September Information By Request

For those of you who do not have facebook and would like to see my photos, please check here
for Japan photos. The album I have linked here is empty, but has sub albums sorted by what month the photos were taken (most of those photos should be in order of date too). Choose a month to view. I will update on the last day of each month with that month's pictures. Hence, the September photo album is rather small at the moment, but check back on October 1st.

For those of you interested in news in Japan, please check out Japan Today's website by clicking here. If you are interested in a second opinion about Japanese news (it's always better to read two newspapers), please view the Japan Times website (the oldest newspaper in Japan) by clicking here. Both sites are in English and Japanese. The lastest news of interest is that Fukuda was announced new Prime Minister. His regime is not expected to last more than a year, according to native academia.

For the person interested in how much a Kimono costs in Japan, the cheapest one I've found is 7300 yen and was pretty ratty. Most new Kimono are 30,000 yen and up, depending on the quality.

For the person interested in Nintendo DS and Playstation Portable (PSP) prices in Japan, a DS costs approximately 19,200 yen and a new PSP costs about the same. However, you can buy "recycled" PSP (which is basically a used PSP that works just as well as a brand new one and shows no damage) costs about 13,000 yen. DS games cost between 2500 yen and 4000 yen while PSP games cost between 2500 yen and 3500 yen.

For the person interested in Harley Davidson prices in Japan, I found a bike shop near Kansai Gaidai that sells used bicycles, motorcycles and... indeed, Harleys, but the store was closed when I went so I couldn't ask how much the Harley was worth (in Japan sometimes shops don't put the price of the item where you can immediately see it). I will investigate this further.

If anyone would like to know any random information about Japan, please request by emailing me at this address or leaving a comment on this blog with your request. I will do my best to research your request while I am here and let you know!

Military Time - Oh How I Loathe You...

Allow me to clarify quickly: Every clock in Japan EXCEPT for analogue watches (of which there are very few) displays military time ONLY. And having grown up used to reading a 12 hour clock, looking at a 24 hour clock just throws me off. It takes me forever to read what time it is because I'm sitting there going "What's this 22:48 I see?" It's a constant frustration that I can't even read the clock on my new cell phone without having to think, "okay, what's this minus 12?" Thus, I heart my watches because they tell me what time it really is without me having to think too much.

Anyway, on to why I haven't written in a very long time... Please forgive me on the weekends--right now I am currently unable to type a long post on the weekends because if I do, I will be typing on my host family's computer, meaning I'm hogging their family computer, and typing anything takes twice as long because a) it's a Japanese keyboard and NOTHING is where it's supposed to be, and b) it's a really old computer so the spacebar is sticky and I have to mash it two or three times to get it to insert a space. I am investigating the possibility of going to a Media Cafe (I hear there's a new one in Hirakata), but until I get this all figured out, gomen nasai for not being able to write much on the weekends.

Just to clarify, a Media Cafe is different from an Internet Cafe in that a Media cafe is a little nicer, cheaper, and doesn't just give you an internet connection but allows you to rent all forms of media. Most have a huge comic book archive for you to read (sometimes they're called Manga Cafe's for this reason). Based on the description I was given, I would not be surprised if such Cafe's also rented CDs and DVDs. If not, I'm sure there's a Tsutaya (a very big CD and DVD rental chain in Japan) nearby.

Allow me to sum up the past few days. I have been exceedingly busy, so this shall be a long post. Grab a cup of coffee and sit in your favorite comfy chair, you know, the one with the leg rest...

Saturday
I woke up at about 10 in the morning so I'd arrive in Shinsaibashi by a decent hour. On the subway, Shinsaibashi is the stop just before Namba. My Dynamics teacher (whom I adore) had mentioned that there was a Sony building right by the station where you could play with applied science--i.e. new technology not out in the store yet--for absolutely free. So, the plan was to find this "tall, silver building that you can't miss" and play with the new technology for a day. However, when we arrived to Shinsaibashi, we couldn't find the building. When we finally asked, the girl who responded to us said, in English, "It's broken," and then told us where to find it. The building itself is covered in lovely white cardboard so we couldn't see the construction going on inside. We weren't allowed inside. So, from what we could see, the Sony building in Shinsaibashi was either under repairs/remodel, or it may even have been sold and was being turned into an office building. So, a little dishearten, we decided to make the trip worthwhile and explore Shinsaibashi.

Shinsaibashi has a street that is completely covered and has many many stores on either side. Some stores of note are the Hello Kitty Store (three stories filled with an overdose of cuteness), the Disney Store (that changed its entire outdoor framework to reflect Halloween), and the Engrish t-shirt store. There were also several clothing stores, a few "hippy stores" (as we called them; think romancing the stone, darkstar visuals, and passages combined into one place; I love these stores!), and even a military shop. I wish I had gotten photos of the military shop because it was fascinating from an anthropological perspective. This shop sold everything you associate with the military (excluding weapons, real and fake, because most Japanese don't own guns apparently) but there were only two military groups represented at this store, and neither of these were Japanese. The two military groups (very accurate models of their uniforms were in the windows) were the American modern soldier, and... guess what... 1940s Germany???? Complete with Nazi arm band and fake Hitler mustache.

We spent the day mostly in Shinsaibashi, but we actually walked from Shinsaibashi station all the way to Namba station and back, plus a few detours on the side. It took us all day. In Shinsaibashi, I had Subway for lunch (we found a subway shop in Japan!) where I had roast beef on sesame bread (I loves sesame bread!!!).

By the end of the evening, we'd been everywhere we wanted to go in Shinsaibashi but weren't yet tired and didn't feel like eating at Subway again, so we hopped on the subway and took it to Umeda, which is one step backwards from Yodoyabashi (Shinsaibashi is two steps forward; Yodoyabashi is the station where you can get to the subway from the Keihan train line that runs through Hirakata). In Umeda, we had a wonderful curry dinner where we got a 100yen discount for being foreigners (that's a major reason we chose said restaurant; sometimes it's good to be a foreigner), and for dinner we went one floor down to visit the sweets museum. Then, Heather and I followed Tony and Kyle around while trying this place Kyle wanted to go to--well, we never found it. So, we went back to Yodoyabashi, caught the last train to Hirakata, the last bus to Seminar House 4, and then Amanda road her bike up to Makino where she lives. The ride home is almost all downhill and I haven't had anyone even try to keep up with me yet--not even cars can keep up with me when I go down that hill! Which means, I'm on a bike going over 30 kmph, which makes my heart smile.

