Day 187, ACCEPTANCE

       Whether it was the help of the full moon, or the magic of 11-11-11, I was accepted! I already had a pretty solid gut feeling because I did put a deposit of 2,400 dollars down, and AFS has been sending me e-mails about Japanese visas and pre-departure orientations, but it is pretty relieving to finally get some closure.
       Although I battled my hardest, I did not receive the either of the two scholarships that were being offered. To be honest, when I first read the e-mail I wasn't even that disappointed. Although it would have been convenient and nice I really don't need it. I have nearly five digits in my bank account, and it would have felt like cheating to just have been let off so easy. The feeling I know I'm going to get when I pay off the 13,000 dollars by myself, without the help of my parents is too gratifying to pass up. One of the scholarship winners was not going to be able to go unless she won the money, and denying anyone of this experience would be bestial. So, it kind of makes sense that she won. 

       At any rate, in 129 days, I will be on a plane soaring over the Pacific and you guys are hugely to thank for it! so, THANK YOU.

--The Japanese Hakujin, Zachary Shimmel

Day 54, and Breath.

Application (done)

Regents (done)

Summer Vacation (still pending)

       College Applications must feel pretty puny after the stack of paper I filled out. So the application wasn't actually due till October but I got a call from one of the AFS people and she indirectly was like "five people have already turned in their application for Japan and you really need to hop on that train". At first I just thought, "Oh no biggie i'll just put my signature down a couple of times and send it in". BOY was I wrong. That monster was thick. They wanted doctor's notes, recommendations, academic records, photos blah blah ect. It's over know and I don't really want to reminisce. Besides, I don't have any extra time in my life to even ponder failure.
       I really hope that I am not placed somewhere that's not crazy busy like tokyo or where the radiation is towards the north east Daiichi area. I'd like to go somewhere that's kind of like the Brooklyn equivalent in Japan like Osaka, Hiroshima, or Yokohama. Nevertheless, it's Japan so it will be an incredible experience in any prefecture. It will take a lot more than a couple gene mutations here in there to stop me.

       Besides my application there has been another thing that has forced me to stop blogging, Regents.
Regents are tests that you have to take if you live in NY after you have taken a class. It is sort of similar to a final but the grade goes on your transcript and it is sort of separate from your class grade. You are supposed to honestly write your life on your blog so I will share with you guys that I haven't learned diddly squat in Geometry for the past five months... But, after meeting with my tutor for two hours every single day the week before the test a pulled out a 92! I know it is not something to be proud of but I am like the king of cramming last second and pulling out the win.

        Shout out to my math tutor: You are a saint Nakita, I will definitely see you for Trig next year! (The name looks Japanese but it's actually because I just have no clue how to spell it).

Anyway, Zack is back to hopefully put an un-pause to this plateau of no new donations.

Sorry I haven't been lately but I promise to keep you all posted from now on!

--The Japanese Hakujin, Zachary Shimmel

Day 33, Summer Vacation

       Summer vacation is almost here and I would love to go somewhere exotic and new but I just keep reminding myself, Japan, Japan, Japan. This Summer I'm going super work crazy at the coffee shop. I will be going to work 4 days a week and because I will be opening mornings, my alarm will greet me with that "lovely" bomb ticking noise at 5:00AM.  Whenever I have blood shot eyes and feel like I am going to drop from exhaustion I will just keep reminding myself, Japan, Japan, Japan. I have done a bit of math and figured out that if I save and work a lot this Summer that I will be able to make over 2K. Right now money wise I have almost 3,500 saved up and then with my blog money too, I will have about 7,000 dollars all together at the end of Summer. It's so exciting to think that I will have more than half my tuition in just a few short months. 
       I have already submitted my pre-application to the program which I am going through, AFS. And once Summer vacation really gets underway, I will submit my full blown application which consists of enough papers to make the tree in my backyard to look pretty skimpy. This application isn't due till the end of October, but because I am so anal about this project I want to get everything done before August. 
      In order to make my trip possible I know that I'm going to have to do some large fundraising projects. I have been pretty reluctant to tackle this because there is a strategy to go about this that is very foreign to me. I am still toying with the idea of having a huge potluck type thing where people can bring a dish (preferably Japanese) or they can bring a 10$ donation and eat as much as they want. I want to do this towards the beginning of September. If anyone has any other fundraising ideas I would be extremely appreciative of such.
Thanks for reading,


