Nagahama, Osaka, Kyoto, and Nara

So, I think I misjudged the amount of free time I would have while in Japan. I don't know why I didn't realize it, but fitting all of the things I wanted to do while in Japan on top of class and schoolwork proved to be nearly impossible in ten weeks. I will quickly recap my adventures in Japan right now...

June was my first month in Hikone. I didn't do much traveling aside from a brief (and failed) afternoon excursion to Otsu and Kyoto. I spent most of the month adjusting to the differences between Japan and the United States, exploring Hikone, and going to class/studying. I made some new friends, Japanese and American both. Oh, and drinking. There was some of that too.

July was slightly more eventful, though I don't mean to express that in a way that makes June seem like it was boring, because that wasn't the case at all. Back to July. I went to a few places, made some more new friends, and studied a lot. Let's see... At the beginning, there was the Tanabata Festival in Hikone at Shiga University. That was fun, even if it was a bit small. It was cool seeing everyone--both Japanese and foreigners--in traditional dress for the festival.

I went to Nagahama with Tisch, Jackie, Sang Yun, and Heather, and we met Kailey there (she was doing a homestay in Nagahama) the first weekend of the month. We hung around the festival there, did some shopping, and went to kaiten-zushi (a revolving sushi bar in which plates of sushi are distributed on a conveyor belt to the masses). There was some drama during that day as well, but I'll withhold that from a public setting.

I also went to Osaka with Niki, Sang Yun, and Tomoyo. Honestly, that might have been the most fun I had up to that point in Japan. Osaka is such a wonderful city. When people think of Japan, they tend to think of Tokyo and Okinawa... but Osaka doesn't get the credit it deserves. I can't judge Okinawa because I've never been, but I like Osaka a lot more than Tokyo. Anyway, we shopped around Namba,

went to Takatsuki for okonomiyaki,

went to a karaoke bar,

and got back to Hikone really late. It was so much fun! I wish I could have gotten back to Osaka one more time before I left JCMU.

I also went to Kyoto for the Gion Matsuri (Gion Festival) with Jackie, Heather, Tamika, Masa, and Yohei. Well, we tried to go anyway. By the time we actually got to Kyoto, the festival had already ended. But we made do... we went to the River, walked around the shopping district, etc. It was SO hot outside, but it didn't even matter because the day was so fun.

The next day, I went to Nara with Tisch and Kailey. We ran into our friend Katie at the train station, so we convinced her to join us. It took us a while to get to Nara and meet with Jackie and her friend Yuri due to some unforeseen conflicts, but we made it! We went to Todaiji (a large temple in Nara), which is famous for the Daibutsu (the largest bronze statue of Buddha in the world!).

We also just walked around the town, fed some deer (more on that shortly), and did some shopping. Once again, it was incredibly hot outside all day, but was a great day nonetheless. Okay, so, the deer. In Nara and Hiroshima, there are deer EVERYWHERE. And they just walk around freely, unafraid of people. If you have food in your hand, they aren't shy to just snatch it from you. It's so bizarre.

I feel like this is going to come in two parts. More later!

Why I'm in Japan (the technical reasons)

I have been really bad about regularly writing in this blog. I haven't had much to talk about, though. I haven't done much of anything yet, which isn't necessarily a bad thing... I just haven't gotten around to it. But I wanted to update with something.

I logged onto Blogger today and checked my Dashboard, and I have my first follower who isn't someone I know in real life! I'm sure there are other people who might be wondering what it is exactly that I'm doing here, since I haven't really explained that yet.

So, I'm in Japan. I'm going to school. I'm having the time of my life while going to school in Japan. My school is called the Japan Center for Michigan Universities (alternatively, JCMU, ミシガン州立大学連合日本センター, or 日本ミシガンセンター), and what it is is a consortium institution in Hikone, Shiga, operated by Michigan State University. Most of the students that go to JCMU are from other colleges and universities in Michigan, with a few others who randomly find the program and decide to come.

Although other programs are offered, like Environmental Sciences and Hospitality & Tourism Management, the main draw at this school is the intensive language program.. which is why I came here. In the intensive program, students learn one academic year of Japanese language in one semester (or, in my case, 9 weeks). I tested into the second level, and am learning all of the Genki II textbook (again). I've already taken this class at Grand Valley before, but I'd be lying if I said it wasn't any different. The class is conducted ENTIRELY in Japanese--no English is used, unless it's one word for unknown vocabulary. Additionally, the students are required to speak only in Japanese, which has proved to be a little difficult sometimes.

For me, speaking is the hardest part about learning and using Japanese. I met with my sensei last week and explained to her my frustrations with speaking, and she told me that I just need to practice more and more and eventually it will come more easily. She did, however, tell me that my vocabulary, kanji, and grammar knowledge was very good... so that made me feel a bit better.

To further explain the intensity of the program here, I'll share with you the schedule for this coming week in class.



Each day, and each hour of class, we do different things. In this particular week, we are covering the remainder of Lesson 17 (which we started last Thursday), all of Lesson 18, and the beginning of Lesson 19 on Friday. In doing this, we will also cover all of the relevant readings, workbook assignments, and supplemental materials that any of my teachers may assign.

Oh! I have three teachers (sensei). My primary sensei is Yoshida sensei, who is VERY nice and does a nice job at creating a comfortable yet challenging atmosphere in the classroom. I also have Aizawa sensei (also the language program director) Monday-Thursday, and he's just a really cool guy. His teaching style is very fast-paced, but it's not too overwhelming--it just makes you pay attention and keep focus. I also have Nakamitsu sensei on Monday and Wednesday-Friday, who is also very nice. She and Yoshida sensei have a similar teaching style.

As you might have seen in the pictures of my schedule, I have four hours of class on Monday, Wednesday, and Thursday, and three hours on Tuesday and Friday. Sometimes it seems like it's dragging on forever, but usually it goes by pretty quickly.

So yeah, that's the academic life. Sorry if this was a bit choppy. I wrote it in different sessions.