Sunday - Monday
On Sunday I went through the stressful process of buying a phone at Kuzuha Mall (and went shopping there whilst I was at it--I figure if I've got two hours of free parking, I'm going to spend 2 hours at Kuzuha!). The process of buying the phone was bad because at first the guy to whom I was speaking could not understand me at all. Buying a phone has specialized vocabulary and I was standing there wishing my host mother would have at least offered to come with me. Lucky for me, another employee came in and she spoke English so I was able to get a phone. I bought the cheapest plan I could get. I get 100 min per month, approximately 150 emails (Japanese phones have full blown email instead of text messages), and a free phone for signing up for a 3000yen a month plan (approx 30$). Oh, and cancellation fee (this was important to me since if I get a plan, I'll have to cancel it when I leave Japan in May) is also 3000 yen. AND calling AU phone to AU phone is 50% off (AU is not quite cingular/att&t). And the free phone is a pretty snazzy phone too. I mean, it's not an iphone, but it's so much better than my crappy little phone I had in US. On Sunday, I also went exploring while it was still a decent day and arrived home just in time to take cover from the rain. I napped during the rain.

Monday was Autumnal Equinox Day, meaning I had no class so I spent the day catching up on sleep and homework. I also watched a TV show with my host family called Doors. Apparently it is a game show that is run once every year. Contestants are faced with several challenges, in which contestants are eliminated based on how they do. One challenge was to drive a bike across a 250km long, approx 1 foot wide floating platform. If you fall in, you fail, however, if you lose the bike but you yourself don't fall in the water, you can run across to get half the points. Another challenge was a memory game. You see a series of 8 colors and you have to recall them in order. If you do not recall them in order, a bungee throws you up in the air and you hang there and wait for them to make fun of you and then let you down. The last challenge was to drop a metal ball into a basket with a hole the width of a CD, only you must do said task from the top of a cliff that's at least 5 stories tall. I really enjoyed it.

Tuesday
Tuesday was spent freaking out over the amount of assignments I have this week. I just need to make it through Friday... Tuesday afternoon, after attending the absolutely wonderful class of Dynamics, I purchased my discounted ticket to Hiroshima. I will be going to Hiroshima on October 13 (Whee!!!) and will probably spend the night there (which reminds me, I should probably check out studentuniverse for a cheap hotel). I have decided that instead of riding the bus home, I will spend the extra 30$ and buy a shinkansen ticket back home too so that I spend 1hour 30 min in traveling instead of 8 hours of traveling via bus. 30$ is worth my sanity. And if I do nothing else while I'm here this semester, I absolutely, beyond a shadow of a doubt, MUST go to Hiroshima while I am in Japan. Now that I bought the ticket, I can officially say that I am going to Hiroshima.

Today
Today has been exhausting (this whole week has been such and I've only spent two days in class!). I have so much work due tomorrow and Friday. H2P has been replaced by Japanese as the class that eats away my life. Just incase you didn't know, I have two Japanese classes. Spoken Japanese meets five days a week while Written Japanese meets three days a week, and both classes demand all my time and energy. Obviously, my writing and speaking is getting so much better, but at the same time, I always have a headache because I've been thinking so hard. For instance, I just spent 30 min recording three dialogues. The actual recording took less than two minutes. However, I'm always encouraged because I can understand most of what's being said to me now. For instance, yesterday I acted as translator for Heather (who is in the beginning level of Japanese) so she could buy a bike, and did so rather successfully (she bought the bike with no troubles). In any restaurant, I am able to order my own food and understand what they say to me. And it thrills me to no end when I see a sign written in Kanji and I can read its entirety...

Hope you have enjoyed this entry and thank you to everyone who commented here and emailed me and made sure I knew you were reading. I heart you guys, you make me feel very loved!

Two Long Weekends in a Row

I have very little time, so this will be done as quickly as possible. This week has been outstandingly busy (and continues to be so) so I'm sorry for the lack of updates.

Saturday, September 15
I woke up rather late and spent the day navigating the train and subway systems of Japan. I went to Umeda, where there is a five-story electronics mall and bought a card-reader for my camera so that I can now transfer photos onto the computer. Photos of Fushimi-Inari shrine are on Facebook--if you do not have Facebook, be patient with me while I attempt to find time to put them on photobucket for you to see.

Sunday, September 16
I went to the Eisaa festival in Osaka. I was rather disappointed in the festival itself (it was great for 5 minutes and then got incredibly repetitive). So, after about an hour in the sand pit on a hot day, several of us (myself included) decided we would leave said festival and go shopping. We found a shop that sells Playstation Portables (PSPs) for 16000 yen (approx 160$, which is a fantastically good price). I intend to research the PSP (can I play US dvds and games on the Japanese system, do I have to have a converter, and if so, how much does it cost...) and then reassess my finances and decide if it is possible to buy myself said item. I REALLY wants one because it plays dvds, cds, and mp3s, but I MUST research it some more to decide if it is worth the money. Also went shopping again in Umeda, this time at a 7 story mall, where I bought nothing (it was all so expensive!).

Monday, September 17
Respect for the aged day. I slept in until 1:00pm because I was so tired from walking all day Saturday and Sunday. Then I spent the rest of the day catching up on homework.

Tuesday, September 18 - Thursday, September 20
Classes and tests. Kanji test, vocab test, and still tired from the weekend so I've been exhausted. Today is my short day so I intend to hang out with Heather for 15 minutes after class and then go home and go to bed.

Friday, September 21 - Monday, September 24
Another three day weekend. My Dynamics class is cancelled tomorrow (I'm actually really disappointed!) so I'm going to Osaka with Heather. Saturday, we have decided that we are going to go to Osaka again to find the Sony building. The trip is between 400 and 600 yen (depending on which station you come from) and once you get there, I hear that you can ride the elevator to the top and explore the top floors for free. The top floors, by the way, are filled with electronics that Sony hasn't even put out on the market yet. You can play around with said objects, but I don't know if you can take pictures (probably not). For under 10 dollars round trip, that's not a bad deal at all!

Saturday, October 13
Okay, this is what has had me so busy all week--on this day, my Dynamics class is going on a fieldtrip to Hiroshima. I REALLY want to go because there's so much must-see places and must-do things in Hiroshima. First off, one of the top three sights in Japan (the torii in the middle of the lake) is there, plus we're going to hear a atomic bomb survivor speak about her experiences (once in a lifetime opportunity here) and of course exploring Hiroshima afterwards. Due to the timing, I will be spending the night in Hiroshima, and I have to take the shinkansen (bullet train) to get there. So, this week has been filled with paperwork, calculations, and making sure I can afford to go. This is one of those "I will give up going to tokyo if it means I can go to hiroshima" descisions, I think. Maybe not. We'll see. But no matter what, if I can go and still afford to live here in Japan, I am GOING to Hiroshima.