--The Japanese Hakujin, Zachary Shimmel

1 Fact About The Japanese Hakujin Every Day

1) I always sneeze once in really bright sunlight
2) I've eaten an organic pop-tart every day for a year
3) I have strabismus, farsightedness, and an astigmatism in my eyeballs
4) One time I saw an albino chipmunk
5) When I was a baby I crawled with one leg in the air
6) Bubble tea fights are the greatest
7) I partake in the intake of free pizza at the Jewish club in my school every Tuesday
8) My middle name is Mack. Making my full name Zack Mack Shimmel
9) I have always called it a Handburger
10) About two years ago I had a dream completely in Japanese but didn't understand any of it
11) This number seems to bring about gonzo sort of things
12) I have about 500 pokemon figures stored in egg cartons
13) Haruki Murakami is my favorite author
14) Cats make my nose sniffle and my eyes sanguine
15) When I sneeze people duck for cover
16) After Japanese, I hope to one day also learn Portuguese
17) I work in at Has Beans five days a week but I don't drink coffee
18) There is a skylight in my room right above my pillow
19) I never chose to love Japan
20) Hayao Miyazaki is my favorite director
21) About two years ago I had a dream in Japanese and didn't understand any of it
22) I dress my Choco-kirspies with about two thirds soy, one third ice coffee
23) I only know about 200 kanji
24) My dresser is coated with about a million stamps that my dad collected
25) A bomb was thought to be placed in a stuffed ape which was found on the corner of the block from where I work. Two blocks were closed off and customers were being shooed away by some empty headed firemen. Of course it turned out to just be a monkey doll with an alarm clock strapped around it's body... I made no tips T_T

Japanese Word of the Day #3

       Todays word of the day is otanjoubi （お誕生日）or just tanjoubi. Does anyone want to take a shot as to why...? Before you guys all shout out the answer (because clearly you know what otanjoubi means), I'll give you one hint. It starts with mybirthday and ends with isjuneseventh. Okay, otanjoubi doesn't actually mean all of that, but it does mean birthday, and mine happens to be on June seventh.
       So maybe you didn't know what otanjoubi meant but I'm sure you'll guess what oriental cuisine I fancy for my otanjoubi dinner. Now for those of you that are saying 誕生日プレゼント忘れちゃった！しまった！(because obviously you say this all the time) it is totally cool that you forgot a present because you can easily give me a money contribution present with the chip-in button on the right. I think I'd rather go to Japan for eleven months than get some strange rainbow knit toe socks redolent of cat litter and box wine anyway. I know most teenagers are dying to get things of that nature but please, don't, please?
       I know some people/religions recognize each otanjoubi as some sort of milestone where you have become significantly more mature. I'm sure that when I was younger I found an excuse for every birthday to be special too. Entering double digits, becoming a teenager etc. To my chagrin, similar to that of an elderly man who doesn't acknowledge his own otanjoubi, my otanjoubi has become frivolous. Just another day, another number, another cross on the calender, one day less till departure.

Japanese Hakujin's cover of Cherry

       this is not an original (I don't own the rights). This cover is of Aiko's cover of Cherry by Spitz. Sorry for the pauses, speed ups, mess ups, and the dinky piano. I didn't want to spend another million hours making a video, so this is just a quick bit of video action. I am still trying to fix the order of the blog posts. This blogging platform just LOVES to keep me on my toes and do spontaneous things that I like to pretend are just tough love. 
       This the first take, no edits, the hottest day of Spring, the best song ever, and the world's smallest piano.

Japanese Word of the Day #2

Today's Japanese word is Kin'yobi (金曜日). Kin'yobi in Japanese literally means golden day, and a golden day it certainly is. My school does have 4,000 students but not one Japanese person. So by the time 2:47 rolls around on Friday I hop from my chair with alacrity and ride the first train to Manhattan to see friends to practice my Japanese with. Friday is truly golden.
Days come and disappear in a haze. I feel like every day is just one less I have to wait for before I am on that plane to Japan. I think I have less then 7,000 more hours to go. Until then I just have to sit and wait for time to tick by before I can sit in an uncomfortable leather seat for 14 hours with feelings of pure sanguine and accomplishment. Sometimes I wish school was 7 days a week so I could just be done with it and move on. Waking up early to ride the train to the middle of nowhere, seeing herds of students with hormone levels to match the the amount of calories in their daily Big Gulp from 711, and going home feeling phlegmatic and irritated and filled with ennui.
Kin'yobi is a golden day. Now please hurry up and get here!

--The Japanese Hakujin, Zachary Shimmel

Day 10, Oyasumi Nasai

I wanted to make a quick post because I don't think my mother will be super enthralled if she sees I wrote this post even later than I am right now. I wanted to thank all of my friends, followers, and contributers. Thanks to you all I am already almost at 1K in a little over a week! I will add to this list as AFS updates me on who and what.
My incredible contributors
Victoria
Andrea
Debra
John
Karen
Jenneth
Lili
Judith
Miriam
Melinda
Yvonne
Bryan
David
Pablo
Marc
Britta
Lily
Jeb
Judith
Sandra
William
Sid
Pam
Jim
Shawn

Japanese word of the day #1

While embarking on my journey to learn Japanese I am always coming across new words and I thought I would share them with you. Today's Japanese word of the day is Namari(訛り). Namari means accent. I am trying very hard to work on my namari, but as you can tell from my video it still has a long ways to go. I have heard from many people who have set out to learn a new language that the best way to lose your namari is to live in the place where that language is spoken. I'm hoping to test that theory out!
Today I ate Takoyaki (Japanese octopus fritters) and Karre (Japanese curry). When I ordered these dishes in Japanese the woman didn't understand me at first. Besides the immediate shock of seeing a white boy with blonde hair speaking Japanese throwing her off, I realized that she did not understand me because of my Japanese, but because of my namari.

