It’s Only Been 12 Days in Osaka, The Kitchen of Japan

Written by Samara Mroczkowski (Washington State University), Student Correspondent for CET Japan, Fall 2024

Touchdown    

After about 26 hours of travel, August 21st marks the day that I made it to my new home to begin my semester abroad in Osaka, also known as the “Kitchen of Japan”. Upon arriving at the airport I was greeted by CET staff, some other CET students who arrived around the same time as me, and Japanese students who would be attending the same college as the rest of us.

Being with a larger group of people for the first time after traveling by myself for a little over a day was a strange experience, because while I was very excited and eager to meet everyone, I also felt very shy and not confident with my language skills. And honestly more than anything I just wanted to make it to my accommodations, take a shower, and lay down.

Although, what I had wanted didn’t exactly happen immediately, I think we had waited with the group for about an hour before we new arrivals were guided through the process of buying an ICOCA card (a rechargeable card used for public transit and some vending machines too) and riding the train to our respective apartments by the local Japanese students who had greeted us earlier.

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Sweet Like a Grandma

I don’t know if this was different for others, but for myself, I didn’t know what type of house I would be living in until I was directed to the doorsteps the day I arrived. The unknowing was kind of terrifying but also equally exciting, it felt like I was opening up a mystery box. If it was an amazing home then I had hit the jackpot, and if not, well, home sweet home for the next 4 months. My new home is located on the 4th floor of an all girls apartment building, with the top floor acting as more of a suite with 5 bedrooms, and a shared bathroom, kitchen, and dining area.

My first impressions of the place, my new home for the next 4 months could be summed up into just—wow! The apartment itself seems to be on the older side, but charming nonetheless, old and sweet like a grandma. From the kitchen window I can see the Hankyu train line at Aikawa station, which is what I take to get to school, and many other places as well. The dining room has a huge table capable of seating up to 9 people along with a TV, although when flicking through the channels I didn’t see anything exciting, I’ll need to ask some people for channel recommendations.

At first, the shower and laundry room were probably the most daunting, just because of how different the appliances were from what I’m used to. But after taking pictures of the laundry machine and translating the button meanings, after figuring out what type of laundry detergent to buy, and after figuring out where the heck to add my laundry detergent to the machine itself, I was finally able to successfully complete a load of laundry. I felt very accomplished.

Unfortunately, it took a couple of times for me to figure out how to turn on the hot water for a shower, so I ended the first couple of days with a pretty cold shower. But don’t worry, I eventually figured it out, and now a task that I used to have to force myself to do for the sake of good hygiene has become something I look forward to everyday. The water pressure is amazing.

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The Kitchen of Japan

The beginning of this program has had a lot of group exploring activities and challenges both inside and outside of the classroom in order to become better acclimated to the area. Towards the end orientation week we were separated into groups based off of our houses and were challenged to see as much of Osaka as we could. This was something I wasn’t exactly excited for. I was tired from a week of new information constantly being introduced. I struggled with feeling homesick, and the thought of walking around all day (and I mean literally all day) didn’t appeal to me in the slightest. But to my surprise, I thoroughly enjoyed this day.

As a group we started in Dotonbori, walked through strips of food vendors and restaurants, we saw Osaka castle and visited a temple, we completed a stamp card in NHK (Japan Broadcasting Corporation), and finished the night off riding a ferris wheel atop a building. Along with seeing and experiencing all these new things, I was also able to meet and talk with more people, and found that I have much in common with a Japanese student along with a couple other CET students.

While it doesn’t look like there is much to do when looking out of the windows of my sweet grandma apartment, I have learned early on that this city has so much to offer just a quick walk or a train ride away, with food being a very big one.

There are several sit down restaurants close to campus that I frequent with classmates for lunch, but there are also many bakeries for quick pastries, and sit down cafes as well where you can study or practice speaking while playing games with community members.

I myself love food in all ways, I love to see it, smell it, eat it, and buy it.  So when I was told that one of Osaka’s nicknames is the kitchen of Japan, I knew I made the right decision to come to this place. I tried a curry bun for the first time while I have been here and it’s safe to say I’m in love!

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Cooking in a Kitchen

On top of consuming food, I also love to make it! I have worked in a few restaurants and also enjoy cooking at home in a more casual way, but I especially love to make food for others and enjoy the meals together. So because of this, together with some of the new friends I made during orientation week, we treated some fellow classmates and Japanese housemates to a good ol’ spaghetti meal complete with salad and garlic bread. It was a very fun experience that everyone loved and I hope to do it again sometime soon.

I can’t wait to see more of Osaka with the new friends I’m making, and in return share the things I love from my hometown, most likely in the form of a meal. While I’ve been here It feels like so much has happened already, settling into a new home, starting classes, becoming more comfortable with riding the train, having a routine, and seeing the beginnings of some good friendships. It’s strange to think it’s only been 12 days.