Rain, Rain, Go Away. Come Again Some Other day...

It's threatening to rain again today, which would be just fine except between 5 and 6 pm. I have to ride home in the rain and though I have an umbrella, ella, ella, I haven't quite mastered the ability to ride a bike and hold an umbrella at the same time. This appears to be a common ability in Japan, but I can't even direct a bike with only one hand yet. Not to worry, though, I am practicing my mad bike-riding skillz... So by next semester I might be practiced enough (and brave enough) to use this special talent.

Yesterday I went shopping at the hyaku-en store at Kuzuha mall and bought for myself two desk organizers, two cute letter sets, and a hairbrush for essentially 6.30$. I love hyaku-en stores--I always check there first whenever I need something. Unlike US dollar stores, you can usually find just about anything at a hyaku-en store, and of fairly good quality too. The only thing I've bought at a hyaku-en store that I haven't been happy with is an umbrella (it's too small and it leaks so I use instead a bigger and better one that I got for free...) I enjoyed my shopping trip. I saw many stationary with engrish written all over it. One set is covered with sentences that supposedly have to do with fashion, but when you actually read them, the english makes absolutely no sense. I tried to read the Engrish with a Japanese eye (sometimes if you do that, the Engrish makes sense), but in this case there was just no way to make the words make sense except that they sounded sorta pretty together (albeit sorta disturbing too)... The sets that I got are of Charmmy Kitty (I'm guessing from the looks of her that she's Hello Kitty's younger sister?) and of a pattern with a little bit of Engrish on it: "Textile Collection. The colors that make the colors of a grown woman." I bought both because I think they're prettyful :) I have, however, been inspired to create a Engrish collection of photos. Assuming I can find a card reader to transfer the photos to the computer. I'm slowly running out of room on my card, and I have the Eisaa festival on Sunday so...

For dinner last night I had very mild Shrimp Chili (my host sister Yoshi, thankfully, prefers things super mild like I do so I didn't have to worry about anything super spicy. Yes, I'm aware that I am a weakling). I went to bed shortly after because I've been really tired all the time. I study too much; that's what I'm blaming my fatigue on. Seriously, I spend at least two hours on studying and homework every day, as compared to two hours a week at the most on studying and homework back in the United States. My brain is overloaded and tired.

At breakfast today, my host mother and I discussed politics. In case you don't know, Prime Minister Abe resigned. I asked what happens when a Prime Minister resigns in Japan, and she said that usually the party's representatives will elect a new Prime Minister from within their party, but that this time things will be different (according to her, the current public opinion of Prime Minister Abe is so low that a complete new election may be necessary). Just so you'll get a perspective on this... Prime Minister Abe was elected with significant support, went through three Agricultural Ministers in the past year, and also has several other Ministers that the general public dislikes. Therefore, he got to spend only a year in office before his situation forced him to resign.

Things are about to get really interesting (to me anyway). With Prime Minister Abe gone, I can watch how the Japanese government deals with such a happening. Plus, I can compare this situation to what I know of the United States and impeachment (or at least, resignation before being kicked out; I'm thinking Nixon here, who also when he was elected had a high support among the population...) Comparative Politics, and I get to experience it by being there! And, of course, it helps that at home we have a bi-lingual news channel (so I can understand what's being said) and I'm taking this class called the Dynamics of Modern Japan, which of course will definitely discuss what's going on since it deals with politics and history... I think I'm going to have to start reading the newspaper. More details when I have them.

I also had the very encouraging experience today of reading a passage in Japanese and not once having an english translation cross in my head. Meaning, that I was thinking and understanding what I read entirely in Japanese. This means (to me) that I'm making progress in becoming a competent speaker. For the past few weeks, I'd been a little discouraged because I could remember so few words (well, the words are coming back now), and my Japanese is slow and broken. But, to be able to read a passage in Japanese and comprehend it in Japanese... I'm really thrilled and it was just the encouragement I needed.

This weekend is a three-day weekend because Monday is Respect for the Aged day, so I intend to spend Saturday catching up on homework and buying a cord for my camera so that I can transfer pictures, and Sunday at the Eisaa festival in Osaka, where I will fill up my camera memory card yet again, I'm sure. If I'm lucky, I may even be able to get the battery door on my camera fixed since Nikon is a Japanese brand...

Miss everyone!

Just Another Day in the Adventure

I visited Soft Bank yesterday and I was... sorta victorious. The Soft Bank shop near the 99yen shop does indeed sell prepaid cell phones to foreign students (yay!) but due to the fact that there are so many of us all looking for phones, they were sold out when I visited. I will visit again Friday to see if they have any more in.

Last night I had Chinese so nothing really new to relay about the meals I have been eating.

This weekend:
This weekend is a three day weekend since Monday is "Respect for the Aged Day," which means that I can procrastinate on my homework until Monday (hee hee). Though my plans for this weekend are very vague, one thing is for sure. I will be going with my Anthropology class to see the Eisa festival.

For those of you (like me) have never heard of the Eisa festival until now, here's a little background information. After the war, America held juristidiction over Japan until they wrote Japan a new constitution (which is currently a subject of debate within Japan, but that's another story). However, the Americans held onto the island Okinawa for a significantly longer amount of time than they did the rest of the islands. After the Americans left, Okinawa experienced a diaspera that resulted in a large group of Okinawans settling in the Kansai area (Osaka-Kyoto). Because of this diaspera, every year, the Okinawans in the Kansai area hold a festival that acts as an ethnic assertion festival. This festival is huge, and features ethnic dances as well as Japanified rock and roll (the result of the longer period of American occupation in Okinawa).

I think this will be very enjoyable, and on top of everything, we are encouraged to take pictures. So, saturday I will go on a quest for batteries for my camera and hopefully will have enough space on my card to capture the event. Then, having a card reader will become my top priority.

Who Dared to Invent Studying?

So. My head hurts, I'm tired, and I should probably be studying, but I'm a little against studying all day. I just have to survive my Kanji quiz in a little more than an hour or so and I'll be fine (i.e., I'll be needing to study my vocabulary...) I'm always so tired because I work hard all day long and I can't really sleep well on a little less-than-an-inch-thin futon. So I feel like I'm spending a lot more time sleeping.

I don't know how my host family does it. I wake up around 9 every day (give or take an hour depending on class) and they've been awake for a while. I go to bed between 10 and 11 and they're still up watching movies and talking. I'm not really sure when they sleep. Part of what makes me so tired is that I'm always studying, and part of it is that it gets dark around 6:00 or so here. Japan has no daylight savings time so that just means as it gets colder, it will get darker earlier. It's really throwing me off (dark means I should go to bed in about two or three hours, right?).