NAMARI = ACCENT

--The Japanese Hakujin, Zachary Shimmel

TFV Summer camp 2010 omoidekai

TFV summer camp 2010

Day 3 is really looking up!

       I wanted to thank my 5 anonymous contributors for chipping in so generously. I never imagined my number could go up from 0 to $160 so quickly. And thank you mother dearest for lobbying my campaign, and packing me a bentou lunch everyday for school, you're truly lovely.
       Although 160 is far from 0, it is much further from 5,000. I am extremely passionate about going to Japan, and I hope to realize my reverie, Please keep donating with the Chip-in button on the right or send money to me personally. For contact information please facebook me. Thanks so much for reading and thanks so much for all the contributions!

--The Japanese Hakujin, Zachary Shimmel

Day 2, not much progress

       As you can probably see to the right I am 0% towards my 5,000 blog goal. As upsetting as this may be I was so pleased to see my 60 something page views after 1 day. I have been brainstorming lots of other fundraising ideas to come up with all the rest of the tuition. I am thinking that hosting a Japanese dinner would be a really delicious way to make a couple quarters. Plus, I am sure my mother who slaves in the kitchen would be more than excited to see me in the saddle for once. I am still currently working at my local coffee shop, but I only have one piano student right now. I think I'm going to increase the service and try to get two or three new students. Coming up with 14,000 dollars or so is going to be hard in the next ten months, and being a 14 year old sure doesn't make this any easier. Please show this blog to everyone you know, and contribute with the chip-in button on the side. Every little bit helps, thanks so much for reading!

Learning Japanese

       Learning Japanese takes serious dedication. If your thinking about learning Japanese, just know it is ridiculously difficult. I do take Japanese lessons, but this is pretty limited because it is only twice a month so I have found many other cheaper ways to assist my learning. I have a plethora of books to help me learn but I mostly stick to the ancient method of flashcards. Flashcards are only for my on the go study like on the train, waiting in a line, walking around ect.. But when I am at home with a computer available I think the best resource is Japanese television. Some of my favorite shows are Naruto, Azumanga Daioh, Bleach, Boss, Puni Puni Poemi, GTO, Liar Games, My Boss My Hero, and One Liter of Tears.
       These resources I have a pretty great but ultimately the best way is to speak Japanese, and hear it be spoken. I practice Japanese at some authentic stores in the city, and have a lot of Japanese camp friends I keep in touch with. I had the amazing opportunity to attend a Japanese camp twice in Frost Valley NY. This camp was really fun, and a great way to practice my Japanese. It is a sleep away camp, and to give you a quick demographic, I was the only hakujin. The name is Tokyo Frost Valley YMCA so look it up!
       I am hoping to become completely fluent in Japanese, and to be able to read, write, and converse well in Japanese I need to be immersed. To help sponsor my study abroad trip click on the chip-in button to the right. Thank you so much for reading this! Good luck with your studies!


--The Japanese Hakujin, Zachary Shimmel

A little about the Japanese hakujin

       My name is Zachary Shimmel and I am 14 years old. The purpose of this blog is to hopefully raise 5,000 dollars for tuition of my abroad experience in Japan. I am hoping to depart March 2012 and stay for 11 months through a program called AFS. I have loved Japan since I was a kid and had this crazy idea that pokemon were alive and kicking all over Japan. Growing up I made many Japanese friends and did a lot of research projects about the cultures. At after a million episodes of Naruto, and having read every Bleach manga in print, I realized that I had to go to Japan.
        I have always been pretty stubborn and when I have my heart set on something I know i have to set out and go for it, so when I was 11 years old and my mother told me she wouldn't give me 2,000 dollars to get on a plane to Japan I responded "fine" and took my bicycle out for a ride around the neighborhood. It was pure serendipity when the coffee store down my block just happened to be looking for a part time worker. My only criteria was to be able to pour water into the coffee machine, and with that i had my own weekly income. only working three hours every Sunday really paid off when about two and a half years later, my best friend and I arrived in Narita airport.
       Those were the best 10 days in my entire life and not to my surprise I fell head over heels for that country. With only about three months of learning Japanese under my belt, I was completely useless so upon my arrival I really cracked down with steady private Japanese classes. My parents have been total saints in paying for my bi-monthly lessons, but this AFS tuition is a whole other deal. My dream is to speak Japanese fluently and hopefully one day live there so this abroad trip is something I'm incredibly passionate about. I am still saving up money with my job at the coffee shop and teaching piano lessons but I am a long ways away from paying for tuition. Click the chip-in button to sponsor me, and please forward this blog to anyone else who you think would be interested in contributing. Thanks for reading!

 -- The Japanese hakujin, Zachary Shimmel