tainted could not climb onto the platform. He pointed out signs all around the arena and, sure enough, those who were viewed as tainted in traditional Japanese culture were women. It's funny how cultures can be so different, yet be so similar. 

When we were able to finally hoist ourselves up, we went to the Edo Tokyo museum and got a tour by literally the smallest and oldest Japanese woman I've ever seen in my life. Learning about Tokyo's history and how it became what it is today was really eyeopening. I didn't know a lot of the specifics of the Tokugawa Shogunate and what traditional Japanese life was like back in the Edo Period. The dates of the museum ran from around the establishment of the Tokugawa Shogunate to the 1964 Tokyo Olympics.

One thing that I found interesting in the museum was that there was absolutely NOTHING (and I can't emphasize nothing enough) about the Atomic Bombs during World War Two. Nothing, zip, zilch, nada. The museum had artifacts of US planes that the Japanese were able to shoot down during air raids, but when it came to that one thing that changed the course of Japan's history so significantly, not even a mention. 

So before this post becomes too long, I will wrap it up with some teasers for my next few posts:

Harajuku, Shibuya, Shinjuku, Central Tokyo! 

Central Tokyo Tea House

The Land of the Morning Calm

I've made it to Seoul! The twelve hour flight wasn't too bad, but having a middle seat was. I was sandwiched between and cute Korean teenage girl and an 아저씨(ah-jeo-sshi: middle aged man). The girl was quite nice, though she didn't speak much English and the man was quite bitter about being on the flight next to a 외국인 (oe-guk-in: foreigner). Other than the tight space and the long duration, the flight was decent. I flew Korean Air and the service was incredible. Each stewardess spoke Chinese, Japanese, Korean and English. I was very impressed. The food was nice too. For dinner I had a traditional Korean rice dish called 비빔밥 (bi-bim-bap) and for breakfast I ate an omelette.

Here are just a few little shots I took when I got here 2 hours ago.

Waiting at my gate in Seoul. Notice the FB chat notification from the boyfriend.

Incheon International Airport

My exhaustion has caused this blog entry to sound like a first grader wrote it. I apologize. I promise to have better posts when I make it to Japan!

The Last-Minute Details

I FINALLY leave for Japan tomorrow! These last four days in San Diego have made me reflect on how far I've come since I was just a sophomore in high school with a passion for all things Japanese. Tomorrow is the day that I bring this dream to life!

This process has been both extremely exciting and extremely stressful. Having to collect all my medical documents, visa paperwork, school supplies and (oh yeah!) clothes within these past four days has made me realize the key to successful pre-departure planning is organization.

Needless to say, my biggest problem (and probably every girl who has traveled's biggest problem) is packing all my clothes in two suitcases that are under fifty pounds. The hardest lesson I've had to learn is editing my wardrobe. I don't need all twenty pairs of my shoes, nor do I need all ten of the oversized sweaters I live in. However, I will pass on a little tip that my parents have shared with me through their travel experiences: roll your clothes. It can help prevent wrinkling and you can fit a ton more into your suitcase! This little technique helped me travel through five European countries in a carry-on after I graduated from high school. Here's looking at you, Casas and Tanaka's 2010 Euro Crew!

The tip of the iceberg!

Along with packing and organizing my documented proof of existence, I've been bidding farewells to my family and friends. Throughout these four days, I was able to celebrate my oldest brother Greg's birthday, make some memories at Disneyland with my boyfriend Daniel, and have a "mini-elitist" meeting with my friend (who is coincidentally also named Daniel) from high school. I really will miss every single one of you! :)

A cloudy day at the happiest place on earth! 

On a random note, I received an awesome mini travel survival kit from Greg and his wife Sveta. It includes everything that a girl would need while she's traveling. It comes with things like makeup remover pads to aspirin to clear nail polish! I can't wait to put it to good use while I'm abroad. Thank you guys!

The awesome kit I received!

Asia-Land here I come! :)

Pre-Departure/The First Post

Hello Blog World (more realistically, Hello Family Members!)! How should I properly start this?

My name is Courtney and I am a complete novice when it comes to blogging. I love reading blogs, though, so I thought I would start my own! My plan for this blog is to post pictures and videos of my time in Asia!

Starting in two weeks (oh my god, it's two weeks from now) I will be living, working, and studying in Asia for a year. I was offered an amazing internship in Tokyo, Japan working in the corporate offices of the Japanese grocery store Co-Op for ten weeks this summer. Following that, I will be moving to Seongnam, Korea (basically Seoul) to start my junior year at Gachon University. 

Now that you know (or have already known, Hi Mom!) about what this blog is about, I'll let the rambling begin. :)

I've been neglecting planning for this trip for the longest time and now that it's two weeks away I'm starting to become more and more terrified. There was always the excuse of school and studying that allowed me to further procrastinate getting my ducks in a line for this. I've been keeping a notebook handy to jot down my random brain surges of what I think I might need while I'm there. Currently, the most important thing on my list seems to be socks. 

What I think is an artsy shot of (lack of) my preparation. 

As I sit here writing this, I slowly and beginning to realize how terrified I am of actually going to Asia by myself for a year. All of the international trips I've been privileged to go on have been with family or friends and for the first time, I'm all alone. My family credits me too much with sensibility, but I'm scared that I'll be overwhelmed with a tidal wave of anxiety and hysteria as I schelp the three suitcases that are my life through Narita on my first day in Japan. We'll see. I shouldn't dwell too much on my fear. 

Before I go, I'm visiting my family here in Atlanta. My grandparents so thoughtfully put together a going away party with my whole extended family! My grandma, Gigi, spent hours researching Japanese and Korean phrases that expressed my family's feelings for me! She did such a great job! I was so grateful that my whole family could make it and show their support for me. I really am going to miss them and the comfort of home while I'm away.

(Pink: We'll miss you, Green: Good luck, Red: Congratulations, Yellow: Good job, Orange: We love you)

So I guess I'll conclude my first post here! Hopefully my blog will get better with time. I have so much on my mind right now that it's hard to make a concise first post. Thanks for making it through! :)


Please email me with questions or suggestions for entries at courtnes@email.arizona.edu