The search for a cell phone is still fruitless and I still have no card-reader. I did look at card-readers yesterday and the ones at the Joshin store (not the 5 story camera equipment and electronics mall in Osaka, mind you) were not what I wanted. I just want one that plugs into the USB. I am going to the last place I know to look for a cell phone today and I now have the name of the station which I need to get to in order to visit the 5 story electronics mall. Now that I have a name, it shouldn't be so hard to get to by train.

Last night, I had a really good dinner that wouldn't be that hard to make. You start with one of those electric pots that heat the water without being over the stove. You put water in it, bring it to a boil, and then just put in whatever you want to cook while at the dinner table. Each person eats whatever they want but you can put anything in. Then, you take the item out and put it in a bowl of sesame sause mixed with water to dilute it, then eat it. You can put anything into this dish. Last night, I had shitake mushrooms, carrots, shrimp, pork, a whole lot of what looked like lettuce and tasted like a slightly spicy version of lettuce... You can put anything into this dish though. My family members also had tofu and something called fu. I, of course, did not eat the tofu because I don't like it, but I tried the fu. There is really no way to describe the taste except that it is soft and it really doesn't taste much like anything at all. I only had one for that reason. I'm not exactly sure of the name of the dish (I knew it last night but I forgot to write it down) but I really liked it.

I hope everyone is doing well!

Placement Test II

One thing I love about classes in Japan is that all the teachers here hand back assignments the next class period. And if not the assignment with comments on it, then at least the grade. I don't have my review placement test back yet but because I did not get a re-placement note in the mail (we have little mailboxes in the CIE building) that means I get to stay in the class. I passed. Of course, I'm not sure if that means I did well or not, but it does mean that I passed, which makes me feel so much better.

I am on what seems to be a never-ending epic quest to get a cell phone. I feel like Odysseus on his way home--it seems like something is always baring my way (though thankfully I haven't come across any swirling whirlpools of death yet).

I also have a kanji quiz coming tomorrow. I have decided to stay at level 2 for my kanji instead of moving to level 3. Level 2 is a little slow for me because I know more kanji than I'm supposed to know, just not the right ones, but in order to jump I'll have to spend today and tomorrow cramming something like 100 kanji into my head. So, I have decided not to cram and stress out, but instead to take the slower pace and count my blessings. I kind of need the writing class to be a little slow because spending every day in speaking makes my head hurt. (I'm definitely at the right level but still it's a lot of information to cram into my head). So I can relax a little instead of stressing out over two Japanese classes.

Update on Fushimi-Inari Shrine:
I still do not have a card-reader (the goal is to get that either tomorrow or the next day) so no pictures yet. However, I do have some information on Inari, the patron of Fushimi-inari shrine. It so turns out that we discussed the general understanding of shrines and divinities in Shinto class yesterday and as an example, the teacher used Inari. So, here's what I learned: Inari is the Shinto god of rice and sake (ah, so the sake makes sense now) and his nature is understood in several different ways. To the priests, Inari is an old man. To the commoner, Inari is a fox. To the businessman, Inari is the god of business as well as rice (because rice was once the business of Japan). To the Buddhists in Japan, Inari is actually a young woman who rides a white fox. Regardless of what you think Inari is, it is generally agreed that Inari owns a few special objects. These objects are the jewel of wishes (a Buddhist thing but integrated almost seamlessly into Shinto), a scroll of "teachings" (though Shinto has no sacred texts or overall recognized rules, so maybe the scroll is blank, but that sounds rather like Zen to say that), and a key to the gate of the great rice storehouse. Therefore, Inari holds the key to rice, wealth, and happiness. However, Inari is not necessarily a nice guy. He's not someone that lavishes his gifts on human beings--instead, he will give you these gifts in exchange for proper practice at his shrine (which explains the businessmen that were all over the lower-level of the shrine). This, of course, is a very simplistic understanding of Inari (the class isn't about indoctrination, so we're only learning a very general understanding so that we can then discuss how it affects life in Japan), but I thought you might be interested to know what I found out about the shrine itself.

Monday, Monday... Can't Trust that Day....

Technically since I'm in Japan, I should be singing about Getsuyoubi rather than Monday. I'm a little depressed--I guess I thought that since I am in Japan, I wouldn't be having any bad days. Today has already proved that theory wrong.

For starters, last night I foolishly watched a movie with Aki-chan (the younger of my host sisters). Said movie turned out to be a scary movie, and the fact that I couldn't understand half of what was said only made it that much more scary because I may not be able to understand what is said, but I can definately follow the images and the screams, ya? I think it would have been less scary had I known what was going on. And, like any scary movie, I couldn't just stop watching the movie.

So I didn't sleep very well (I kept thinking that someone was staring at me, but that's just me being paranoid after a movie in which people wake up to see someone staring at them, and then die...), and on top of that I got sick (I attribute that to either the tofu or the egg that I ate at lunch yesterday, which tasted a little funny). I already don't sleep well because I sleep on a futon that's extra thin and wake up with a sore back in the morning anyway, so it's safe to say I got maybe two hours of solid sleep. So, I'm very tired, I have a massive headache and on top of THAT I'm still sore from Saturday's climb, and I woke up late and so I had to pedal as fast as my sore legs would let me all the way to KGU where I was five minutes late for the review test.

Oh yeah, the review test. The review test is meant as a final placement--do badly on this and they might put you back in a lower class. So, I simply HAD to make a high enough score to stay in the level that I'm at (it feels just right), but not too high or they'll bump me up into level 4 which I am NOT ready for. Of course, considering everything that went on last night and this morning, I did well. But the graders aren't considering that, are they? So now on top of everything else I am stressed out about that test and worried that I didn't do well enough to show them that I know what I'm doing and need to stay where I am. I may go talk to the teacher later to explain what all has been going on, but I already feel bad because I was late (I did say sorry but still...)

So I really hope and pray that I did well enough to stay in level 3. Tonight I'm going to get extra sleep and be ready for the placement test in the Kanji class. In that class I know I'm a little ahead, so... Maybe I'll move up to level 3 in there as well.

The goal today: don't fall asleep in Anth class.

Exploring Kyoto with no Translator = fun!

This weekend's plans were "explore Kyoto." I don't know if you know this, but Kyoto is almost as big as Osaka, which is approximately the size of New York City. We didn't really have a plan on where to go in Kyoto, nor did we have a native Japanese speaker among our group of four to guide us. All we had was a tourist's guide to Japan that was (thankfully) written in English, courtesy of Heather. So we set off on Saturday morning at about 10:30 from Seminar House 4 to Hirakata-shi where we caught the train.

