Think leprechauns, shamrocks and sushi, and you'll be ready to meet my first guest blogger. Her name is Ciara (don't pronounce the first 'a' and you've got it down) and she's one of my new friends here in Japan who has the coolest Irish accent, and a pretty good sense of humour. I'd totally recommend following her blog, as last time I read it I burst out laughing multiple times. Love it. It's even cooler when you read it to yourself in her Irish accent. She's in a different part of Japan than me and thus will be having different experiences - yet another reason to read her blog. Without further ado, here she is:
Hello readers of Maz’s blog!! My name is Ciara and I’m Irish. (I’ll give you a minute for that to sink in. If you’re like Mari-Anna and you like Irish accents I’ve already won you over :-p). Mari-Anna and I met when we were seated together during training at the head of the class, dangerously close to Cedric our trainer. She introduced me to Possum Magic for which I think I’ll be eternally grateful. What an adorable, wonderfully illustrated book. She has asked me to do a post on her blog so here goes, hope I don’t bore the socks off ye. Although if I could make your clothes pop off through the internet from somewhere across the globe I’d consider that an achievement and still be happy.
I fell in love with Japan through Final Fantasy 7 initially. A game accidently left in my house by my brother’s friend around 12 years ago. This, the most amazing of video-games ever created, was my first view into Japanese style animation and story telling and once I finished I moved onto other games in the series, and then onto anime and manga. First mainstream Studio Ghibli movies and after finding my anime-feet I moved onto whatever other anime I could download off the net. My manga collection is a combination of those I bought, while I was living in New York, in a Japanese book store that I spent many lunch breaks lurking around, and those purchased from the internet using money stockpiled from completing online surveys. So some of the elements of Japan I love have come to me in odd ways.
About 5 years ago I decided I would eventually move here and experience the place for myself. (Clearly this has been a long time coming. I put it down to a combination of the recession and laziness.) I made friends with Japanese people who taught me Japanese customs, phrases and origami. One lovely Japanese lady even baked me two traditional swan shaped, green-tea cream filled buns and presented them to me at a dinner party I hosted. I did not share. I began learning Japanese characters on the internet and bought a book to help teach myself some of the easier elements of the language.
I got offered a position with Interac several months ago, booked my ticket, cancelled and re-booked my ticket when my visa wasn’t processed in time, and two weeks ago landed in the country I had daydreamed about visiting for years. (More like full blown fantasies actually. Knowing I was coming here is what kept me sane in my last job in a ticket booth; drunk people can be so irritating). I am currently on my placement in Hiroshima.
So what truths have I come to realise in my two weeks here? This country is fantastic. Wonderfully weird. People are friendly and helpful. There are enough lights in the nightlife districts to induce seizures. There are beautiful, ornamental gardens that can make you forget you’re in the middle of a city (I almost fell asleep in one). Smiling like a lunatic and bowing repeatedly can rescue you from many situations. You will never go thirsty with a vending machine on every corner. Okonomiyaki is the greatest thing since sliced bread. Street signs and posters have cute, smiley characters. Even those that advertise constipation medicine. Flowers and trees grow everywhere, even alongside skyscrapers and concrete. I love it here.
You are welcome to view my blog at http://japan-by-ciara.blogspot.jp/ if you wish. Hope your socks didn’t fall off =P
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