Having ridden a train only once before, I still acted like a total gaijin and stand near the door so I can stare out the window. It was decided on the train that we were going to go to Fushimi-inari Shrine. For those of you who do not know what Fushimi-inari shrine is, think Memoirs of a Geisha, when Chiyo runs through all those magnificent torii. (yes, we went entirely because we wanted to see the shrine where that moment was filmed)

Fushimi-inari shrine is maybe three blocks down the road from Fushimi-inari station (which is a local station and only local trains stop there, meaning the train ride to get there is very very slow). Fortunately, at the station there is a sign written in English that says Fushimi-inari Shrine and an arrow pointing the way (though I think we could have figured it out otherwise because the kanji for the station and the shrine should probably be the same, you would think). Just like Kiyomizu temple, Fushimi-inari shrine has many shops on the way to the shrine. It's very good advertising--the shrine had stone carvings of foxes everywhere and the shops had little cute versions of the fox all over the place (I bought a fox keychain that jingles and has two of what must be the cutest foxes I've ever seen on it).

I have several pictures that will be uploaded to facebook and photobucket as soon as I find a card-reader. For now, I'll try and describe it to you.

About the shrine:
Fushimi-inari is a shinto shrine, though I'm not sure to whom or what, though I'm betting whatever it is either is a fox or really likes foxes. Oh, and whatever it is really likes sake too (there were almost 200 little alters on the way to the top and each one had a sake set sitting on it). One of the interesting things about Fushimi-inari is that there are two major parts to the shrine. The first is not that far into the shrine and features what I would call the every-day use of the shrine. To get to it, you walk through a set of tall torii and then through the same set of torii that Chiyo runs through in Memoirs of a Geisha. The second set of torii are thinner, closer together, and much shorter than the first set. I was able to walk through it without bending over, but I know several people who would not have been able to walk upright within those torii. After the second set, there is a major area where you can do several things you typically do at a shinto shrine. For instance, you can buy charms to help you do better in school, have good health, get a boyfriend, and just about everything else. You can also buy a plain peice of wood, or, for a little bit higher price, you can buy wood in the shape of a fox face, and on the wood you write your troubles. At night, the wood is burned and supposidly your troubles are burned up along with the wood. Also in the area is a small alter with torii all over it (you can also buy small wooden toriis and write your troubles on them as well) where business men come to pray during their lunch breaks (which I found rather interesting anthropologically).

The second major part of the temple is not for the faint of heart or the physically handicapped. You start at the bottom and climb stairs all the way to the top of the mountain. The toriis are partially shaded so sometimes you get a cool breeze to help you and sometimes you're standing in the blazing hot sun. Additionally, the price of water is directly proportunate to how high you've climbed (at the bottom it was a large bottle for 120 yen; at the top it was a small can of water for 200 yen). Also, the shrine tricks you along the way three times into thinking you've reached the top by strategically placing three smaller alters along the way and making the gated pathway go down a little before it goes back up again, each time with even steeper stairs. I can't tell you how glad we were when we finally reached the top (with the largest shrine/alter up even more stairs but we didn't bother trying to go up them). Fushimi-inari really makes you work for your goal.

So, you could say that I climbed a mountain on Saturday. If that wasn't enough, we had to walk back down the steep stairs to the bottom where we rested and bought souvenirs. I bought a fan (it was hot and the fan was cheap but pretty) and a little keychain with bells and two little foxes to remind me that yes, I did make it all the way to the top of Fushimi-inari. I am also convinced that an accurate english translation of Fushimi-inari shrine would be "Shrine of the foxes and never-ending staircase."

We then got back on the train and headed towards the last stop in Kyoto, Demachiyaga (sp?) station. There we got off the train and went to a little hole-in-the-wall restaurant (tinier than Taste of Thai) where we had lunch at about 4 pm. One thing I haven't mentioned about Japanese restaurants before is that outside the door most restaurants will have a display that shows you what each of their specialty dishes looks like, along with a name (usually in Kanji) written on paper in front of the display. This restaurant's specialty was ramen but what I had, I am told, is essentially the Japanese version of a Chinese rice bowl. It was a bowl of rice topped with vegetables and meat (I think beef) and shrimp (very small amount of meat and shrimp) all doused in a sort of sause. It is simply delicious and I must find out how to make said sause (everything else looked fairly simple to make).

We were originally going to go to the Golden Pavillion but it closed at 4, so we wandered around near the station for about an hour after we ate. Next to the station is a river and a park where people from that side of the city come to hang out on nice days such as Saturday. That Saturday, someone was sponsoring a local band to play on the island in the middle of the river. They made the four of us english speakers laugh. Half of their song had the engrish words "sekushi" (sexy) and "beibii" (baby) thrown randomly into the lyrics. Of course, we got several stares since we were the only non-Japanese people within a ten foot radius, but it was still fun.

Dark clouds began to show up so we left the park just in time to get underground and on the train before it rained. The ride home was very quiet because we were all very tired (who wouldn't be after climbing a mountain??). We road the bus back to Seminar House 4 where everyone else went to bed, but I still had a good 15 minute bike ride to my house near makino station. Had I known how to get home from Makino, I would have preferred to get off the train there.

Sunday, I was surprised that I was able to walk. I was still very sore, but not so much that it prohibited me from going shopping with my host mother at kazuha mall. We ate at a Chinese place and discussed Halloween. She teaches an english class and tries to give her students as much American culture as possible by celebrating American holidays. She wanted to know how Americans celebrate Halloween, and I told her as much as I could. At the chinese restaurant, what I had was essentially a breakfast. It was egg and pork and that's all. Oh and a coke, but the coke at the restaurant tasted funny because it wasn't anywhere near as carbonated as the coke I'm used to. There was also melon Fanta but I'm a little wary of trying that since it looks radioactive green...

For dinner I had fish and a rice bowl and I also tried the tofu thinking that maybe Japanese tofu would taste better than American tofu. No. Tofu tastes like tofu and tofu tastes absolutely nasty. I'm not sure how I managed to eat the whole peice she gave me but I was trying to be as polite as possible. When she offered more, my polite Japanese suddenly came back to me: "Tofu wa chotto..." I did eat more of the fish though.

I have decided that I love rice. I've been eating at least one bowl of rice per day and I haven't gotten tired of it yet. The truth is that rice is a part of almost every type of meal. You can't avoid eating it, but not that I want to since rice tastes good no matter what it is cooked with (except maybe tofu, but I'm not willing to find out).

TGIK - Thank God It's Kinyoubi!

In case you haven't guessed, Kinyoubi means Friday. And yes, thank God it is Friday because that means I have an entire weekend to do whatever. (probably studying, unfortunately)

Update on the Typhoon - It hit Tokyo and we got some rain last night but I don't remember any of it because I was asleep so it can't have been that bad. I woke up this morning and wondered if we even got rain until I went outside and saw that the very small amount of grass on our front yard (seriously, maybe one yard by two yards space) was indeed wet meaning that we indeed got rain.

Today I finish my alien registration and hopefully buy a cell phone. That is, if I can find a place that sells prepaid cell phones. I'm going to the Soft Bank store in Vivre first because the last time I was there I saw some phones for 4000 yen (40$). Hopefully they offer a prepaid plan for those phones. I want a cute and pretty one!

Tomorrow, if the weather is nice and our plans don't fall through, I may be going exploring in Kyoto. Which will be interesting because of the four who have already said they will go, to my knowledge, I am the one with the most knowledge of the language. Kyoto will be very interesting indeed. We'll probably visit Kiyomizu temple again because it's so gorgeous, but we're hoping to find some other things to do in Kyoto.

Lastly, having two classes entirely in Japanese is killing me because I have homework every night. It makes my head hurt and makes me tired. But, at the same time, it is helping my language skills very much, so I guess it's not all bad. I just don't like it, that's all.

But tomorrow is the weekend so I can escape shukudai, if only for a day.

Typhoons, Earthquakes, and ...Futons? Oh my!

Just a short update today (I'll try and have several more of these). Classes are going good and I'm adjusting to the crazy scheduling. I've discovered that I kinda like the extra long breaks to check my email, post on this blog, and (if the break is long enough) go exploring in Hirakata-shi. Today is my short day--I get out of class at 2:20 (the rest of the week I'm stuck in class until 5:20, which sucks). The plan today is to get registered as an alien (eek, I'm an alien!) and get a prepaid cell phone so I can actually communicate with the world here in Osaka.

Check your news updates on this side of the world tonight (or rather, your morning). Two nights ago, we received a small earthquake in the Hirakata area. By small, I mean that I didn't even know about it until today. I slept right through it, but I am told that the world that was awake at that time felt the building shake and all looked at each other wondering if that was an earthquake they just felt. I'm not sure if being able to sleep through an earthquake is something to be proud of or not. Hopefully if a more powerful one hits it will wake me up, ne? It'd be bad to sleep through a 5 or a 6... Might not wake up. But as for this one, I don't know how bad it was. I'd say it was either a 1 or a 2, maybe a 3 at the most. But I'm betting 1.

Also, check your news because a typhoon is scheduled to directly hit Tokyo area tonight (my time). Said typhoon is supposidly larger than the entire country, so I'm sure we'll get some of the typhoon. Can't say I've ever been in a typhoon before, so I intend to be home before it hits tonight. I will say this though: the news says that the typhoon will hit Tokyo, but as of yesterday it was on a pretty direct path to Osaka, so I don't know if it's going to suddenly take a sharp north turn and go to Tokyo like they are predicting. Either way, we'll definately get some of this typhoon. I hope it cools the weather down.

If anyone is intersted in more news in Japan, look up information about the THIRD minister of agriculture that's resigning since Prime Minister Abe was re-elected in Japan. It will be very interesting to see what happens after this resignation, if anyone is interested in international politics. I know I'll be watching (can't promise I'll understand everything being said though).

I am also interested in finding out who won the baseball game last night (I had to stop watching because of dinner and homework), but when I left, the Kansai Tigers were beating the Yokohama Baystars by 1 point. I hope the Tigers won!

And lastly, in regards to the title of this entry... I have been sleeping on a futon for the past four nights and I have to say that it is very very uncomfortable. The futon is maybe an inch thick (maybe) and the floor beneith is a tatami mat floor. I'm getting a little better about finding a comfortable position to sleep in though, so maybe that means I'm getting used to it. However, I will be very glad when I return to the States and get to sleep on a real bed. At least in the Seminar houses they gave you a sort of matress to put on top of the futon...

Dinner last night was pizza and curry noodles (both of which were good). Breakfast this morning was chicken noodle soup (the noodles were ramen noodles), and a little bit of egg. The soup was good but it's so hot outside still that I think maybe ramen would have been better later on in the year.

Class? What's that? What do you mean I have to take classes?

If you make a person start class two weeks later than she usually does, odds are she'll forget that there are such things as classes. Throw in the KGU class schedule, which is crazy enough as it is, and you have a very confused girl. It really doesn't feel like classes are in session--more like I have a whole bunch of appointments during the day that I have to show up for. Allow me to explain... No, there is too much, allow me to sum up... (just kidding).

Sunday afternoon I moved out of the Seminar House and into the Yuasa house. My new home is approximately 20 minutes away from the university by bike. It is a small house with no air conditioning except in the kitchen/laundry/living room unit. Needless to say, I spend most of my time at home in the living room. My room is the only room on the first floor, across the hall from the living room. Also on the first floor is the shower room and the toilet. One thing I love about Japanese houses is that the bathing room is completely separate from the toilet. It's such a wonderful idea; I wonder why American houses don't do that. It's really nice because I can take my time with the shower and not have to worry about hogging the bathroom.

Upstairs are everyone else's rooms and a small little desk with a computer on it that they allow me to use to check my email. However, I rarely use it because the upstairs is not air-conditioned and heat rises, but also because the keyboard on the computer is a Japanese style keyboard. It takes me forever to type something because only the letters and numbers are in the right place. The shifts and the space bar are very different, and the special symbols are in a totally different place (the @ is where the [ symbol is, and the apostrophe is where the & symbol is).

The family is mostly quiet because the mother is the only one who can carry on an entire conversation in English (which I like because it forces me to use my Japanese). Sometimes I can follow their conversations, sometimes I cannot. As for the father and the two daughters, we communicate mostly through gestures, though I can understand some words like jitensha (bike), yokatta (it was good), oishii(delicious), asui (essentially: it's hot outside), and of course kanji. Of course, every day I spend in conversation class, I get a little better. I just have to remember everything, that's all.

In just three days, I have tried a whole bunch of new foods in Japan. At school, I usually order the curry rice (it's Japanese curry, which I think in America is called golden curry). The main reason I order this is because I actually know how to order curry rice in Japanese, rather than pointing at a menu item and saying ano.... hitosu onegaishimasu... (which means that one.... just one plate please). But at home, I have tried several foods very different from those we eat in America. My first meal was entirely too much for me to eat (she placed at least five different things in front of me) but most of it was good. I had Japanese pizza (which had corn on it), sushi (two types--the kind with the seaweed and the kind without), something called sunomono which is sorta like a salad, peaches and pears, french fries, and a rice omelet. I tried a little of everything, but I certainly couldn't eat all that by myself. As for Sushi, I don't really like it. The seaweed is entirely too salty for me. As for the kind without seaweed, I'm not entirely fond of it either, but the kind that is made of rice and squid is okay (yes I had squid sushi). Yoshi (the eldest daughter) likes squid sushi the best. Sunomono is kinda like a salad. It has thinly sliced cucumber and whatever else you feel like throwing in, and instead of dressing, you soak the cucumber and other materials in a mixture of sugar and vinegar. I like sunomono when it's made of cucumbers only. My first night, it was made with cucumbers and octopus... Octopus is not bad but it's not something I'd eat all the time. It's a little rubbery.

On my second night I got lost on the way home and managed to find my way back to Seminar House 4 before dark so I could ask for directions. I now know my way home perfectly and will never be lost again, but it was not a fun experience. But, dinner definitely made things much better. I had tempura, which is probably my favorite Japanese food thus far (curry rice running a close second). Shrimp tempura is kinda like popcorn shrimp in the United States except that when the Japanese fry things it is a lot lighter and healthier than the US version. I must learn to cook tempura! Other things you can make with tempura is eggplant (which isn't bad but not my favorite), green pepper, and I'm not sure what the other thing was that I had but it was also tempura and it was also good.

As for last night, I had eel and rice, sunomono, and egg drop soup. Eel and rice bowl was... Well I liked the rice but the eel had a funny texture that I didn't like. Egg drop soup was very very good except for the fact that it was totemo asui outside. I'll have to request it for dinner during the winter.

For dessert, we usually have peaches and pears, but they are different from American peaches (as in the peaches are pale and a little pink and fresh cut instead of from a can so they aren't as soggy, and pears taste a little sweeter). I love Japanese peaches and pears.

Most of the time I have water at dinner, but my first night I also had this thing called a fruit chuuhai (or is it chuhai...) It is absolutely amazing. It's fruity but it also has a little sake in it, but it tastes really good (as opposed to other types of alcohol which smell and taste like alcohol). It's such a lady's drink because it has so little alcohol content in it, but I like it a lot. And what amuses me is that you can get chuhai in a can out of a vending machine. Yes the drinking age in Japan is 20 but how do you enforce that when it’s in a vending machine??

Despite several weird but good foods at the dinner table, the weirdest thign I've eaten in Japan is a hot dog. It's not much different from the American one (it's smaller and more healthy) but the Japanese eat it for breakfast. Hot dogs? For breakfast??? Weird....

As for my classes, I am taking 17 hours (though it hardly feels like it) which amounts to five classes. My test results were great--I am in Level 3, class C and my professor is awesome. I attend Spoken Japanese every day (which really helps). For my reading and writing level results, I am in Level 2 because the kanji covered in the Genki book (which is the book we use here at KGU) is different from the kanji covered in the Nakama book (which is what I used in AR). So, I know a whole lot more Kanji than I'm supposed to know for level 2, but I don't know some of the kanji considered level 2 by the Genki book. This class level may change after our second placement test. Therefore, this week's focus will be studying my kanji. I attend Reading and Writing only three times a week, on Tuesday, Wednesday, and Friday.

I am also taking three classes in english. Anthropological perspectives on Japanese Culture and Everyday life is taught by Hester (I think I have read some of his stuff before), and the class itself doesn't seem to be too bad. Of the three I am taking, this seems to be the one that I will like least, though I like it a lot. The teacher is just not quite as dynamic as my other two. This class will require a lot of reading and a mini-field work project, which I think will be helpful because I haven't done field-work before and it will give me some hands-on experience on Anthropological fieldwork (which, of course, will look really good later).

The second class I am taking is called the Dynamics of Modern Japan and is like a cross between modern Japanese history and Japanese politics, and will give me a context in which to look at Japan. In our introductory class yesterday, I learned of an interesting phenomenon in Japanese culture that very few people have actually written about. I think I have found my honors thesis! Hee hee. I'm really excited about this class because the professor is amazing, the course sounds fun, and apparently we aren't too old for field trips! There are several places this professor wants to take us. For starters, he wants to take us to see Shiga prison so we get an idea of how the Japanese criminal justice and punishment system works. He also wants to take us to Hiroshima so we can see it for ourselves and listen to a real atomic bomb survivor talk about his experience (not only did this guy survive the ordeal but he's willing to talk about it). Then, there's also Emperor Meiji's tomb (apparently they bury Emperors), and the soup kitchens near the train station so we get a perspective of everything that is Japan, from all sides.

The third class I am taking is an academic study of Shinto; basically the class is split into two parts. Part one tells us what exactly Shinto is, what its beliefs are, and under what rules it operates. This is good because I have no idea what the rules of the game are according to Shinto. In fact, I know nothing about Shinto except it is a religion that originates in Japan. Part two of the class is spent discussing how Shinto affects Japanese culture (which is important to me since I'm an anthropologist, remember?). So basically, once we know the ground rules of Shinto, we study how it shapes the lives of people by which rules they follow, which rules they bend and break, and how they break those rules. Hopefully by the end of this class I will be able to understand Japan through a new context. In Japan, it may be considered by some to be a dead religion, and yet people still go to temples and some still have a shinto altar in their homes. Also, shinto shows up in politics - the Chinese get upset every time the Japanese prime minister visits a shinto shrine in Tokyo dedicated to the Japanese war-dead in WWII. They get really upset when the Taiwanese Prime Minister visits that shrine too. So hopefully this will be an interesting class to take because its not really about "okay, let's learn the way of Shinto" so much as it is "here's what shinto is and here's where it shows up in Japanese culture, in some really interesting ways." Field trips in this class too, by the way. The nearest of these is to visit Hi Matsuri (the Fire Festival).

Classes are a little strange here. Classes are not on any sort of understandable schedule. For instance, each English class meets two times a week, but it may meet at 4pm on Monday and 1 pm on Thursday. There really is no rhyme or reason to the timing of the classes, so my schedules is different every single day. That will take some getting used to… However, that’s the negative; here’s the positive. Books here are FREAKISLY inexpensive!! I just bought all my books for my FIVE classes and spent 7500 yen, which is essentially 75 dollars. In the US, it would cost me at least 200 dollars! I’m going to be so spoiled when I come back to the US and have to buy books for next fall… “What do you mean I have to pay over 100 dollars for these books?!”

I’ll try to update more since I have such long breaks between classes! Miss you guys!

My First Weekend in Japan

I apologize for the lack of updates on my part (I know there are those who would like an update every day, and I wish I could) but I’ve been really busy this weekend. I can’t really remember everything that I’ve done since I last wrote but I’ll try my best…

Thursday was very busy because I had my language lab orientation (not really necessary but that’s okay), I registered Blueberry with the university (so now I can park my bike on campus), and I attended three back to back sessions on clubs, health, and safety issues. In other words, join a club, look both ways before you cross the street, if the world around you starts shaking, hide under a table, and “you can’t tell if someone has a sexually transmitted infection just by looking at them.” Same stuff from Transitions, except definitely no where near as fun. I did learn useful information on what to do if there is an earthquake though.

For dinner on Thursday I went with Heather and her friends to eat in Hirakata-shi. We had Italian (why am I eating Italian food in Japan? I don’t know) and it was fairly good. It was way more expensive than I expected so I won’t be eating there again on the account of I can’t afford it. Besides, I like Japanese food better than Italian food anyway.

On Friday, we were told to dress up a little bit for our official Opening Ceremony. It’s a fifteen minute walk from the dorm to the university so while I had a nice dress, I refused to wear it on the account that I’d have to walk in uncomfortable shoes the whole way. And, since the dress is knee-length, taking Blueberry instead was not an option… Anyway, I did bring one pair of pants that I used to wear to work, so I dressed for work. It was REALLY hot that day too, so I was miserable in my slacks. And I thought Orientation at UA was bad… No, at least there we didn’t have a lot of humidity!

After the Opening Ceremony, I had JUST enough time to go home, change clothing, and walk back to take part in the optional tour of Kyoto. I was really excited about it because I’ve heard that Kyoto was so pretty. Well, we didn’t go all over Kyoto, but we went to Kiyamizu Temple, which was absolutely amazing so I wasn’t disappointed that I didn’t see all of Kyoto. And, after three of our group members left to go shopping (and seriously missed out, I think), the ratio of international students to Japanese students was almost 1 to 1 so we each had our own personal guide. The girl who spoke with me most was named Miho.

To get to Kyoto, we took the train. I’ve never been on a train before so it was another new experience to add to the list. Standing there waiting for the train was nerve-wracking because I saw how fast the trains moved (frightening!). But, on the train, you don’t really feel the movement, so I was a little surprised. While we were on the train, Miho tested my Japanese reading skills by having me point out every kanji that I knew, and read every sign that I could read. Over the course of the day, I remembered so much more of my Japanese because I was trying to use it. After that experience, I’m glad I’m moving into a host family because in the dorms there really isn’t much opportunity to speak anything other than English (and I don’t like that because I’m here to learn Japanese, not English).

We basically had to climb a mountain to get to Kiyamizu Temple, but after walking around so much this week, it didn’t feel like we’d climbed as high as we did. Along the way were rows and rows of shops dedicated to souvenirs. Every five or so shops there would be a store that served Green Tea flavored something (ice cream, donut, the tea itself…). Also, every block there was a shop devoted to Japanese-style fans. When we finally got to the top, the shops stopped a good hundred feet from the base of the temple, but we had to walk up at least three flights worth of stairs. The temple itself was gorgeous; made of dark wood and mostly built to overlook the mountainside and the valley below leading back to Kyoto’s streets and the long, steep walk back down.

Kiyomizu Temple has lots of interesting things to do. There is a statue of a jolly looking guy in red that must be really popular since many people were taking pictures with him. There is also a spring where you can drink the water and receive wishes (plus with it as hot as it was, the water was a welcome refreshment, even if it hadn’t given you wishes at the same time). During good weather, you can see geisha walking around the shops, there for you to take their pictures. There is also a cherry-blossom tree garden within the temple premises, so when spring arrives, I must return to hanami (flower watching) there! I’m told that when the flowers bloom, the world looks like it is covered in pink snow. Even without the cherry-blossoms, the scenery at Kiyomizu Temple was absolutely gorgeous; I could stand in one place for hours and never take it all in. I felt like such a tourist because I was taking pictures of everything, but I’m glad I did because I want to remember this trip forever!

On the way back to the station, we stopped at what Miho said was the kind of restaurant that young people stop and eat at. Dinner was very enjoyable—we arranged ourselves at the tables so that there was an even mix of international and Japanese students at every table. For dinner, I sat with Mami, Daniel, and Lisa (at least I think her name was Lisa), and Mami and Lisa ordered for us. What we decided to do was to share whatever they ordered and then split the cost among the four of us. They ordered what was essentially a cross between popcorn shrimp and tempura, a dish with onions and lettuce in some sort of sauce, a dish with what looked like little half-moon pastries with meat and spices inside, and a large bowl of fried rice. Again, I don’t remember the names of what I ate (I’m going to have to start writing all this down!) but it was very very good.

On Saturday, I spent the day with my temporary roommate Crissy and our neighbor Marisa, who is a Japanese student who chose to live in the international housing. We went to Vivre, a department store that had 7 floors. We explored the whole building in search of good prices. I did not buy anything but it was very interesting to see what parts of American popular culture are imported to Japan and what parts are not. For instance, I heard Maroon 5 over the in-store music, many shirts are written in engrish, and many items had Spongebob, Captain Jack Sparrow, Jack from the Nightmare Before Christmas, Micky and Minny Mouse, Donald Duck (but no Daisy), the unnamed female bunny from Bambi that Thumper falls in love with (but Thumper himself did not make an appearance), and Michael Jackson was there in abundance.

After shopping, we went to eat dinner at a little restaurant nearby where I had (I remembered to write this one down!) okonomiyaki. Okonomiyaki is essentially what looks like lettuce and egg (lots of egg), and your choice of meat cooked over a flat surface much like a pancake or omelet. Also, on one side they put fish meat that is so thinly sliced that it is thinner than standard notebook paper. And oh goodness, okonomiyaki is so wonderfully delicious! I love it and I’ll have to learn to cook it. I think it would make a great breakfast food, on like a Saturday morning (well, I mean, for me it’ll probably be afternoon since I sleep a little late on Saturdays, but I still call it morning…). And for dessert, we had a donut from Mister Donut (which is the Japanese version of a Krispy Kreme, though not nearly as sweet).

We also went to the Hyaku-en store, which is like a Dollar store in the US only instead of selling crap like the US ones do, the Hyaku-en store sells really awesome stuff! I’ll be buying all my school supplies from there, thank you!

Today, I am spending the day in the lab writing to you while I wait for 3:30pm to get here, when I meet with my host family and then move into their home. I’m very nervous and very excited at the same time—I hope they are as wonderful as they sound on paper.

I will try to write more often in the future!

Photos from Orientation Week...

I just realized that not everyone who is reading this blog has facebook and therefore can't see my photos. Therefore, I have set up an account on Photobucket for you to view the photos, but unfortunately, I don't know how to write a comment for the photo or whether or not you can leave comments for the photos. But, something is better than nothing, ya?

So, without further ado, please click here for photos of Japan!